Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 for Wii Reviews by Gamers

Porting a sports game onto the Wii is extremely difficult thanks to the motion sensitive controls that are geared more towards a gamer who doesn't rely on instantaneous feedback to score a goal or make a quick, decisive pass. Thankfully Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer has been able to make what is quite possibly the smoothest transition of any series onto the Wii's hardware. It relies primarily on the IR sensor and, thanks to some new functionality, the tilt ability of the remote and the results are wonderfully accurate and varied from what we're used to seeing from soccer titles on other systems. Despite the fact that Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 hasn't been innovated in any truly significant way, the small refinements that have been made help an already impressive package.



For those who haven't played PES on Wii before, it's essentially as close to you'll ever come to managing every aspect of a soccer game from a bird's eye view. You have direct control over a ton of movements on the field and can flawlessly control multiple players at one time, providing that the troublesome AI cooperates. By using several grabs, drags and grouping techniques with the remote, it's easy to send one player on a run while passing to another streaking player and making four guys tighten their defense on the opposite side of the ball. The gameplay has great flow, despite the fact that it lacks much of the technological improvements that helped both FIFA and PES on other systems.

In the way of gameplay additions, there really aren't many to speak of. There's a new stamina mechanic that dutifully insures you won't be making runs down the entire length of the field. Free kicks have also seen a change thanks to the inclusion of tilt technology. To bend your kick to the left, simply tilt the remote to the left and vice versa to bend to the right. That's about it for on-the-field changes which is sure to anger some of the diehard PES Fans who were expecting more from the package. I can't help but sympathize a bit with those who are unhappy with the lack of new content. With a year development cycle, and based on what we've seen other development teams achieve in that timeframe, Konami really should've done more.



One very strange new member to the gameplay family is the ability to play cooperatively with two sets of controllers. One person can use the classic controller and one can use the IR sensor. The end result is very confusing as one controls the movement on the field and the other controls actions such as passing and kicking. I don't know why you'd want to play with anything other than the nunchuk and Wii remote, but you also have the option to play with a classic controller for a more traditional experience. It doesn't deliver nearly the same feel as playing with the nunchuk and remote, but it's there if you want it.



In the way of features, there really isn't anything new to talk about. The Wii version doesn't get the same career mode – or any solo career mode for that matter – that found its way onto other consoles. Instead you're left with some fancier UEFA Champions League integration, the traditional Master League, Cup and League setup and Champions Road which is my personal favorite of the bunch. Champions Road lets you build a shell of a team into a group of superstars. You can gain experience points to improve your current roster, add additional players through a playing card system and build new facilities so your squad has the best training equipment available. It's similar to Master League in some regards, but the experience is more casual and, for some, it will be more fun as well. Online play is pretty barren as the community hasn't really latched onto this latest PES venture. You can now play with your own Master League team online, that is if you can find anyone. Every other multiplayer feature sticks to what was seen last year.

The visuals in PES 2010, much like the rest of the game, are very similar to what was seen last year. By that I mean that it's still ugly. Players are grainy and jaggy and the environments have next to no detail, especially the crowd. Animations look solid on the field, but they're restricted by the fact that you can't move 360 degrees. Being constrained to eight directions of movement in this day and age just feels old, regardless of what platform you're playing on.



The sound in-game is fine, though the stadiums don't feel as alive as on Xbox 360 or PS3. There's also less livelihood in the sound of the ball coming off of players' feet and no audible communication between the athletes on the pitch. The audio experience certainly fares better than the visual treatment, but it still doesn't add much to the overall package.



©2009-12-08, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved