Overview

The Pro Evolution Soccer series has always imposed itself thanks to its outstanding and realistic gameplay. A strong competitor for Electronic Arts' FIFA series has long claimed to be the ultimate simulation.

The first observation is not favourable. Whether it's the graphics or the gameplay, the series has not evolved much. Worse, some game modes and many possibilities have disappeared! Despite these minor inconveniences, PES remains the undisputed reference in soccer simulation.

Gameplay

Therefore, the gameplay is a little simpler than before, which goes hand in hand with the current "mainstream" trend. But it is necessary to look beyond this slight modification. By making its game faster and more fluid, Konami has given it more sustained gameplay. No more long passes, no more slow runs from one side of the field to the other.

The addition of many licenses even manages to give a new youth to the game of the Japanese giant. But when you buy a license, you lose profit, and when you lose profit, you give up other licenses. That's why some teams and stadiums disappear from this sixth edition. For the rest, PES keeps its assets. A nice training mode, many competitions (which we will come back to later), technical moves, realistic gameplay, varied game conditions, management of transfers, injuries and a whole bunch of features more or less essential to the title.

On the other hand, there is no real evolution in AI. The intelligence evolves according to the level of difficulty, which is far from being a bad thing. The single-player mode is quite long, with many championships, cups and special competitions. There is enough to spend more than thirty hours of the game. But you still have to choose the right level of difficulty! Because the difficulty of PES 6 is unfortunately severely unbalanced. The beginner mode is far too simple (a lot of 9-0s), while the Amateur mode, which is supposed to be a little bit higher, will already give you a hard time. Needless to say that the higher difficulty modes will be simply impossible to tackle for casual players.

Graphics & Sound

Contrary to its direct competitor, PES 6 has not emphasized its graphics. The stadiums are empty, and the audience unrealistic. Nevertheless, the faces of the different players have been given special attention, so much so that one wonders how it is possible that with such an ugly graphics engine, the game manages to display such detailed player models.

The same is true for the sound atmosphere, which is disastrous. The background music and commentary are so repetitive that you'll soon turn off the sound.

Conclusion

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is the best soccer simulation on Xbox 360. Unfortunately, Konami doesn't seem to have made any effort on the graphical aspect of the game, which has only evolved a little. And because of the lack of time, many game modes and options have disappeared. On paper, it appears like an excellent game, but unfortunately, it doesn't translate into reality.