Pro Evolution Soccer 4 Review (PS2) By GhettoBandit

10 / 10
13 Jul 2006 at 03:48

Review by: GhettoBandit

Well, where do I begin. Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is the forth edition from the highly acclaimed Pro Evolution Soccer series which in my opinion is about three times round Earth (miles) better than the tat that FIFA are producing at the moment. Where FIFA fails this game doesn't, sure it doesn't have the licenses to make all the teams have the same names in real life but it's got one thing FIFA is missing, game-play.

FIFA pretty much got together a few program designers who knew almost nothing about football and asked them if they'd be willing to make "The best football sim ever". That's why whenever you play Pro Evolution Soccer you can actually see that Konami; the label on which this was produced, has put a lot of effort into it. Anyway, that's my little rant with FIFA over, best get down to what makes the game what it is...

Well to begin with Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is all about footwork, you mess it up and the opposition have that option to punish you for your schoolboy error which is what would 10 times out of 10 happen in real life unless it happened to be Sunderland you were playing... but we won't go there seeing as how it could hurt a few people. The controls are brilliant, the amount of tricks that are on offer for you to attempt are out-of-this-world, the trick you do all depends on how quick you are with R3, if your slow then your player does a few step overs or a fakey and if your quick, you'll see him roll the ball from foot to foot and then flick it through the players legs. This all looks fantastic due to the graphics that the game has, you can see the familiar face of each player and also the bodies of them move as if they're actually real footballers instead of having what seems like stickmen with rubber legs and arms which FIFA currently posesses. The soundtrack which the game has isn't the best but you'll soon get familiar with some of the tracks and will even begin to sing along as your putting a 40 yard free kick into the back of the net. If you don't like it, just do what I do and stick your iPod in or whatever you've got to give yourself your "Personal Gaming Soundtrack". The one thing I enjoy about Pro Evolution is "Replay", this not only lets you see the goal from different angles, perspectives etc but you can also zoom in on the players faces to see what their reactions are like once the ball has crossed the line. I've had hours of fun with friends inventing catchphrases for each one ranging from, 'Oooo Mary, did you really give him bitty' to the filthy, 'Oh yeah Beckham! Tha-ah-ts the spot!', the amount of fun you can get from doing that is unreal, they should invent a game for that by itself. Back to the game in hand... the amount of options that the game has is also pretty goddam impressive, you can have the option to have a quick 4 or 5 minute match with a few mates by choosing "Quick Mode" or if you're the more avid football fan; such as myself, then you'll play through the time consuming, gruelling "Master League" where you pick a team from a range of leagues and take them from League 2 to 1 and then onwards to win all the cups, trophies etc that are on offer.

Well to cut a long story; because I really could go on for hours, I'd ask you to buy this game for a number of reasons. One, if your looking for a 2-Player with your mates type of game then look no further PES4 is what you should choose. Two, if your no longer interested in the thing that FIFA call a football sim then come on over to PES World! And last but not least, three, if you don't buy it then who's Beckham going to satisfy.

I give Pro Evolution Soccer 4 a mind-blowing 10/10. Better luck next time FIFA...

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