So, we were chatting, out of hours, as you do, and two of our writers, Steve Boxer and Chris Burke, had quite opposing views on which was the best football franchise. Chris was totally into Pro Evo Soccer and Steve was pinning his colours to the FIFA side of things. Here we let them explain why they think their favourite respective title is the best. First with the ball is Chris Burke on Pro Evolution Soccer. Hereeeeee’s Chris.
Pro Evolution Soccer is the best footie game series ever. Fact. And the PS3’s power means that Konami’s latest game, PES 2008, is an absolute belter. Its beautiful, super-sharp graphics, detailed likenesses, smooth movement and realistic animations and lighting effects make this as close to watching the real thing as you can get – and of course you’re controlling the action. The ball physics are just one of the many, many things Konami have improved (none of that cannoning-off your shins that went on in previous versions), and ball control now is pin-point accurate.
It’s not the easiest game to master, but it is very easy to get started – and the tricks and techniques you’ll master are intuitive and will become second instinct. There’s nothing prescribed about the way Pro Evo plays either - it’s one hundred per cent down to you. Mad skills are there to be shown off of course, but as in reality Sunderland players can’t convincingly pull off the Cruyff turn, whereas Cristiano Ronaldo can do his step-overs and shimmys and Ronaldinho can still curl in a pin-point free-kick over a flapping keeper.