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Pro Evolution Soccer 6 Preview
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Formats: All current gen & X360
Out: Early October
Publisher: Konami
Ask any Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) fan out there if they fancy a kickabout on FIFA '06 or the like and you're more than likely to get a kick in the privates. This is because PES is a perfectionist’s game: one with physics so complex and deep it can take years before you’ve come close to mastering it. But what PES does share with FIFA is that it also gets updated yearly with, usually, only a handful of new additions.
Again, we'll start with what’s new. First, the number of new player animations is astonishing and gives the footballers a real sense of character. Near misses at the 89th minute or penalty kicks that fly off the post will see the player explode into one of several types of hissy fit. They might smash their hand into the grass or throw their arms into the air, looking to the clouds in seearch of some divine intervention. The refs have also been given a new range of reactions – smash someone’s legs with a dodgy sliding tackle and you’ll get a serious finger-waving. Or if they’ve given an unfair call and you argue the toss, they’ll just shrug their shoulders and dismiss you.
Another new feature is the ability to change the weather of a match during the game. Since the beginning, PES has always given you the option to pick the weather at the start of a game, but now you can interfere with it mid-match. Very much like the real weather in these globally-warmed times, you can run onto the pitch in glorious sunshine and 90 minutes later run off wetter than an shark's forehead. This is a better feature than it first sounds, because the weather in PES6 has a much bigger impact on the play than before. Players are more prone to skid on their backsides when it’s wet and slippery and the speed and weight of the ball changes dramatically as the pitch gets soggier.
There’s not much more we can tell you for now about PES6, other than that it'll feature licensed kits for Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Sweden, which will please people from said places no end. Konami has also issued a press release that says John Terry will be extending his deal to be the face for the UK version. We're sure his mother will be pleased.
It’s coming out shortly after FIFA ’07 in early October. We'll match them up against each other and let you know which one's worth the cash.
