Pro Evolution Soccer 6 Review

When Charles Darwin came up with the concept of evolution, he surely didn't categorize some species as being amateurishly evolved, while others as being evolved under the guidance of professionals. That would have been really silly of him. For instance, would that mean that some amateur evolved the hypos while humans were evolved by professionals? I don't buy that. Hypos are big and soft while packing a hell of a punch, and our species produced offspring like Michael Jackson and Rush Limbaugh. When combined, Michael and Rush form some sort of Voltron-like robot hooked on painkillers and neither nature nor science find that funny.

FORE!! Oh wait, wrong game.

Don't give me that sad puppy look, you butcher!

Then again, as far as naming goes (and this is essentially a discussion leading up to naming issues), Winning Eleven is not that much better from Pro Evolution Soccer. While "pro evolution" is definitely stupid from a scientific stand point, it does kind of suggest that if the evolution is totally pro, creation must be an amateur process. So essentially, did God only create Enron executives and the rest of the planet evolved from fish, or rather, is God an amateur?

To be quite honest with you, I think he might be. What good would he have from charging for his work and making a living out of it, when he most likely doesn't have to pay rent? Think about it. If God had a landlord, then what would that make the monotheist religions?

Do you have any idea how much it would cost the Vatican to rent their posh neighborhood in Rome? Oh yeah. Of course God doesn't have a landlord, and neither should they. I say the Vatican owes some honest gelato makers a bundle of gold. Too long have they been made to suffer at obscure tourist locations, so that poorly dressed men could erect statues and pillars of marble in the best parts of Rome.

At least let women into the Vatican (gasp!). They can clean up the place and brighten it up a bit. And then when little children start running around the cathedrals and stuff, we can have their little pink and blue socks all over the altars and random statues. "Johnny, have you been playing with St. Peter's hat again!" I'm sure Peter wouldn't mind. Kids are cool. Vatican needs to chill.

OK, let's stop there for a second.

No matter how profoundly stupid its two names may sound, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 - the game, still wipes the floor with FIFA 07. While graphically not being up to par and looking dated by some standards, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 does for football simulations what none of the FIFA games could do.

OK, granted, the game still has some issues with player and team licensing (not enough of it, funds not as high as EA's), and the menu along with the horrible music seem to definitely lag behind FIFA's smooth exterior. The gameplay, on the other hand, is far simpler in terms of controls, and yet offers so much more versatility, fluidity and just a much more natural feel to the game of football than FIFA 07.

He would do well on stage.

The goalie is all but beaten.

FIFA games, for all their good sides, are way too one-dimensional in their approach to the game. They rely on more buttons while achieving less. Pro Evolution Soccer is based on a simpler concept that just works better, while allowing the player to constantly switch between a range of different attacking options. The physics work better and the through pass is more intuitive. This immediately gives you the option of using different formations to achieve different offensive goals. Whether you want to go heavy in the middle with five players and rely on short passes, or put a tall and strong forward like Drogba in the front and feed him long balls.

Crosses feel more natural and wing charges as well; the way that the ball and player bodies behave in duels is also more natural, so this allows for some experimenting on the pitch; a few new moments every so often. This quite simply doesn't happen in FIFA games.

Bottom line, Pro Evolution Soccer still beats FIFA hands down. It may not be able to compete in terms of next-gen polish, but this is a case of matter over style. In terms of evolution, the new game might not be so pro, but it still offers a more rewarding football experience. And isn't that what everyone is after?