In a nutshell:
The world???s most popular football sim returns with numerous tweaks and additions to make it even more realistic in both gameplay and graphics. If England don???t win the World Cup you can always take solace in the latest Pro Evo.

The lowdown:
This latest sequel sees one of the biggest overhauls in the game???s history with the new improvements to the already impressive animation directly affecting the way you play. Dribbling with the ball is now easier but the quality of your passing and shooting now depends on the position of a player???s body in terms of both accuracy and power. Make a shot straight after a sharp turn, for example, and your chances of hitting the target are slim. Opponent and team artificial intelligence has also been greatly increased, to the point where every man on the pitch is thinking independently. Apart from the animation, the graphics in general have also been upgraded with much better player likenesses.

Most exciting moment:
Thanks to the new changes Pro Evo 6 plays a much more attacking game than previously, with counter attacks after a fluffed shot on goal made much easier than previously.

Since you ask:
Although the game doesn???t have the official FIFA World Cup license it does simulate an unofficial international tournament, including both qualifying rounds and the finals.

The bottom line:
The best just keeps getting better with the most beautiful virtual game ever.
HARRISON DENT

I've been a HUGE Pro Evo fan from a number of years now. I had ISS Pro on the Playstation, then upgraded to Pro Evo 5 on the PC. PE5 had it all - a true football simulation, whilst having the appeal of an arcade game. Yes, like any game, it had a few niggles, but the ease of scoring and defending were reasonable, and there were enough extras (like special moves and tricks) to keep fans coming back again and again.

All Konami needed to do to make the sequel an all-time classic was:

- update the players and kits;
- slightly improve the graphics;
- make the difference between fast and slow players slightly more apparent;
- invest in some new commentary;
- tweek the referee strictness so that the given/not-given ratio was less bias towards the computer player; and
- make tricks easier to pull off for especially skillful players.

That's about it! Otherwise, PE5 was a perfect game - I just don't get bored with it. It's frustrating every so often, but then that's football - things don't always go your way.

Pro Evo 6 is just ridiculous though. They've made it more difficult to score, and an awful lot more difficult to defend. Konami have also made the "predetermined result" factor a lot worse. Before buying the game, I read other reviews on Amazon which complained of this, but thought "hmmm...there's only a few people saying this, compared to the number of positive reviews - maybe it's not that bad?" Trust me - it is! If the computer decides you're going to lose, suddenly an absolute no-one can waltz their way through your entire defence and bundle in a goal, and there's nothing you can do about it. And for fans of the previous game, get used to hearing "this frustrating game ends in a goalless draw!", because you're likely to hear it a lot!

The way players control the ball has a different feel to it also. You can see what they've tried to do, but it just hasn't worked. It took a while to get used to and I was hoping it just felt so "clunky" because I wasn't used to it. Wrong. It's definitely lost some of the fluidity of its prequel and just isn't an enjoyable game.

And then there's the graphics. I was hoping for some sort of improvement, but they've done nothing with it. I've played PE6 on the Xbox 360 too and it does look nice, but for die-hard PE5 PC players, you'll notice the graphics are actually slightly worse on the sequel - looking slightly fuzzy and jerky in comparison.

As I said before, I've been playing PE5 since it came out and never got bored. I was "umming and ahhhing" whether to bother getting the sequel for ages. Having owned it for a 2-3 weeks now, I'm going to revert to PE5. I've now uninstalled PE6 and will probably get rid of it on ebay.

My initial reaction was to give it a lower score than I did. I decided to give it three stars, because it's actually not a bad game itself - just not a shade on the prequel. If you don't already own Pro Evo 5, you may well enjoy it. If you already own Pro Evo 5, do yourself a favour - Google how to install the new kits and stick with it!

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is without doubt one of the greatest games I have ever played. It consumes virtually all my game playing time. I remember taking a long time to convert to the series. I saw Pro Evo as more of a console game with the Pc conversion being little more than an afterthought. Not being a console fan I avoided it like the plague and stuck by Fifa's reasonably solid offerings. However I was hearing more and more good things about Pro Evo and when Fifa versions 2003 & 2004 sucked I decided to try Pro Evolution Soccer 4. And boy was I glad I did. It played out fantastically. Fast paced and unpredictable action with desperate defending. I loved it. The only gripe I had was a lack of licensing in the game but a quick surf on the internet and I found an option file which gave me all the correct player/team names and logos etc. I soon became very comfortable on the controls despite using a Force Feedback 2 joystick and was pleased the game seemed to play well
despite using an unusual controller for a footy game. I am sure I could be potentially much better on a gamepad than I ever will be on a joystick but I just can't get on with console type gamepads, I am just all fingers and thumbs!

Anyway Pro Evo 5 came out and introduced me to online play rather than LAN play. I found this aspect to be so much fun. I had never played online before (mainly due to not previously having broadband) but this really opened the game up for me although my winning percentage of only 30% online was not much to speak of. I did have some initial teething troubles as I tried to work out how to forward the appropriate port on my modem but then I was in business. The only problem I had was occasional laggy matches in the second half when leading against some opponents. I have since learned that you both take it in turns to host a half and that there are a lot of lag cheats out there who will download stuff in the background whilst they host. The result being they get a smooth gaming experience whilst at your end it lags like hell. The only way to stop these people is to note their user names down and never agree to play them again. If enough people do that then the cheats will
eventually be frozen out - I can take losing no problem (with my ability I have had to get used to it) but I have no time for these sorts of people. Where is the self satisfaction of winning by cheating? There were subtle improvements made to the game although the licensing was no better. Again a downloaded option file sorted that whole aspect out.

The latest incarnation Pro Evolution Soccer 6 has again taken the series forward. Fifa 2007 may be improving and narrowing the gap but it is still not at the same level. In Pro Evo 6 there are so many unexpected things that can happen. Defenders and keepers can make mistakes, top strikers can occasionally miss sitters - and you never seem to score the same goal twice. The passing is fluid and teams can be peskily difficult to break down but when you do pull off a wonderful team move, a killer through ball or a dribbling run that leads to a goal the satisfaction is immense. Players are very much like their real life counterparts in their abilities. They are accurately depicted in the game and can heavily influence how you play the game in a certain area of the pitch. For instance it's not much good trying to go on a mazey run with say Claude Makelele or Nicky Butt as they are far less likely to pull it off successfully. Far better to try something like this with a Ronaldo
or a Kaka. Leave the cloggers of this world like Makelele to break up the oppositions play and release the ball! The game never ceases to amaze me. The other night I was playing a cup game against the computer and was a goal down in injury time. Suddenly I force a corner and my keeper runs up to join the attack. Incredible stuff!!!

The only criticisms I have about Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is the online aspect is sometimes a little unpredictable with server issues at Konami. It is much, much better than after when it was initially released (and you can even play Playstation 2 users) but occasionally causes grief. Penalties in a game seem to be quite rare especially from an ai controlled team. I have played three or four full seasons and in all that time can only recall being awarded a penalty only 4 or 5 times. Just seems a little on the low side. Free kicks are peskily tough to score from but when one does fly in it is extremely satisfying. I would also like to see visible linesman during matches and the half empty stadium bug sometimes still rears it's head. Finally the menu interface remains extremely console like. Fifa 2007 admittedly has a far more stylish interface. Despite this gameplay is where it matters and in this aspect Pro Evolution Soccer 6 wins hands down. No other footy game can make a
0-0 seem as exciting as a 3-3 thriller like Pro Evo. Fifa 2007 is catching up but still has someway to go. Everyone has their own opinions and they are entitled to that. My recommendation though is Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (and if you can spare the cash buy the guide too, this helped my game a lot).

When PES5 came out the withdrawal symptoms of leaving PES4 were enormous - it touch ages to score, ages to get used to the controls (although the changes were only slight) and the same comes with PES6.

Crossing used to be a matter of getting down the wing and smacking it over, now you HAVE to push to stick in the direction you want the cross.

But the biggest issue is internet play. Fine if you have DSL Broadband but LAN (cable) and you will NOT get a connection. Every other developer supports DSL and LAN but Konami appear to have forgotten, so check your broadband out before you buy - it used to be my favourite bit of PES5, but when I changed to cable, so my connection was no longer valid according to Konami.

Call of Duty and everything else still works, but Konami..............

Pro evo is always such a promising prospect - especially compared to fifa a few year's ago, with it's on rails style. Pro evo was a breath of fresh air with the game flowing much more like football.

However, I've been disappointed with this offering. Quite simply, the rubberband AI ruins the whole thing. In 2 player it's bearable as you both have control over it. In single player it's nigh on diabolical. Konami have admitted this reranking of the game takes place in a number of interviews. It's a system that alters the stats and events of the game as you play, supposedly to make a 'more interesting game'.

Sadly, all it does is make you feel you're not actually control. I'm all for unpredicability but Konami's attempt to stop it actually makes it completely predictable - the amount of times i've gone 1-up and then suddenly the computer's team, no matter how bad their stats, suddenly become superheroes and pass their way around you like brazil's allstars, with the help of every marginal decision and bobble as the rubberband AI tries to get the game back to it's predicted score...

There have been few major steps forwards with this edition. The unwillingness of the programmers to just let bad teams play badly most of the time means it's pretty much irrelevant what team the computer is controlling. Even when winning it feels like i'm being allowed to score a certain number.

Konami have what could be the most incredible game but their match-fixing has got to stop next time around or they will lose the football game war to Fifa, which is slowly but steadily improving year by year.

The first computer football game I ever played was Andrew Spencer's International soceer on the Commodeore 64. I was amazed at how well a few blocky sprites and a square ball could capture the feeling of playing football for real - the near misses, intercepted passes, crossing from the left...A mixture of intense frustration with the loss of facial (especially tongue) control, and the utter euphoria after scoring what, in real life, would be an improbable goal.
It was always better playing a human opponent, in my case frequently my brother as a way to end (or sometimes start) petty feuds. Happy days!

Since then I have only briefly toyed with various incarnations of computer football, with I think, FIFA 9x on the N64 havig been the best I had played, despite the massive and painful thumb callus that resulted. I had also tried some other console games, but to be honest they mostly bored the hell out of me. RPGs? - ugh. Shooters? Yawn. Puzzle games? ok some good ones. I owned a playsation but never turned it on.

I did buy PES3 for the PC, but never had the time to play it. I only recently got myself a playstation2, well as a gift for my my girlfriend, with the EyeToy Kinetic excecise thing (pretty good!). I 'Homered' myself a copy of PES4 and have played many happy hours on it. The evolution on player control and ball physics just amazed me, and I just fell in love. Such fun to just play, whether in a goal-fest against a weaker side, or sometimes just free training. Not so much the Master League, although I wanted to explore this deeper, I am just too 'time poor'. I just want to play ball! This activity was often conducted in the dark of night, against a computer with good, but often unforgiving AI. I yearned to lay real people again!

Maybe this is a good time to mention that, despite coming from a relatively soccer-obsessed household, I really couldn't care who won what last Saturday. If there's a good game in prospect on TV, I'll watch it, but I won't lose any sleep if my country loses, which they frequently seem to do anyway.
Also, I have never played any FIFA game of late, so I make no claims or comparisons. I'm also a bit baffled by the complaints about the licensing coverage. Sheesh!
I have never played PES5 and I chose to buy PES6 for the PC this time. I believe it is a 'rip' of the PS2 version anyway - which is fine by me, but it really shows. I wonder why they didn't use the Xbox version?

On first impression, PES6 looked very similar to PE4. But very soon you will notice the claimed evolution. Thankfully, the main controls are the same as PS2; I am using a Logitech cordless rumblepad, which is pre-mapped. There are several new moves to master. If this is your first PES game, then initially it will be difficult to control your players. With a bit of practice you realise the abundant control possibilities, things begin to click, you discover and nurture new moves, and the games really begin to to flow. Make no mistake - this is a game you have to work with for a while, but it will repay you with many moments of intense satisfaction. Whether this through pre-crafted build-ups to a cross and GOAL!, or just brute-force and dribbling prowess, you have in front of you a game that will never become stale.

Some people complain it is frustrating? Well, yes it is! But this is a good thing - I assure you. For example, now when I go one-on-one to head a cleared ball there is often a clash - one or both of you may be knocked-back, leaving another player to steal-in. Or maybe not. The outcome of these clashes seems to be determined by a mixture of timing, player stats, and a realistic degree of uncertainty. This is football after all! I think PES6 gets the balance right, so the frustration is mild, short, but can add to the tension of a game, and your determination to win it!

The movement of the players is more human than ever, and the ball physics are, to me, very realistic. Sometimes I swear I can feel the weight of the ball through the controls. Silly? Whatever, you do become more dextrous over time, and it's very rewarding when you string together a good attacking move, or slide-in for the ball at exactly the right moment.

For me, shooting has impoved over PES4. I just feel I have more control - hard to explain, but tangible. I've scored some of my favourite goals in PES6. There are no easy ways to score, so you have to slowly break-down the defence, or surpise them with an early cross, or just try your luck. The ebb-and flow of action really draws you in, and before long it's back to protruded tongues again :-P

The jury is still out for the AI. Sometimes my players are where they're supposed to be, and others I'm lefty exposed for no good reason. Maybe I need to work it more. The referee seems generally fair to me. Again, I'm not bothering with the Master League, but mainly that's because....

...of the networking option! THIS is what I've ben waiting for - playing human components in real-time is just fantastic. I've had some briliant games agianst some nice people I have never met. I have sent my brother on another continent an e-mail demanding a re-match to settle old scores!

Connection times seems reasonable - a few glitches here-and there, not a great deal of options, but I see this as less fluff and more action - exactly what is needed. It is claimed that the netplay is platform-independent, but I've been unable to set-up a match with a PS2 yet.

The main options are adequate. I mute the commentary because it's irritating, music down low. The crowd noises generally add greatly to the atmosphere and tension, but some of the newer chants do drone on-and-on. No complaints about graphics here - NVidia GForce FX card.

I do wish the team settings menus were more intuative. Sometimes it can be a bit confusing when changing formation. A vestage of the PS2 version, no doubt. Although I clearly am taken by this game, I admit to feeling somewhat cheated that Konami were so lazy in their efforts to customise for PC. Especially since there is a different XBox version. However, the fact remans that, in it's own right PES6 is the best football game, indeed video game, that I have ever played. I think it will remain so until the next installment, which I will definitely check-out. But for now I'm in gaming bliss, tinged with guilt because I need to discipline myself not to spend so much time playing!

So there you are, I openly admit my new addiction. My advice to you is - get this game and love it by all means, but make advanced preparations for the consequences. Someone has to pay the bills, and you're likely to be taking regular sickies. If so, I'll be playing you online very soon....