A little after release I have decided to break into reviewing games with Konami's latest episode of Pro Evo, 2010 as half suggests in the title is Konami's 10th release and looked to be the best one yet, but with tough competition coming from EA's latest FIFA 10.
The game play is much the same as many previous Pro Evo games, with not as much advances as in FIFA, however, this classic game play is why I am still a supporter of Pro. Though admittantly FIFA is far more realistic I still enjoy the somewhat farfetched ease of scoring 40 yard screamers, whilst yelling out 'Gerrard!' as it flies into the top corner, although the players name can and does vary... In my opinion I still cannot get used to the supposedly more realistic player controlability, which sees your player pass the ball 15 seconds after you have pressed the button, by which point your 1-0 down, this feature first appeared in Pro 7 after the tremendous Pro 6.
The difficulty levels also seem to be somewhat confusing as regular now seems to have taken on the meaning of simple, a perfect description of the CPU competition; and professional a huge step up, but however, should still not have the privilege of calling its difficulty professional. The most enticing aspect of Pro however, which still in my opinion is way ahead of FIFA is the much awaited latest Master League, as usual this is in more depth to the last giving you many more options to sort your team, from finance to line ups.
The graphics are yet again not as strong as FIFA 10 which by now is taken for a given, but however, is still very much playable, and also another huge factor is the difference in somewhat both minor differences, although some more major than others, such as the licencing of teams, the only two teams fully licenced, i.e. have their sponsors and correct team names and players etc are Liverpool and Man U, this is possibly the most annoying thing about Pro and has been a standing issue since the original PES. Some will be happy to know that the Italian, French and Dutch leagues are fully licenced with every team, however, this is hardly a consolation when the country we are in is England and the team you probably support is English, so as usual it back to the editor for all you Arsenal, Birmingham, Chelsea and well just about every other team in the league to change all of your teams criticals back to what they should be, however, Pro have come a long way since those Ryan Greggs days (oh wait, that should be Giggs shouldnt it), just not far enough to compete with the licencing of FIFA.
The all to addicting music which first came to my realisation with Kasabian - Clubfoot in PES 5 has returned once again with not just one addicting track but a whole heap of em', including The Chemical Brothers, The Klaxons and Stereophonics, ahwell nevermind, this is just one of the many reasons why I choose to play this game on my PC (with an Xbox controller mind you), to utilize the all important patches and editing to change the music and add in those favourite team chants during your matches. The commentary not too bad as usual with big names in the likes of Mark Lawrenson and Jon Champion, however, the out sometimes out of sync commentary is bound to get annoying at some point.
In the end having played both FIFA 10 and PES 10 the marginal winner of this bout is for me yet again Pro, although yes FIFA is more realistic and yes I have been told enough times that PES has stopped evolving, but for sheer entertainment and enjoyability in gameplay its Pro all the way but with FIFA clipping an Pro's heels for the last decade it is getting mighty close, and I am not so sure if I will be a Pro Evolution Soccer man next year.
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