The Pro Evolution / Winning Eleven Series has been around for some time now – about a decade -- and at the beginning was leaps and bounds above EA’s FIFA series. Both franchises have tried to get licenses – PES goes to each individual team or league while FIFA has the …ummm… FIFA license which pretty much covers everyone that has been within three yards of a soccer ball. This has been quite the battle of soccer supremacy and this year FIFA got the early start and was incredibly impressive. Now comes PES … and how does it do? Well, not so great.

Since the jump to the Xbox 360 the PES series has been decried for a lack of a graphical update, and unfortunately, there’s not much new here. While the FIFA game has a much wider and “press box” style camera angle, PES is a little more up close; however that comes at the expense of not looking as good as FIFA. Now, that’s not to say PES looks ugly, it’s definitely passable – however FIFA looks better. The only area PES wins are the ad boards and linesmen – although it is rather funny to see PlayStation ad boards in an Xbox 360 game.

The audio is the same as it ever was – it’s probably possible with your eyes closed to listen to PES 2009 and Winning Eleven 1 on the PS1 and you couldn’t tell the difference. The chants by the fans are superb; it’s amazing how they can keep the same chant up for 45 minutes however.

The one thing PES really has going for it is the gameplay. I still prefer the gameplay of PES over FIFA – it’s not as tight but I mean that in a good way. For example, in FIFA the AI seems to play a man on coverage non stop – you are lucky to be able to move down the pitch five yards without getting tackled or defended. In PES there are more opportunities to bring the ball into space and change the field of play (crossing the ball from one side of the field to the other). In PES, the achievement of scoring a goal literally feels incredible – there is something to be said for the buildup and anticipation of a play that leads to a goal; while that feeling is starting to happen with FIFA there is still a big difference when playing PES.

The big addition is this year’s “Become a Legend” mode, which bears a striking resemblance to FIFA’s Be A Pro mode – with the difference being that Be A Pro is actually fun. The commands in order to call for the ball are a wonderful combination of LB + RT and maybe then you’ll actually call for it. It’s just plain unenjoyable – while the opposite is true with FIFA – Be A Pro was the best part of the game while the rest was just okay.