Pro Evo 6 Review -xbox 360

First Impressions:

When playing the first game of the new Pro Evolution 6 on 360 i was expecting better presentation. Ok PES has never been known for graphics but i felt a little down. After 5 or so games i didnt really notice much of a difference from the last of Konami's games in the game play aspect. It was clear this was an updated version rather than a fully reworked one.

Game Play

Game play has always been the most prominent part in any Pro Evolution football game. This version is no different, the game plays and thinks like a real football match. You have to build up possession by knocking the ball about and really work the other team. Its not just a case of hitting through ball and your forward player will be through on goal. Ok this works sometimes but you have to be more clever than that and the game rewards you if you think your way around the pitch. It seems that the game is slower and rewards you for passing the ball instead of making huge solo runs, much like the real game. You feel like you are in a realistic football match and its this brain that has outwitted the Konami's games competitors for years.

Presentation

After getting more into the game it was clear that they had certainly done some work with the graphics and animation but you would have expected a bigger jump considering the power of the 360 console. As with all other PES version you don't get every teams proper names and players. Rangers, Celtic , Man Utd and Arsenal fans are luckily enough to have their own authentic teams but every other team have to put up with false player names and team names related to their geographical location. The one bonus is that the actual player faces are realistic and its easy to make each big name player out in the line ups. Just a pity they didn't have their names spelt correctly on the back of their shirt

Online Play

The online play is PES has never really been up to much and there is some getting used to the delay difference in button presses compared to the offline game. The lobby system seems tired and dated and it can sometimes be hard to connect to a match. In an actual match it plays quite well although there was the odd game i had to quit out of due to lag. This happened in roughly 2 / 30 games which you can live with, but it is a negative issue. Unfortunately there is no tournament mode which would have been a welcome addition and added a much more rounded online experience.

Overall

PES 6 on 360 is certainly evolutionary rather that revolutionary, the graphics and presentation of the game could have been improved and its certainly not a game that shows off the 360's awesome power. The game play has always been the trait that PES fans love an this version is no different. If you are a strong fan of previous games then buy this game as there are some improvements but just don't expect a whole new game.