Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

Getting the right angle on the world's favourite sport is no easy task, especially when there are so many others trying to do exactly the same. With both Real Football and FIFA having already played their considerable hands this season, the latest Pro Evolution Soccer has a lot to contend with, and while both of its rivals (to varying degrees of success) have attempted to notch up the realism stakes, in terms of both physical play and presentation, Pro Evo 2009 might feel a little stagnant by comparison.

It all comes down to those angles, and in this case you can apply the literal sense of that word – Pro Evo is soccer squared. With a distinctinctly retro feel, Konami and Glu's collaboration feels like a carbon copy of the kind of football games that started the ball rolling the in early nineties. It makes it a very tough game to evaluate because, even though Pro Evo is the least realistic of the three brands of football leading the way on your mobile, it it not without a distinct sense of charm and a bucket or two of fun of its own. It's a damn good gamer's game, in short.

Pro Evo's latest revival encourages a more patient approach than either Real Football or FIFA. Though the end result never feels wholly authentic, it's possible to slowly build up your attack, switching sides with ease and dancing your way into the box to score.

It's also worth nothing that, of the three, Pro Evo's goals are by far the most entertaining, with the ball positively lashing into the top corner on occassion. Scoring is a little more straightforward, too. With the controls themselves (in Standard mode, at least) following precedents set long ago – '5' to pass, '0' to shoot – hitting the back of the net is more about approaching the goal from an angle and applying a decent amount of pressure to the strike, rather than having to employ some kind of tedious trickery upon the goalkeeper.

As was the case last year, Pro Evo also employs a 'one touch' control method for those new to the game, which attempts to assign all major actions – passing, shooting, tackling – to the '5' key, with the game gauging what action you wish to take by the situation the player you're controlling is in. In practice, it's not the option to pick if you intend on taking part in a full league or cup campaign (it can limit the breadth of your play), but it's an interesting selling point that distinguishes Pro Evo from its rivals.

And distinction is key here as, like Real Football, many team names are absent from the line-up (Manchester City replaced by Manchester Blue, and so forth), since EA's FIFA has a stranglehold on the official license. But, in truth, it's rather fitting that Pro Evo, like many games of old, has to employ a little creativity when it comes to team names. It only adds to the game's old skool feel – something that's reflected right down to the way your team's score flashes on the screen during the post goal celebration.

While all this means Pro Evolution 2009 can't compete with either FIFA or Real Football when it comes to moving the genre forward, it does allow it to offer a distinctly different alternative that could, in practice, actually complement its competitors. It's not difficult to imagine many gamers who've already shelled out for a football game this year also taking a punt on this latest Pro Evo, so unique is its appeal,
meaning Konami might well have scored a late leveller in this season's footie fiesta.