Title: Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Genre: Soccer
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: October 27, 2006
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Is it correct to evaluate a video-game taking into account its glorious history? Is it correct to rate it as 9 only because it is the best of its genre? Is a realistic game-play so much important respect to all the other aspects of a game?
I don't think so! And this is why in the following few lines we'll tell you the story of a series that presented itself to the world as the ultimate soccer simulation but, now, it is more a series as tons of others. Welcome to Pro Evolution Soccer 6 review!
PES...
Everything began (in Europe) near the end of 1994, the year in which Konami decided to release a game for the SNES platform titled International Superstar Soccer (ISS): in a first moment the game has been appreciated only by few gamers, but the title became rapidly a "must" among all players of "digital soccer".
However, we'd to wait 7 years to have the release of the "real" soccer simulation. The title was Pro Evolution Soccer, the platform PSX!
The rest of the story is written in the nights full of joy, in friends who make fun of us because of the umpteenth defeat and in our glittering eyes after having bought the game. Every PES means for several of us a piece of our life and pure fun with friends: every PES has brought several novelties that this 6th edition has, unfortunately, almost completely removed.
...PES2...
Personally, I do not remember PES2 for its game-mechanics that, after all, were very similar to the previous one, but for a great editor worth the great game containing it. Thanks to this new feature, the first serious mods immediately appear, Pro Evolution Soccer became the most updated soccer game and we had the possibility to modify all our favourite players even giving 99 to all their stats!
Unfortunately, (and 2,) what was so easy to do with PES2, is no more possible in PES6: no modifiable players, no teams correct names, no new option file to take into account of the winter transfers. PES6 pretends to have an editor, but it allows us to change just few stats and the name of the player: bye bye to dreams of glory with our avatar exulting after having won the World Cup.
...PES3...
As we don't want to stop on such a knotty point, I resume our PES-journey and arrive to PES3. 20 stadiums were present in the game (against the 8 contained today in PES6) but, above all, there was a novelty that has changed forever our way to play: the PES-shop. At last, a sport-game succeeded in changing the player objectives: we'll have to win (or even only to play) not only for the glory but also to unlock options, teams, modes and famous players of the past.
The PES-shop is what I love to define the borderline between casual and hardcore gamer: the first could play with an excellent soccer game, but the second would have enjoyed all PES secrets.
Unfortunately, (and 3,) this great idea has been literally rejected in the first next-generation version of the game: no PES-shop for PES6, no unlock-able contents, only achievements to gain. In fact, Konami has decided to link some not so interesting contents to some particular achievements, however nothing as gorgeous as the possibility to spend some PES-money to unlock Maradona or Pelè or Roberto Baggio...
...PES4...
And here we are with PES4: probably the greatest and the more complete soccer simulation ever created. Going into details, what was really appreciable in this title was the effort made by Konami for what concerns licenses: several European leagues were officially included in the game and an easy and quick editor could be used to correct what was still unofficial.
Unfortunately, (and 4,) PES6 for Xbox 360 has really poor licenses even respect to the current-generation version of the game. Sincerely, what could have been catalogued as a youth-error (easily corrigible with a good editor) has now become a real weakness of the series. A sport game that pretends to simulate the most played, most viewed and loved sport cannot lack of official licenses and the reason is very simple: we all want to imitate the exploits of our "heroes" but we need to identify ourselves in the situation which is easier if we can read on screen "Ronaldo" instead of "N°. 9".
...PES5...
Eventually, we have arrived to PES5, a game I just put away in my memory shelf. Probably the game was something like a step behind the previous one, not from a gameplay point of view but because of the fact that the game could be the first next-generation title of the series, but Konami decided not to invest on this upgrade, also continuing on the 4:3 road (instead of the more next-generation 16:9 or wide, r.n.).
However, PES5 held at least one trump card: Xbox LIVE. For the first time it was simple and fast to play with other gamers in online multi-player matches, both 1vs1 and 2vs2.
Unfortunately, (and 5,) PES6 is not the announced Xbox LIVE killer. According to several rumours there would have been the possibility to play 10vs10 matches, clan management and in-game tournaments: none of these ideas has been developed, on the contrary Konami has removed the 2vs2 online mode.
It's worth to underline that PES6 is not a game to underestimate as, not considering some initial match-making issues, it offers us a great and enjoyable game. Even on the LIVE side the developers succeeded on removing almost all lag problems even if now the online game is slower than the offline one: every press of a button will create some on-screen consequence only after a 0.5 seconds and the shot is usually not so well calibrated because of the delay of the shot-bar filling. Clearly, all these issues can be easily mitigated with experience and several game hours, but it will leave on us always a "strange" feeling.
...PES6. Final Comment
Several things have been said on Pro Evolution Soccer 6 and we prefer to let you discover the others. Let's only say that the "full stop" of the game is the game-play that has been enhanced respect to the previous edition as much as all the player animations and the ball physics. Graphically Konami has always been reluctant with us gamers, but PES6 is an enjoyable title also from this point of view.
However, it's unforgivable that the 6th edition of such a great series has terrible frame rate drops during action in the penalty area and during the goal-keeper throwing back: what is really tragic-comic is that PES5 was finally able to solve all the fps problems which affected the series for years.
Are we going to promote PES6 because of its 5 previous editions? Are we going to turn a blind eye to the numerous issues? No: 5.5
Evaluation
Presentation: 5
Menus are always the same since the first editions of the game. Maybe it's time for Konami to change something. Moreover, the manual reports some wrong information directly from the PS2 version of the game.
Game-play: 8
As always the game-play is why we love PES series. Here fouls are not too penalised and animations are really good.
Graphics: 7
Better than what I thought, worse than what I hoped.
Sound: 4
As always very poor and essential. As for the presentation, maybe it's time for Konami to change the approach.
Longevity: 7
This mark is a low mark for a soccer game. Clearly PES6, as every other PES, will last 1 year but its longevity is guaranteed only by the fact that PES5 is not optimised for Xbox 360.
Multiplayer Factor: 7
Developers said that they were able to remove the lag. They were wrong: they simply bring the same lag to both the players. The result is a fair, but slow and sometimes irritating, match.
Overall Evaluation: 5.5
As you can see this final mark is not an average of the previous ones: however this is deserved as Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is an unfinished game with the lack of several official licenses, of a good editor and of the PES-shop. PES5 HD would have been better game than this PES6!