Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (Xbox)

The lowdown:
The definitive footie series returns to defend its crown, and how it sparkles when held up to the light. Pro Evolution 5's gameplay has been enhanced to provide a more lifelike version of the beautiful game: players utilise their upper bodies more in the challenge, have more tricks at their disposal, and can now curl shots with pinpoint accuracy. This is total football.

Most exciting moment:
Scoring a virtual replica of Roberto Carlos' legendary free-kick against France -- the one with the unbelievable swerve-- and then dancing around the living room like a lunatic.

Since you ask:
Thierry Henry has been playing Pro Evolution games since the first title appeared ten years ago. The great man clearly has great taste.

The bottom line:
Another trophy for the Pro Evo cabinet.
Jonti Davies

With PES5 the adjustment period (for me at least) was longer and harder than with any other version. Even now, after several weeks, I am often frustrated by my inability to pull off things I did without thinking in previous versions. For a long time I was convinced that Pro Evo had jumped the shark, had become too hard, too realistic, had become a simulator rather than a game and in doing so had lost the point of why people played it in the first place – because it’s fun.

Patience is needed with this version more than any other. PES5 requires a state of Zen football, something beyond concentration and effort. It takes a long time to adjust to the point where the game becomes instinctive, but once it does- oh wow.

The pace of the game is slower, more thoughtful. Passing and possession are key, a sensible approach to tempo is important, slow build-ups and approaches, probing the opposition for weaknesses. Passing is harder, dribbling is harder, tackling is harder – the game will not play accurate passes for you, will not automatically nick the ball off your opponent if you just tap the tackle button randomly in their vicinity. Everything needs to be timed, anticipated. You will lose possession and not get it back easily. You will give away countless free-kicks and receive yellow cards for challenges you thought were fine. You will not create scoring opportunities often. This will frustrate you to the point where your controller is in danger of being hurled at the wall.

But hang on. Set it to ** difficulty and play with Arsenal, Barcelona or AC Milan to get your confidence back. Learn the game again. View it not as a video game but as a football game. Think how players actually move, how the dynamics of a game actually flow. Adjust your approach. Give it time, feel that lack of satisfaction when you win, reset to *** difficulty and start again with a clearer head.

PES5 is the best PES ever. On first glance it looks the same, but there are more player details than ever before – different dribbling styles, the option to have players with untucked shirts, to give them friendship bands. The animation is smoother and more realistic – players strike the ball with greater fluidity, their hips more, their shoulders drop. The ball spins and swings in the air more, free-kicks dip better, the ball moves faster through the air… OK so the Bernebeu appears to be empty for almost every game, the commentary is still shocking and the background music needs to be turned off every time you load it, but… Give PES5 time. I nearly didn’t but I’m glad I have now. The feeling when Samuel Eto’o scores a tap-in after a good move between Ronadinho and Van Bommel down the left side eclipses the triumphs of earlier versions. It takes a long time and a great deal of patience and commitment, but for those people who, like me, don’t really play any other video games but have loved PES for years and play it almost every day, it is most assuredly worth it in the end.


The Best Football Game Ever Got Better   April 16, 2006
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Pro evo 5 better than any other footie game out there at the moment.FACT. It has an addictive quality like pro evo 4. Once you have grown familar with the slight tweaks made by Konami to passing, dribbling, and shooting, you can't stop playing it, the changes make it more like football compared to previous installments. The gameplay is much more addictive, enjoyable, and realistic than Fifa. Fifa may have the licences but the gameplay is what counts, if your really bothered you can change names, kits, even clubs badges, in the edit mode. The Master league is better than last year and you will enjoy progressing through the seasons, winning trophies as your team improves, eventually becoming the number one team in europe.The multi-player is fantastic and matches become a matter of life or death with extreme tension filling the room just so you can prove your the best pro evo player, and you can by going online and aim to be the best in the world. There are bad points which include: the tackling is very hard and have to be timed perfectly or it will be a free kick, sometimes the referee will be biased towards the computer, but this just makes you more determined to win, also the side stepping move is now too easy to do,(sometimes by accident) and when it is always performed during a match it makes the game unrealistic. Aside from that this a real football game for anyone with an interest in football.


Kicks FIFA into touch!   October 30, 2005
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This without a doubt is the very best football game there has ever been. Why, you ask? Well here is my summary of the best footy game EVER:

GOOD POINTS:-
=============
+ 136 club teams (82 are FULLY licensed, including Chelsea, Arsenal, Rangers and Celtic.)
+ 57 international teams.
+ Better AI than any other football game.
+ Snow weather is including, as is a cool orange adidas ball!
+ Edit mode is now the best edit mode on any football game ever.
+ Training mode is excellent, although virtually the same as PES4.
+ Games are much more 'tense' now, and referees & linesmen make mistakes just like in real life!

BAD POINTS:-
============
- Commentary is still not great and far too repetative.
- Music is naff.

OVERALL:-
=========
I have worked in the computer games industry for over 20 years now, and have waited for a game like this, and finally, it has arrived. I dont work for Konami, although I wish I did, so I could get this game for nothing! For people who say this is the same as PES4, then they obviously have not played it as intensely as me, because despite a few minor flaws, this game is amazing, and a must buy. DO NOT get FIFA 06. Get this instead. Unless you have the common sense of an onion.


Real Football that deserves authenticity   May 5, 2006
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I converted to Pro Evo after years of Fifa gaming not long ago, and I cant say I'm dissapointed at all. Its only when you first play them game, you realise the 2 main aims of each game - Fifa goes for looks, commercialism, fancy packaging and adverts while Pro Evo emulates real, beautiful football, that YOU control.
All round, Pro Evo 5 is just crammed full of fab features and more. The most impressive aspect after exploring was the Challenge mode - much better than Fifas. In this game, you actually take 'realistic' challenges, in which you may take part in shooting, passing, agility or loads more types of challenges, that I not only found improved game play slightly, but was also great fun, especially with mates!
As ever, the teams have different name etc, but I wasnt too frustrated this time round - I found out you could make Nike Mercurial Vapours through the boot creation section which looks good, and even changing the kits this time round was better, as dotted along the catergories were little bits of Nike kits, and eventually you get somewhere, but obviously never as authentic as Fifa games. But if you have a memory card, you can download all the updates and apply the to the game.
Gameplay wise, I need not go too far, as every Pro Evo owner should know you can make some great football, and this time round, it looks just that little but more fluid and smooth. Upon viewing a replay, or ''Highlight'' of a goal, its stunning to see how konami have manged to make the players movements so smooth and real, unlike Fifa were players seem to stumble or shoot awkwardly with the feet as they run. But on this, its like watching t.v (if you ignore not authenitic kits etc) Whats more amazing the the authenticity of the players body language, which I've never seen so well put, even better than Fifa 06 again. Its just amazing to watch players like Beckham run and actually have their habits, like fast feet, clenched fists, and kicking even kicking styles. Off the ball too its the same, you can see attackers bow their heads and get annoyed when they dont get a through ball (van nistelrooy's good at that) and just the general bodily movements are so real and fluid. Playing the football is good as ever too, and Pro Evo is the only footie game that will actually make celebrate when scoring a fantastic goal, something you can never do with Fifa, because its so predictable. With Pro Evo 5, every goals different, whether its the curl on the ball, or the build up to it that looks truly lifelike - again, not so rigid and predictable as Fifa.
The cameras are good too, lots of different types, and again excellent to see the broadcast 3 camera that will switch over to touchline views of players on the ball - they've thought of everything. The commentary is ok, but nothing dazzling I guess.
While this may not have the true authenticity of Fifa, it has something that few games have managed to capture - real football. And I think to make this a truly complete game, it would need full authenticity, but no dubt one day they will do.
To sum up, I would say to dance music fans that while the Pro Evo series has the rareity and quality of "Gatecrasher", Fifa is like "Ministry of Sound" cd's.. they started off a new era, but now they pump out products for the commercial aspect... Well done Konami!