Pro Evolution Soccer 3

This Pro evolution Soccer is particularly close to my heart because, even though it has a referee on the cover, it is probably the football video game that has most marked the history of this genre and which launched the Konami product into the world of virtual football, overwhelmingly taking first place. In fact, for the first time, the movements and physiognomy truly followed the main players, and the gameplay for the time was fluid and pleasant. A real craze for PES was born, so much so that tournaments between friends and reunions were set up everywhere for recreational purposes. It was the beginning of the golden era of football on consoles, which sadly ended, as we know, fifteen years later. But PES will always remain PES, nothing else needed to be said.

Console:

Playstation 2

Genre:

Sports game (soccer/football)

Gameplay:

Play as an official league team or nation or famous national squad of legend. Since the game maker doesn't have all the official licencing rights you often get thinly disguised teams, with famous names altered so as to not incur a lawsuit.

Competitions include league titles in various European locations, meaning which location you choose effects which teams are in your league...English teams can feature in one league, Italian teams in another, and Spanish teams in another. Teams from other nations can make up the numbers in whatever league you choose. Other competitions include knock-out cup tournaments, a Champions League equivalent and a Europa League equivalent. Entry to those tournaments require you to finish prominently in the league you are in.

There is also a World Cup type tournament and various World Leagues, where you can choose the teams yourself...they can be legendary national teams, like Brazil's World Cup winning squad, or just regular league teams (together, even, from memory). You can even create a couple of custom teams...name it yourself, create your own strip and flag, etc.

A feature which I really enjoyed of this game was the "Growth Player" option. Here you can take statistically weak player (usually young) and through them doing well in the Master League, you can improve their statistics. The Master League was pretty much my only game mode. Eventually I created an entire squad made up of Growth Players. Pretty much in every case my players ended up with superior stats to the stars of the game and even the Classic Players (legendary players of the game).

Pros:

* Customisable competitions.

* Growth Players.

* Classic Players and teams.

* Ability to become a dead ball threat in front of goal (i.e. Free kick goals if your player has good stats for that).

* Ability to control one player only, if you choose.

Cons:

* Lack of official licences for competitions and teams.

* Grinding on your quest to create the perfect Growth Player.

* Game could often be easy if you had a squad full of Growth Players with red hot stats.

General comments:

I had previously owned the precursor to this game (on Nintendo 64) "International Superstar Soccer" as well as on Playstation 2 "Pro Evolution Soccer". Have to say that I have pretty much forgotten those much older games. When I returned to PES for a bit after getting this game, I found the gameplay a bit slippy...sort of Virtua Striker style...I mean it seemed as if the players were on soap or something...PES3 has a more natural style.

I was happy holding onto my Playstation 2 and playing this game. After creating an awesome team made up of Growth Players I set about dominating the Master League...which I did. First of all I tried cracking 100 goals for the season (26 games)...it took me a while...but once I cracked it, the walls came down...my best season I averaged 5 goals a game and usually scored more than 100 goals in a season. Would have been nice to have a player crack 40 goals in the Master League, but that one eluded me.

Even though I totally dominated this game, occasionally I would lose a game or have trouble beating a team...it would have been good if that was more common...but I was happy to shoot for records as described above.

When my old 34cm CRT TV died and I replaced it with a 100Hz 32" LCD screen the game play seemed different...a bit more Virtua Striker like...I couldn't dominate like before and breaking records was the main reason I played the game...so I got a Playstation 3 and started playing games for that.

Did get FIFA 11 bundled with that game and haven't really played it at all. FIFA 11 seems more complicated to control...moves which were automated in PES3 (like overhead scissor kicks) were manual in FIFA 11...I just liked PES3's 'pick up and play' game play, which FIFA seems to lack, even though it seems to have the mantle of best current soccer game according to magazines.

*** Suggested improvements for Pro Evolution Soccer ***

I wish you didn't have to grind to get great Growth Players. I eventually came across my optimal approach to getting the best out of them. That involved playing on the easiest level in the shortest matches and once I had created my perfect team I would play on the highest difficulty level with 10 minute matches chosen (that's where I count my records). Basically, I'd like to be able to have the best Growth Players possible without having to grind...sure, you need choice in what stats you work on, but I'd like to have the same points to work on those stats as someone else, who may have chosen to develop other player attributes. Some sort of "Unlock" system would be appreciated for this...or a cheat code...create your perfect Growth Team and play them from the get go, without having to grind.

Official licences would be good too.

And let's not forget continuity...I'd like my next Pro Evolution Soccer to be as playable as this game...my benchmark for the genre.