PES 2009

PES 2009 is in some ways, a much different game of football than its predecessors, making it bigger, better and more accessible to newbies while ramping up the difficulty curve for veterans. Everyone wins! Except Scotland of course...

For the first time you have a full separate mode for the UEFA Champions League. Here you take one of a range of teams through the 32-team tourney in a bid for glory. As with every new PES, there are more licensed teams and players, doing away with some of the really rubbish made-up names of old.

Likenesses are better than ever too, and there are more of them. In fact the overall appearance has been kicked up a notch, but still trails behind the brillant graphics of FIFA.

'Become a Legend' mode allows you to play as one member of the team on the field, meaning you need to work with the CPU players if you are going to win the league. It sounds boring and at points it is. However, once you get into it you might find it more tactical than controlling the whole team at once. Online plays well with no real difficulty, graphical letdown or connection problems, which is absolutely crucial for a sports game.

This is definitely a much more streamlined affair than what has gone before, doing away with multi-button tricks and favouring for a slew of analogue swivels and good positioning.

It's always interesting to see how well the commentary ends up in footy games and it flows well here, although occasionally you might be lazily sauntering up the wing, outside the penalty box and they start shouting as if you're just about to score the greatest goal in history. Calm down lads...

This year's Pro Evo is more of the same excellence you have come to expect from the series; simplified in some places, ramped up in others. Veteran players will relish the overall increased difficulty levels, making the game challenging and fresh once more.