Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka and his team at Konami have tweaked and updated PES for this season have got 360-degree control into the 2010 edition of the much loved Pro Evolution Soccer. This means that you no longer have to take your player in huge circles while trying to dribble your way from the edge of your 18-yard box into a shooting position in the opposition's half.

Once you get there, though, things are more difficult because the artificial intelligence and reaction times of the kee ... more >>

Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka and his team at Konami have tweaked and updated PES for this season have got 360-degree control into the 2010 edition of the much loved Pro Evolution Soccer. This means that you no longer have to take your player in huge circles while trying to dribble your way from the edge of your 18-yard box into a shooting position in the opposition's half.

Once you get there, though, things are more difficult because the artificial intelligence and reaction times of the keepers have been updated. Although you can still manually control your goalie's rushing out to keep out an attacker, if you are concentrating on covering with a wingback or sweeper, your AI keeper will be quicker off the mark.

Also tweaked - well, actually changed totally - is the team behind the online elements of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. In order to give the online multi-player a more rounded and playable feel – so that players from all over the world can take each other on – Konami has invested in a brand new development group.

The team has also honed the classic element of the PES series, with Master League (for many, the heart of the game) being given a new three-pane interface that lets you navigate your club from training via transfer lists to save game. This has been achieved without undermining the core function of Master League, which is to take your squad from nowhere to league, cup and then Champions League winners.

Don't fancy running a team? The 'Be a Legend' section enables you as a single player working his way up from the lower leagues by transfer and hard work to actually play in games. You get to control the single player, having chosen his preferred position and even how he looks.

And finally... at last the referees have had their decision making improved. Yes, it's been quite some time with PES refs apparently sending players off for the most innocuous of fouls or not sending them off at all – or for making dubious off-side decisions. This has now been dealt with over in Japan by Konami, and refs now make much more conistent decisions throughout the game.

PES has been brought right up to date. << less