Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer burst on to the scene in 2001 and launched for the Playstation and Playstation 2, taking the world of football-gaming by storm (International Superstar Soccer aside of course). From the off, Konami had unearthed an extremely bright gem within their ranks, providing the kind of game that is simple yet very effective to those who loved the sport as well as a new football game to play. Although it will always face criticism of a lack of licence - the reason why team names, stadiums and players are a wee bit dodgy - PES always made up the negatives with a specific system that was impressive for the level of graphics available to consoles 12-years ago, keeping you hooked for hours. As the years progressed, so to did the game. Match engines greatly improved and the overall experience of playing not only in the famous Master Leagues became more enjoyable but so did the ability to play online, albeit not as well known as it's rival. It started playing to the cover start excellently as well, starting off with the piercing stare of Pierluigi Collina for the third instalment and even adding Lionel Messi between 2009 - 2011, before Cristiano Ronaldo made it his own from 2012. Sadly however, the game did drop off over time and began to lose its footing next to FIFA once it got up and running. Problems with online games, smoothness of games and even questionable player likeness all received a hammering by critics and gamers alike. No matter how hard they tried, even by adding licences to the Champions League, Spanish, Italian and French league to their repertoire, they just could not compete against the powers of EA. But this year however, things are starting to look up. PES 2014 has made up a lot of lost ground, the overall gameplay itself - along with going it going back to basics - has really brought the game closer to the fans. With the constant complaints of glitches and crashes in FIFA, most users are starting to go back, just to enjoy playing a football game again. More teams are available along with almost crystal-clear player likeness with certain clubs and even the commentary has scored some much needed points for Konami, giving them a perfect platform to build on for next year. But what's the verdict then? Find out on the next page