Emlyn Hughes never had this trouble
By romanista

The best way to view a football game is to go to a stadium. While watching a race or baseball might actually be more rewarding from your special 156" HDMI Bravia Super Flat Wide Turbo TV, for football you have to be in the stadium. And I'm not talking about the lovely atmosphere I felt when I was at the Curva Sud or in the Maracana. I'm talking about the overview you have in the stands. So why do most football games try to look like a footy match on TV?

Good view

If you're in the stands you can see that free space on the left, and you want to scream to Sneijder to pass it there, because that is the place Arjen Robben will be in just a few seconds. On TV you just see Sneijder having doubts. When playing Fifa or PES on the 360 you are Sneijder, but you'll only pass if you know by experience that Robben will be there and not practicing his Theatre performance.

Pro Evo Wii is different. The birds eye view is back, for the first time since Sensi. You see Sneijder and Robben walking in lovely Orange. You point at Robben, hold B, and move to the empty space. There you release the B-button and see Sneijder passing to Robben with a lovely cross.

"Football is War" Fifa coach of the Century Rinus Michels said. And given his legacy, it is strange that no one before this game approached the jogo benito as a Real Time Strategy game. Because that is another way to look at Pro Evo Wii. You control your troops, and send them to the position they are needed. Out flank the enemy, let the wings cavalry setup your main knights.

Since licensing became an issue in football games games have concentrated more and more on the individual player. Let's make Ronaldinho look as much as possible as he does in real life - as if that's a good thing. But concentrating on the aesthetic is denying what football really is. It is a team game. And while it is great that individual players can make an action, the system is as important to win.

And this is where Pro Evo excels. Not since Sensible Soccer has the team has been so much as the centre of the game. It shows you what football really is. Kieron Gillen wrote that Sensi allowed him to understand the game. It showed him what the trick was. And the trick is that football, more than any other major sport, is one of constant fluidity.

The core of Pro Evo Wii is brilliant, but there are some negatives - the graphics are bright enough but look like they were on the ps2. As we are in the middle of the season, all stats are already out of date. Dutch, Italian, Spanish and French leagues are licensed, but not the Premier League. The manual is useless and daunting. It starts with a bloody tutorial you can't skip. And Mark Lawrence is as shit as ever, but at least you can turn on Italian commentary which is much more lively.

But when you start a game it doesn't meather one yota. You are playing a fluent passing game a la Arsenal, Barcelona of mid-90s Ajax within seconds. Goals you regarded as dream goals in PES, are now common place. Defending is another thing. The first times you are helplessly clicking, but after a while you see: you have to cover people and intercept passes, rather than rushing towards the player with the ball and trying to tackle him.

It is a game filled with nice touches. After you won your first tournament, you can play a game with your Mii's. "Jesus saves" has never been taken so literally. The Champions Road, the replacement for the Master League is fun too. Everytime you defeat an opponent, you can acquire one of his players. Your team is constantly changing and getting better. You start with a fantasy team and by the end of the road your team is filled with players you only could barely dream of.

Online is surprisingly good too, with lag free matches. This is surprising,as Konami is not really well known for their good online facilities. One downer however is that games between territories seem to be impossible.

Pro Evo peaked previously around 2003, when WE6FE appeared on the Gamecube. After that game every single iteration seemed to get worse. All fun was taken out of it. But Konami gave this game to another team, and something that no one expected happened. Not that it is a perfect game, but this new direction is such a welcome breath of fresh air, and the most important thing to happen to football games since Sensible Soccer arrived in 1992.

March 2008

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