Beckham from thirty yards

Pro Evolution Soccer 2 (PES2) is probably football simulations finest hour. It has the essential realism in terms of graphics but more importantly the game play is obviously based on real football. That may sound obvious but anyone that plays the FIFA series will understand that football games tend to swing more towards the arcade side and your players tend to run about like headless chickens and you can slide tackle all the time – think the old Megadrive games where you could slide tackle alongside a dribbling opposition player and overtake him like some bizarre gymnast on speed. PES2 is purely a simulation game and there is no dribbling your goalkeeper past seven or eight players and having a pop, unless you play on one star level where even Ironside could knock in a hat trick. Players in PES2 stay in position, they pass, shoot, tackle and dribble like real players not ninjas and you always feel like you know where the play is going. You can feel the move building up as you approach the opposition penalty area and players will dart off on runs to open up the defence – the AI is very good in the game, your team-mates look switched on.

The game feels solid because the passing is firm and the player control does not feel spongy in the way that FIFA does. The ball feels like it has weight and doesn’t balloon about and perform artistic twirls in the air. The game speed is fairly realistic and it takes time to work your way up the pitch in a passing game. You can just hoof it forward but in the harder levels you will find this working less and less as the AI gets wind of your tactics. Its possible for speedy players to dribble forward quickly but as in real football there’s usually one last defender to save the day – so good dribbling can open up the play but unlike FIFA you can’t just waltz past players and get Martin Keown to do Zidane spins or dribble like Maradona. If you take the ball too far or do one too many passes you will lose it.

Graphics

Very good as players have similarities to real life but its never going to fool anyone except maybe your Grandad. The graphics look nice and the scale is correct and that’s all that really matters in this area. Its game play that’s vital in football games. Small things like 2D stewards and fans may annoy a few people but if your concentrating on that then you’re probably bored of the game anyway. The stadiums look great although there are only about ten of them and they are called names like Orange Bowl and Trad Brick…

Sound

If you didn’t know this game was Japanese then you would surely work it out as soon as you played it. Its got some great cheesy eighties style menu music and the tune played during action replays makes the Pet Shop Boys sound like Metallica. The commentary is dire and sounds like its been translated between the two languages several times. But this actually makes Trevor Brooking sound better… The crowd sound fine, and the general atmosphere is good and you get the option of scaling down the commentary if its really annoying you.

Gameplay

Great. This is a game for real football fans and players. A lot of English pros list this game as their favourite because you can replicate almost any real life move in the game. There’s only two real moans here: One touch passing is decent but could be much better as reaction times can be slow and performing a slide tackle renders your player useless for a little too long. Although this does stop you sliding all about the shop like in FIFA. Its possible to score some fantastic goals although volleys are a bit thin on the ground as players tend to let the ball bounce which can be annoying. Although unless your Zidane your not gonna score that forty yard volley anyway. It would be nice to try though… Free kicks are better in PES2 as you can now score from them although only really good players tend to get them on target. There are five levels with 1 being great if you want to kill some frustration by scoring twelve thousand goals, 2 and 3 being pretty average, 4 making the game tighter and allows less gaps to appear and 5 means you get less time at the ball than Cinderella. Sorry couldn’t resist that one.

The multiplayer option is great for some friendly competition. Some of these games are more fun than one player due to the human interaction and the fact its easier to get a feel of a human players tactics quicker than the AI. Makes for some good nights in if you get four or five in a tournament. You can play all against the computer but that tends to end in argument as your mate gets annoyed at your centre back trying to take on six players before shooting from fifty yards. You will be trying to constently outdo each other.

The lack of FIFA license for the game does get annoying as it lacks realism in the sense that although you can rename players and teams, the competitions lack depth and there just aren’t enough teams. The master league is okay, but it’s not the same as playing in the real leagues of FIFA. The game play makes up for this but you do tend to wish EA left the game play to Konami and Konami left the rest to EA. What a game that would be.

Overall

A great game for the simulation lovers out there. Feel smug as you watch the replay of a seven-player, twenty-pass move culminating in a curler into the top corner. Despite the music making it sound like a gay disco. If you like nice controlled football rather than arcade madness then PES2 is gonna like you. I’m giving this 85% but it would be higher if the game were more polished and broad.