Reviews// Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

Keeping up with the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series has been at turns a wonderful and deeply depressing experience over the years. Its highs have been met with the same jubilation as Beckham's World Cup qualifying free kick against Greece in 2001. Its lows have been treated as though someone had walked into a fashion show wrap-up party with their sex organ hanging out of their Primark jeans; and fairly so.

The series had lost its way. What was once the simulation of the beautiful game has slowly slipped into a confused “state of arcade”; not really aware of its own goals (in both senses of the phrase) let alone any new ones set by its rivals.

Every year a new PES would be released, and every year series producer, Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka, would try and convince us that the new iteration was different, only to let us down. The fondly remembered days of a PES launch are far behind us and the Evolution in Pro Evolution Soccer seems more ironic than hope-filled.

A Passing Fancy
So, excuse me when I tell you that I was a little disappointed that I was given this year's effort to review. It felt like meeting up with an ex-girlfriend. I loved her once sure, but all the shit that has gone on since those glory days have really put me off her. However, when I waited for her to turn up so I can give her a piece of your mind, she struts in with an air of confidence. She's had a make over and it shows.

On the pitch, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 plays a fantastic game of football. You feel in complete control of what is happening on screen, with the new passing system standing out as the main game changer. Passing in this game is an art and can be used to devastating effect. Simply directing a through-ball into an open area on the pitch can drag the opposing defence wide creating more space for your teammates to run into the box.

However, it takes a while to get used to. FIFA's (reviewed here) way of doing things is a lot more automatic and it can be less frustrating at times but also less satisfying. In PES 2011 once you get the hang of actually pointing the left stick towards where you want the pass to go, you'll feel more involved with the decisions your pixellated athlete is making.

That's not the only thing that adds to the downright fluid gameplay. Crossing feels like it has a purpose. You're no longer just putting a ball into the box in the vague hope that one of your team gets in front of a defender. The ball now whips into the area with menace. You can aim for a target, place it high or low or even lift it over to the other side of the pitch so that your winger can nod it back into the chaos.

Shooting Pains
Shooting has been worked on too. Hitting one from outside the box no longer feels like you're simply taking a chance. A perfectly directed thirty-yarder can dip just below the crossbar if you have judged the distance right and used the power bar correctly. The ball doesn't feel on rails as it floats towards the goal, making scoring feel extremely satisfying, and hitting the woodwork agonisingly painful.

Unfortunately though, as with any meeting with a sexy ex-girlfriend, the flaws start to shine through again the longer you stay in her company. Faults that niggle at first before quickly become magnets of hate.

The referees in PES 2011 are terrible for a start. I don't mean in a 'playful banter between fan and professional' sort of way, I mean in a 'blowing up despite the defender clearly coming away with the ball sort of way'. It's infuriating. Sometimes you can get away with murder, actual murder on the pitch. Other times you'll not even touch your opponent before the Ref blows up like a five year-old with a slide whistle lolly.

It's Supposed to be Wayne Rooney
The animation could use a bit of work too, as can the player modelling. From afar, PES 2011 looks pretty good. The camera angles used add to an authentic TV football feel, and the subtle blurring around the players smooths out every rough edge without making it look messy. But get a little closer and everything falls apart. Texturing seems a little aged, player models are out of proportion and more importantly the players don't represent their real life counterparts.

“Jesus, that looks nothing like Ashley Cole at all!”
“That's supposed to be Wayne Rooney.”
“Oh.”

This leads to my biggest problem with PES 2011. The presentation is so far behind it's competition that it is laughable. Literally. While having a game with SPOnGcast's Mat Murray we had to pause while we doubled over when Jon Champion shouted out “The Order Of The Boot Applied”.