Must Read! Pro Evolution Soccer 4: Fresh Details Revealed Inside

We were rather pleased to discover a whole bunch of Winning Eleven 8 (Pro Evolution Soccer 4 in Europe) information in our inbox this morning – always a great start to the day. Read on:

For a start, Konami’s assertion that the player with possession of the ball is proven true, a welcome, gameplay expanding addition. There are a series of dummy moves, as well as an unannounced ‘challenge’ option, whereby the player with possession can confront the defender properly. Rather than trying to use pace, a mini lob or the ever-failing Zidane roll, you can now halt the run and enter into something of a balanced challenge, which to us looks slightly tipped in favour of the attacker. Also on offer, as previously revealed, is a huge range of full dummies, as well as greatly upped use of the right analogue stick, which will see bespoke tricks on a ‘per star player’ basis. Cool.

However, defenders will get a dose of augmentation too, with a new tackle ability set to debut in the game. Defenders can seemingly opt for a ‘quick recover’ tackle option which if executed precisely, will recover, with the ball considerably faster than before – activated using a press-and-hold of the shoulder button. However, if it is not exact, a foul will be conceded.

We also were privy to a rather interesting leaked shaky-cam capture this morning, showing the referee in action. Not much on exactly what he does right now, though we can confirm that he gets surrounded by protesting players at certain points in the game. Arsenal and Manchester United fans will no doubt be thrilled by this news.

We also got to see the all-new free kick system, featuring defence-fooling dummies for the first time. As in real football, when a dummy is thrown, the defenders react, thus breaking up the wall – a feature that will hopefully see more free kicks hitting the back of the net.

We can also confirm that the ability to take a quick free kick has been added, a feature that has been sadly lacking in previous games. This removes the cut in action, giving the fouled-against team the option to move with speed and break for goal.

A full strip-editor has also been included, joyous news no doubt to the ears of Datel and its ever-impressive Pro Evo upgrade program. This time, the editor seems to go much deeper, offering colour, shape and text options.

And finally, the video offered an interesting look at the revised training system featured in the game. It now details exact plays, with coaching offered by way of directional suggestion, button press and so on. However, it will stop the session and fully explain, by way of diagrams, text and speech, hopefully explaining exactly when - during the pass or shoot animation - the direction of the kick should be adopted.

All good, we’re sure you’ll agree. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.