Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Wii) Review

Nintendo fans have unfortunately only had one option for soccer games since the GameCube days, that of FIFA from Electronic Arts. Whilst the later FIFA games have made massive strides in gameplay, and have always featured excellent manager modes, there has always been the voice of our PS2 cousins saying the ONLY football game to play is Pro Evolution Soccer, or Winning Eleven as it is known in Japan. Yes, whilst it didnt have the licensed teams, and dodgy graphics, there was no denying that the PES franchise had it in spades where it counted. Gameplay. Now Nintendo fans can finally see what the fuss is all about as Konami bring their award winning football sim to Nintendos home console with Pro Evolution Soccer 2008; and this time, the “Evolution” in the title isnt just a nice catchphrase.

Game Theory When all established games make their Wii debut, the inevitable first question is, “How will the controls translate?” EA had hit a home run by tacking and moulding motion controls to Madden, and failed miserably with motion controls being horribly tacked on to FIFA. Konami on the other hand have decided to take things back to the drawing board and really change up the way we think about sports games in general on Wii. Instead of merely controlling one player at a time, PES 2008 allows you to control all players on your team at once; and incredibly enough, it comes off as intuitive and far superior to regular controls…. mostly.

Team control is done by simply pointing to a player, pressing the A button and drawing a line as to where you want them to move to. It works simply, elegantly, and quickly allows you to direct players into space with ease. Corners, free kicks and attacking runs have never been easier to setup. No longer will you curse your players as they move into obtuse positions and don’t run into the space that is so clearly visible, as directing them around the pitch is quick, simple and natural. Passing is also incredibly easy; point to a spot on the pitch, press the B button. This quickly does away with normal/through pass options, as a through pass is as simple as passing into space. Depending on the distance, or if there are people in the path of the pass, the game will decide to do a lob or ground pass, but this can be changed to a single/double tap setup that gives more control.

Things fall apart

The sheer bliss of teamwork and passing must come to a poignant finale tho, and this is when the ball ends up in the back of the net. It is here that the game starts to show signs of weakness. Shooting is accomplished by a shake of the nunchuck; why is this a problem you ask? Well for one, you might notice it is just a shake of the nunchuck, no direction is possible. Whilst it isn’t expected that the players shoot the balls behind them or in some impossible angle, it is expected that you can at least suggest the direction you would like the ball to be shot at, and based on their skill, position and other factors, determine where to shoot. Instead, the game decides where you want to shoot, often times with less than desirable results.

A similar problem is exhibited with headers. Handled in the same fashion as shooting, headers require a timed nunchuck shake. However, in much the same fashion as shooting, header direction appears to be determined more by voodoo than any level of intelligence one would associate with a player paid enough money to buy a new Ferrari every week. To further heighten the frustration, the game will decide when to pass and when to shoot from a header, making headers inside the attacking half unpredictable and ultimately undesirable.

The Tipping Point

Where PES 2008 is ultimately going to leave many people really frustrated however is in the defensive side of the game. Unlike when on offense where it is possible to control the player with the joystick, defence only allows you to move players into position and set man markings, not to directly control them. This means that there is also no “tackle” button, with, once again, the game deciding when to tackle the opposition based on their position and skill level. This can lead to blood pressure while defending rise to often unhealthy levels. You will at times wonder if your defenders are engaging in match fixing on the side, as the stand casually whilst attackers run past them, casually slotting in goals. Unless you specifically assign a defender to defend, whether or not they take on this menial task is as likely as a coin toss landing on its edge. This can of course be alleviated by very quick manoeuvring of your defensive line, but with the lack of a dedicated tackle button, whether or not they will place the all important tackle is still left up to the whim of the game.

Whilst I don’t expect a lowly player to take the ball from Kaka, there is still an element of skill as to how to position yourself and when to time the tackle. This combined with the sketchy heading implementation can make defending a frustrating experience. At times it also seems that PES 2008 is doing its best to make you lose. Players will often not move towards a ball until they trip over it, players who lose possession will need to be told to defend instead of defending automatically. Whilst you don’t want a game to play itself for you, there is still a level of automation that should occur, and often times PES 2008 uses its excellent team control as an excuse to force the player to micro manage above and beyond the call of duty.

Do you want more?

Despite its shortcomings however, PES 2008 is an excellent football sim and easily bests EA lacklustre outing. Its manager mode is stronger than FIFA’s (although that is hardly an accomplishment) and it also features a create-your-own-team mode which lets you draft in players from defeated teams to strengthen your own. Even with its gameplay flaws, PES 2008 also clearly shows how football games should be played on Wii. Excellent team play, fluid motion and enjoyable gameplay make up for the shortcomings. I really hope that Konami stay with PES on Wii and correct its small flaws. Defence needs to be adjusted to have single player control akin to attack, and a tackle button must be introduced. Control over shooting and heading has to be introduced as well, in addition to bumping up the team intelligence. Konami have received harsh criticism for letting PES stagnate in recent PS2 releases, so here is hoping that they don’t fall into the same trap on Wii after making such a positive first impression. All in all, will this new take on football make gamepad style football games appear antique? No. Is it better then gamepad style football games? Arguably. Is it the best football game available on Wii? Undoubtedly.