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Should be better!!!!

Customer Rating:
I have been playing Pro Evolution Soccer games since the first one came out for Playstation 2 some years ago and have been buying the updated games yearly up until Pro Evo 5. So when the new edition for the PS3 was released I couldn't wait as finally I was looking forward to playing it online most of all and was my main reason for buying it.

Firstly though to the single player game: My initial reaction is somewhat disappointed as I feel that the gameplay feels slowly and not as crisp and exciting as the PS2 versions. The are very additions as compared to FIFA 08 which has much more depth and challenges. But for the time being I can cope with these niggles as it was the online features I was mostly concerned about.

Online is a huge disappointment and very shoddy. Mostly the games play fine with no problems with connection. But every so often you'll be playing online and you can see serious glitches in the online play for example; your opponent has the ball so you tackle him winning the ball and charging off with only for the ball to return to your opponents feet. This is doubly frustating when this happens near your penalty area and ends up with him blasting the ball into the back of the net. Other things I've noticed is that you can have the ball at your players feet and be proceeding towards your opponents goal only for the ball to inexplicably end up in their goalkeepers hands. Also it is very difficult to execute accurate crosses to your strikers in the box with ball drifting aimlessly into the box or out of bounds.

I was hoping that Konami would at some point release a downloadable update for the online feature to correct these issues but nothing has materialised as yet and probably won't. Likely these will be fixed for Pro Evo 2009. At the moment though this means that FIFA 08 is a superior game for online play (though its not perfect) with far more challenges to complete and proper licensing.

I must say in closing though that even with all these problems with Pro Evo I can't stop going online to play it even though I'm not very good at it but something keeps calling me back to it and it is very addictive.

If you've played a Pro Evo game before you may be able to overlook its faults but if you want a perfect game I'd wait for the 2009 version as I'm sure it will be an improvement.

Pretty disappointing

Customer Rating:
The only thing to have improved since the last game is the graphics. The gameplay is worse than ever and the master league is worse than on the last game.

Even the graphics aren't that improved, the crowd looks awfull and they all move together, so when you score every single person in the crowd stands up at exactly the same time and they all lift up one arm (the same arm) at the same time. The gameplay is awfull, there's still the problem that you can run into the box and take it round the keeper then blaze it over the bar for no reason. players miss other easy chances for no reason either, you can absolutely batter a team and fail to score then more often then not the computer will go up the pitch and score with there first shot. The computer can go on unstoppable runs where you just can't tackle them, when you try they just stumble and come out with the ball and carry on. The refs too are worse than ever, in this game you can't slide tackle without being sent off, even if you clearly win the ball which obviously doesn't count for anything in this game.

The masterleague hasn't been improved at all. The only changes made are that it now has some fan rating where if you win a match your fan rating goes up about 1 point and if you loose it goes down about a 100 points. The only other change is when you sign a player you get a picture of them wearing your teams shirt or something. Other than these pointless changes nothing else has been improved or added.

On the plus side though the new euro pop sound track is pretty good. You've got to use your head is a class track.

Anything less than 4 stars is just churlish

Customer Rating:
OK - so PES sets a high bar. Yes more could have been made on the PS3 or 360. But fundamentally this is still an awesome game. It remains the best for multi player (in one room) bar none. Loses one star as I agree with others who claim the lag destroys the online experience. But hey, just get some mates round - it's more fun when you can actually throw toffees at people for missing and to see your victory lap around the room!

Takes the fun out of the game

Customer Rating:
Pro Evo has always been the superior game to Fifa. Gamers have always said 'people who know anything about football buy Pro Evo'. Which has been true.

However this version has taken the step towards realism one notch too far. I find this game far more frustrating than fun. By putting emphasis too firmly on players that are on or off form, it means your men inevitably end up making mistakes, even if you didn't.

I have found my players to pass to the wrong people, shoot wherever they feel, do anything but what I intended. It's like having someone come and poorly interpert your moves.

The graphics aren't up to much either, with some major drops in frame rate for what are poor graphics compared to the likes of GTA or MGS. The options for tournaments are ok, but you can't obviously play through a tournament on the same team as a friend, which is odd.

But really, the biggest let down is the controls. Which is a shame. Hopefully PES 2009 will correct this.

Pro Evo is not fun anymore

Customer Rating:
The great thing about Pro Evolution has been its incredible addictive qualities, the realism and online-play.

This game is by far the shabbiest of releases I have witnessed a developer release on retail. I have given it so many chances because I felt I may end up liking it, but I have bought this game and sold it twice and I think it is pretty much settled that I don't like the game.

The frame rate is absolutely awful (most notable on replays), the graphics are just ridiculous for a next gen release and the game play is no longer fun or addictive, it is just repetitive, unrealistic and arcade-like.

This title is also very hard to enjoy online. I think by now it's safe to say the lag will certainly not be sorted out, because it's 7 months after its release and there is no sign improvement. The lag cuts the enjoyment out of the game because it becomes a game more based around luck than anything else.

It's a shame about this release but I have to jump on the Fifa bandwagon. I don't have much faith in Konami improving the game for the next release, after all it seems they have become very sloppy. It seems like the original creator, the brains behind the game, has left the company - and the rest of the team are struggling to match up.

The above review is relevant to both Pro Evolution 2008 on PS3 and Xbox 360, as I have owned both. There really is not much between the two as they both have the same issues. PS3 is slightly worse frame-rate wise.

Rent this game before you buy it.

Disappointed Pro Evo fan.