I’m a self confessed huge Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) fan. I’ve been playing the well loved series since the first iteration on Playstation 2, even before that with ISS on PS1. PES continued to grow into one of the most popular, critically acclaimed franchises in gaming......until recently that is.

While The PES series flourished its main contender for the football (Soccer, to the Americans) crown FIFA wallowed in limbo and was nothing more than mediocre. Again, until recently. When this ‘next generation’ came around excitement and hype was rife among fans about what Konami will bring to the table considering all this new power they had at their disposal and considering on the last gen platforms the game was so good many thought its dominance would continue on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. That sadly, was not the case.

So EA finally woke up and created a new engine from scratch, spent mountains dollars tying up licences and made a damn good football game. The problem for Konami and the team behind PES is that FIFA has just been getting better. FIFA 09 was arguably one of the best all round sports games ever, presentation was top notch, gameplay, although still not up to par with PES, was so well done and online is flawless. Features wise FIFA makes PES look like a Sunday-league amateur team. Konami disappointed fans again with its latest offering PES 2009. It was an improvement from the terrible 2008 offering but as far as a ‘next-gen’ experience goes it was woeful. PES 2008 and 2009 are nothing more than HD versions of their last gen cousins, using the old engine and animations which looks dated and awful in comparison to other sports games. The online aspect...oh dear, unplayable. At this stage of the game you would think a company like Konami would be able to do online right? Well where PES is concerned they can’t, lag, lag oh and more lag.

So, with all that in mind is there any hope for the PES series and Konami to regain their crown and most importantly sales? Yes, there is. That hope is PES 2010. I believe this is their last chance to show the fans they mean business and gain ground on EA and their flagship title FIFA. What do they need to do? Firstly take presentation back to the drawing board. PES 2010 needs to SCREAM next-gen in every aspect, graphics, animation, the menu screens, the player likeness, in every way. Secondly the game engine needs upgraded and re-done. In a football game things like collision detection, correct foot planting, A.I are fundamental and PES just hasn’t got the fundamentals right. They need to eliminate the bugs and embarrassing flaws from the game i.e. hilariously bad goal keepers, jaw-droopingly bad A.I and those ‘WTF’ moments where the game seems to have a mind of its own. So, it’s put up or shut up time for Seabass (the main guy at PES Productions) and his team. Will they get relegated into the gaming wilderness or claw back a last gasp winner against their fierce rivals? Let’s hope that more info on the game points to the latter.

Thanks For Reading.