Pro Evolution Soccer 6

At long last football is back, it's been a long hard wait, too long in fact, but when the game you are waiting for is Pro Evolution Soccer 6 then it should be worth the wait, shouldn't it?

When my copy of this game came through the door, I couldn't wait to get started, what teams were licensed? what changes had there been to the gameplay? can you edit kits?, these are just a few of the questions that people were asking on various communities all over the internet and I was desperate to see for myself.  

As soon as you load the game, you are greeted with a simple menu, this is easy to navigate and includes options such as quick match, league, cup and the brilliant master league, the best way to test the game in my opinion was to choose master league and just play as many games as possible, so having selected this option I proceeded to have a look at all the teams to discover which ones were licensed and to my delight it seems that Konami have managed to add to the licences from the previous version and the game now includes kits and squads for various clubs and national teams including Manchester Utd, Benfica, England, Argentina and France to name a few, they have also managed to include the French Ligue 1, so although licensing is still not perfect it is certainly getting there.

The Master League mode itself offers all the usual options that you would expect, from being able to negotiate transfers and condition your squad to tinkering with your formation, you are also given the usual option where you can start the season with your original squad or use the default team that everyone loves so much.

Once you have chosen your team, it's time to begin the real action and as the game starts with the players lining up in the tunnel, it is at this point you realise that this is a next generation game, the player likeness is incredible, Dado Prso of Rangers (Guess what team I support) was spot on, so realistic in fact that I almost asked for his autograph, I have also noticed this trend on other players such as Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry, the official kits are also perfect and when you see the players standing in them on the pitch getting ready to kick off you can't help feel that this game is going to be special. 

Once the game starts you will immediately notice the difference from previous versions, the skill levels have now been changed (replacing the previous star system) to include different settings, In the more difficult of these you will find that space is a lot harder to come by, you really do need to think about where you are going to pass the ball as the CPU players do a good job of intercepting passes and closing you down should you take too long to make a pass, the ball control has also been improved meaning that you can control the ball after doing a slide tackle, dribble without knocking the ball out of play and perform tricks such as feints and step-overs. The only change to the games set plays comes in the ability to take your freekick quickly, this add's more to the realism of the game so well done to Konami for including this. The biggest change to the game by far is in the shooting, it is now possible to control your shot by using the shoot button and right trigger, this makes it a lot easier to score a goal, however you can still knock the ball out of the stadium if you panic in front of goal. Referees also seem to be less strict which means that you can play the game without worrying that he is going to blow his whistle for the tenth time in two minutes. 

The layout of the controls have also been changed meaning you can now sprint using the right trigger and change player using the left bumper, I have found this to be comfortable and easy to use, although if this isn't for you there is still the option to remap these to your own preference.

Online is where this game could really shine, although sadly the only options for creating a game are player match or ranked match, it would have been nice if Konami had included a cup or league option, saying that though when you do choose to play you are matched up pretty quickly and you are also able to leave feedback at the end of the match without having return to the main menu. All the usual ranking tables are also included, such as weekly and monthly ranking, you are also able to view your own stats meaning that you can check out how good (or bad) you have become.

While most of the above seems pretty perfect unfortunately the game does have it's flaws, for one, the commentary as usual is far from perfect and also in the Xbox 360 version you are unable to edit teams or player stats and given that this is a major feature of the other versions this is a disappointment, however the most disappointing aspect of the game for me is that you are unable to save your favourite goals as this was always something I liked to do so that I could relive the glory days.

This incarnation of PES was always going to be under the spotlight due to the fact that it's making it's next generation debut and I'm glad to say that it certainly does not disappoint, apart from a lack of features this game is football, from the goalkeeper swinging from the crossbar to the striker in front of goal knocking the ball into orbit, nothing can beat this game, this is football, this is Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the Xbox 360.