Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"All it's cracked up to be"

PES or Winning Eleven to some has for me always been the best in the footballing franchise ever since it was originally known as “ISS” (International Superstar Soccer) beating the likes of FIFA and Adidas Power Soccer. This year round I started of with FIFA as it’s usually released ahead of PES by a few weeks and this year FIFA had a vast improvement on last year’s entry, I hoped PES would follow suit and it has; last years entry in the PES series was a bit of a rush job it felt no different gameplay wise than PES6 did on the PS2.

This time round PES 7 (or 2008) is greatly improved on gameplay, sound, graphics and general navigation, there is a lot more to offer the “hardcore footy fan” this time, with extensive edit mode where the user can upload pictures of team badges, logo’s, and your own face via the Xbox Live Vision Cam, I haven’t tried this feature yet but it does look promising for those of you who prefer to have proper kits etc. Personally I love the game for it’s gameplay and it doesn’t lack in that the year, it’s fast, fluent and precise and requires a lot more think both with formations and tactics if you’re playing the game on a harder difficulty; but it soon becomes familiar and easier to work.
Graphics wise it has that distinct “Konami” look about it, fans of the developer will know what I mean (if you follow the series or MGS series) everything looks crisp & sharp as it should be, previous entries have never really scrimped on looks just the licenses that are missing (but again that shouldn’t bother some) Finally PES has some new commentators in form of Jon Champion who does ITV 4’s Champions League and Mark Lawerenson the pundit from the BBC. Commentary is so-so in my opinion, but an improvement from Trevor Brooking & Peter Brackley, as these two were getting old although some fans may miss them? Crowds sound realistic and good; menu music on the other hand will never change…unfortunately.

Overall PES 2008 looks great, feels great and plays even better than it’s predecessor and it’s rival (FIFA 08) to any football fan who has yet to pick up a footie title this year make sure PES is it.