I'm not a huge soccer/football fan, so I'm not the best person to analyse this.
IGN have posted a "First Look" at Pro Evolution Soccer '08 on the Wii - and there is a real chance that due to addition of clever Wiimote controls - this could not only be the best version of PES '08 released, this could become the definitive soccer/football title out there:
http://au.wii.ign.com/articles/826/826603p1.html
UK, October 11, 2007 - Although the existence of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on Wii has been widely known for some time, hard facts about the game have been few and far between until now. At a press event in Seville in Spain, Konami lifted the lid on its next-gen Nintendo title, revealing a game that appears to take the series in a dramatic new direction. Indeed, while the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 offer up much the same experience as the PlayStation 2 games of yore, albeit with sharper graphics, the Wii incarnation looks set to push the boundaries of the series.
The reason for this is that Konami has cleverly used the Nunchuk and Wiimote to enhanced the gameplay experience rather than bolt on some motion-sensing gimmick. Here, the Nunchuk stick is used to move the player around screen and the B button is used to pass. No big deal you may think, but what's interesting is that the Wiimote appears as a point on the screen, affecting the gameplay in a couple of ways. Firstly, it's an alternative way of moving your player around the screen - drag the cursor around while holding A and your player will follow the on-screen target. Secondly, the cursor is used to accurately pass the ball, so if you want to thread a looping through ball to a winger (rather than the obvious guy standing nearby) simply move the target over the runner's head and press pass.
That's not all. Using the same method, you're free to pass into space and, from the video we've seen), the AI is smart enough to know what you're doing and latch onto the pass, within reason of course.
The Wiimote comes in really useful during setpieces too because you can 'order' off-the-ball players to make runs. Again, simply click the cursor over their heads and then drag in the direction you want them to run. They'll then scuttle off, leaving you to knock in a well-weighted ball they can latch on to. There's no limit to the number of players you can move around either, so there's no reason why a skilled player couldn't send one player off on a dummy run while crossing the ball into the path of a player they've sent in another direction.
Admittedly we've yet to go hands-on with the Wii version of PES 2008 but in theory - and judging by the video - it's looks very promising indeed. We'll have to wait and see just how complicated the controls are, especially in the middle of a frantic midfield tussle, but Konami has at least distilled the authentic essence of PES in its Wii game rather than opting for the obvious - and already tiresome - gimmicks we've seen of late.
I'll leave the comments to others who actually play PES :)
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