Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (Xbox)

Each year, konami have released another pro evolution soccer game, which is better than all the other football games, and there is no way this game can be improved, but konami have a knack, of creating the best football games ever, and improving on them the next year. Until almost a year ago, when pro evolution soccer 3 came out, I was a huge supporter of the fifa series, now a year on, I have realised that the pro evolution soccer games are the ultimate, most realistic, in depth football games there are.

The latest pro evolution soccer game there is pro evolution soccer 4, and guess what, this is THE BEST FOOTBALL GAME THERE IS! (Surprise surprise).
Everything is just so much better than pro evolution soccer 3, (although it may seem impossible to some). The game is just so much smoother and so much more realistic than pro evolution soccer 3; here are some of the many improved features:

>138 club teams.

>57 international teams.

>Some players wear real Adidas football boots, e.g, Adidas f-50, Adidas predator pulse.

>Master league has been improved massively.

>There are 20% more football actions.

>Teams from Italy, Holland and Spain are all fully licensed.

>More items to buy in the Pro Evolution Soccer shop.

>Referee is visible during the full match and not just in cut-scenes.

>The advantage rule is played more and fairly, if advantage is played and then the advantage is lost, the referee will award a free kick to the fouled player’s team.

>Linesman animation will be seen when a goal has been scored from an offside position.

>When subs are made, the fourth official will be seen with number board indicating player coming on and player coming off, players will be seen coming on and off as well.

>Stoppage time amount will be shown.

>Very realistic players, e.g., Christiano Ronaldo wears ear bands on his ears to protect his diamond earrings.

>Face emotion will change depending on what the score is.

>Players will be stretchered off the pitch if they get an injury, they will be seen on the touchline receiving treatment.

>Players’ body, shape and movement are the same as in real life.

>There are five new stadiums, Stade Velodrome, Parc Des Prince, Räsundastadion, Westfalenstadion, and St James’ Park.

>One touch pass using chest.

>There are new special effects such as flares, fireworks.

>Players will use their stronger foot more than their weaker foot, their weaker foot will be less accurate.

>6 star difficulty can be unlocked in the pro evolution soccer shop; this is very hard but realistic.

>The ball physics will be changed from stadium to stadium, e.g., the ball will bounce higher in a stadium where it has not rained for two weeks rather than a stadium where it is constantly raining.

>Nearly all players have their real names.

>Trophy, league, player and team names can all be edited.

>If the pitch is wet, the players’ kit will begin to get dirty.

>There are different types of free kicks.

>Crowds have real chants.

>New crowd animation, e.g., when the home team is attacking or scores, there will be more sound than if the away team attacks or scores.

>There are many different new tricks, Marseille roulette, side step, step-over leg fake, sharp turn, cross feint, feint, face the goal, drop shoulder, slow up.

Obviously there are A LOT of improvements, the only thing that hasn’t improved is the commentary, no offence to Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking, but their voices just get so repetitive and boring, plus there is only a tiny improvement with the licenses. They have got all of the Spanish and Italian league teams' licenses but all the others have only got the right colours on the shirt and that is it. But these are the only things that are wrong with the game.

There are many new things to buy from the pro evolution soccer shop as well, (if you do not know what the pro evolution soccer shop is, I recommend that you read my review on pro evolution soccer 3, “Football’s coming home”),
such as 6 star level difficulty, (see above), and there is also the chance to buy a selection of balls in one buy, this includes the ball used in the champions league final and the ball used in Euro 2004.

The master league has also improved. If you want you can still start with the group of novices, (that don’t exist), and work upwards, or you can start the season with the real players of the team that you choose, e.g, Henry and Reyes will be with Arsenal. Instead of searching for players whose certain attribute is from 75-90, you can now search for specific players, e,g, speedsters, shadow strikers, playmakers, etc.

Training mode has different features; there is the mode for beginners, telling you the controls for shooting, passing etc.
There is challenge training mode where you complete certain tasks, the better you do them, the more points you will receive, there are mini high score tables for these challenge, and there is free training where you can train whatever you like.

If you do not want to do master league, there are always the real leagues to take part in, e.g., Premiership, Spanish League, etc.

There are also the cups to play in, e.g., International cup, konami Cup, etc.

Or there is always match mode where you can either play on your own or with mates.

The edit mode is absolutely amazing. You can edit all the players’ looks, (not that you’d want to), or create a perfect version of yourself and make you play for a team. (I obviously put me as the Arsenal goalkeeper).

This game is about £40 in most shops but you can get it for £30 pounds in some and off the Internet.

This game will last you until Pro evolution soccer 5 comes, and there will be no way that konami can make a better football game than this, but they will somehow find a way, because that is what they always do.