genuinely didn’t think that I’d be stuck for words when it came to reviewing a Pro Evolution Soccer game. Yet, here I sit, trying my best to fathom out what has happened. We all knew that this first PS3 edition of PES wouldn’t be the absolute classic that the advertisements suggest that it is, but we didn’t think that things would be this bad.
According to interviews with the man, Lead Developer Seabass Takatsuka is “not sure why” the PS3 edition of PES 2008 contains so much slowdown. Here’s hoping that someone brings him to task, given that the PS3 edition that I’ve been playing to review is almost unplayable at times. Every time the ball goes above head height and every time there are more six players on the screen, the game begins to crawl. Turning things such as Stadium Effects off do alleviate the problem, but that isn’t the point. I choose to not play PC games, since I don’t want to have to fiddle with settings to get the game running optimally, so why should I have to with my PS3? Answer: I shouldn’t have to, and there is no excuse.
Now I know full well that we’ve all put up with slowdown in PES titles over the last few years, but I’ve never seen it so bad that it actually affects the way that you play the game. Take a basic sliding tackle as an example, if you will. If I press the button to initiate the tackle at one point in time and I pull off a clean steal of the ball, then any deviation to the timing will cause me to either tackle too early or too late, resulting in a foul. I’m not the greatest PES player in the World, but after playing every version since the days of the SNES, I know when I should be tapping the button to pull off a tackle. However, with PES 2008 on the PS3, the amount of slowdown and the frequent occurrences of it will cause you to mistime more than a fair amount of challenges.
Some players have suggested that different cables and settings can help things, but I have to say that I found no difference between playing with my regular component connection in 1080i and playing through a standard SCART cable in standard definition.
So, shouldn’t I be skipping over the slowdown and getting on to the nitty gritty of the game itself? I can see why you would think so. The only problem is that the game modes themselves are not only pretty much the same as last year’s - thankfully you can now create teams and players on all formats - but the actual in-match graphical performance is way, way below par. The engine itself is as technical and tactical as it always was, and would otherwise be an absolute joy to play. Some nice graphical touches rear their heads also, such as the way that when the referee gives a card, the game doesn’t fade to black to load a cutscene. One standout point on offer here is the commentary. Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson are on hand to spell out the action - and whilst not quite up to FIFA’s level in terms of the sheer amount of phrases on offer - the performance is a very, very good one. They talk about pre-match decisions that you’ve made, your last result and everything else that you’d expect to hear if you were listening to a live game. Some of Lawro’s phrases come across as somewhat wooden, but I can live with that.
Overall, if you can get past the slowdown that is present, then PES 2008 does actually represent a solid purchase. It is Pro Evolution Soccer after all, and the gameplay that’s been present for the last several years would be terribly difficult to screw up. It feels terribly like Konami and Seabass have rested on their laurels too much this time around though, and when it comes to rewarding their loyal fans, that just doesn’t cut it. Maybe it’s time for Seabass to stop giving vague interview answers and work out exactly why the game-destroying slowdown is eating away at his legacy. And maybe, just maybe, look at including a few new game modes next year. Don’t get me wrong, PES 2008 is a relatively solid title, but it falls way short of the average fan’s expectations. FIFA is top of the table, for this year at least.
http://www.rewiredmind.com/quickfire-revie...occer-2008-ps3/