| Following the recent tidal wave of football games to hit the console
market, comes the latest in the hugely successful ISS series from Konami. ISS Pro
Evolution is the title every football game fan has been talking about since word was
leaked of its development. Console Domain has been fortunate enough to receive a review
copy of this latest potential blockbuster. For those
of you unaware of the rivalry in the market for console football games, a divide has been
firmly established between fans of the FIFA series and those of ISS. If you wanted to be
really technical then FIFA could be likened to Manchester United with its huge popularity
and quality gameplay that achieve results week in week out. ISS is more like Chelsea,
being technically brilliant and playing entertaining football, but not always achieving
the fully deserved result. For me though, ISS has always had the edge over the FIFA games
due the crisp gameplay and better player AI, even if it can't boast the official license
to use proper player and team names. Introducing the game, an amazing rendered video plays
through tension building clips allowing the sheer quality of the players' motion capturing
to really stand out. On the start-up screen, fans of the ISS series have finally had their
prayers answered with a full season mode incorporating team management. Thankfully, some
of the best European club teams have now been included from the treble-winning Manchester
United to Spanish giants Barcelona and the Italian multi-million spending, Inter Milan.
The player names are slight adaptations of the real life counterparts, such as Owenn,
Bekham, Zedane and Del Perio. I found it worthwhile changing most of the players' names in
the customise option, just for peace of mind. One bug I did find was that the player names
are not displayed correctly in the game, but I'm sure that this will get ironed out for
the final release.
Within this mode is a full transfer system, where you have to
acquire points as credit to buy in new players. Any player from either club or
international teams can be acquired if you have the necessary collateral and you even get
to choose their squad number. Plenty of statistics are readily available from your team's
performance chart to your top scorers and players with the most assists and your full list
of fixtures and previous match-ups are also detailed. The league and cup modes are
available to the full line-up of international teams. Only one league is available, but
the International, Konami, and continental cups remain as before. Many aspects of the cup
set-up can be changed from the number of teams participating to the format of the
competition – it's even possible to run a league of entirely human operated teams,
which is perfect for a bit of office rivalry. Training has been enhanced to include
attacking practice, one-two pass and shoot set-pieces, free kick practice and corner
practice. Practicing is definitely advisable before heading into a full game, just to
ensure that the computer doesn't dish out a good drubbing. It's also useful a useful way
of practicing stepovers, dummied shots and lobbing the keeper. Heading into the actual
game, the impressive stadia visuals remain, even if the flat crowd still waves team flags.
The pitch size appears to have been increased, which works much more effectively and
allows more space to exploit with those killer through-balls. The already fine player
control has been further tweaked with numerous subtle changes to make controlling the
ball, tricks, passing and shooting even more realistic. The simplest touches like player
heads following the flight of the ball, auto replays of offsides and chances and players
stumbling when losing their balance really complete the experience. Passing manoeuvres are
now more likely to wrong foot your opponents and the through ball requires careful
monitoring of the small pitch map to open up chances. Inswinging crosses and across the
face of goal pull-backs have been improved to make it harder to score, which I felt was a
problem of the first version. Goal keepers are now more keen to rush out of their area to
panic you into an early shot, but are still slightly too prone to being beaten by a crafty
lob. A new save option allows your finest masterpieces to be saved for viewing at a later
date
A new four-player mode comes as a welcome addition, which
should ease the tension and fighting as to whose turn it is next. This mode manages to
take the game into a completely new dimension and playing two humans on each team makes
passing movements much more fluent. While one player runs with the ball, the other can
move into space ready to receive the through ball, with the potential for some deadly
attacks. The joys of victory contrast sharply against the lows of a defeat, but at least
you'll be able to share the blame. If you don't have 3 friends, then go and grab 3 people
from the street because this mode is simply too enjoyable to miss. Other notable
improvements are a greater selection of tactics, ranging from the classic offside trap to
wing attacks and zone presses. Particularly impressive are the AI improvements, where wing
attacks will see your full-backs overlapping to provide more attacking options and
strikers will make runs in between defenders to grab a vital yard of space. Players look
slightly smoother and more realistic, right down to Ronaldo's blue boots, Zidane's bald
patch and Hadji's pony tail. If you're not happy with the current standard of talent,
there is even the option to create your own team of superstars. Commentary is provided
courtesy of Martin Williams and the old war-horse Terry Butcher. Although the lack of big
names here makes the analysis rather dull, at least it remains relatively accurate to the
state of play.
The rest of the game remains pretty much unchanged, although
there are now only three difficulty levels, which I found annoying because level 4 out of
5 on ISS '98 was just about perfect for me. The new 'hard' level does force the best out
in your gameplay, where clever passing and quick thinking are needed because the computer
players always run quicker than yours. Having reviewed almost every football release of
late, from the emergence of Uefa Striker to the continued excellent standard of play from
FIFA and even challenges from the likes of Sony's This is Football, I definitely feel that
once again, ISS has stolen the show. This is much more than simply an update and the
inclusion of the management mode really will silence the chanting FIFA fans. So many
delightful touches have been added to an already irresistable experience and when your
through ball finally cuts open the opponent's defence, the sense of satisfaction is
immense. The only faults to the game are the long running lack of an official licence and
the way that players stumble when you want them to just stand tall. Player names can be
changed anyway and the stumbling gives the gameplay an addictive edge that makes beating
your marker really special every time it happens. I feel that this game deserves a place
in every football game fan's collection and for me remains as the undisputed champ. |
