By writing a review of Pro Evolution Soccer, it is possible to skip any descriptive or didactic section; Konami's masterpiece has now reached such a high level of popularity, and its qualities have been told for such a number of times, that it is virtually impossible to find anyone who has never heard of the best football video game ever made. For this incarnation on PSP we can therefore go directly to the gist of the matter, which is also what the owners of the Sony laptop want to know, that is: is it worth spending your hard-earned savings on the UMD in question?
The right time
When Konami first brings its PES to a console other than the original Ps2, the results are often at least slightly disappointing. This is what happened with PES 5, debut on PSP, heavily crippled by some fundamental components; and in the same way this sixth episode, in its first edition for Xbox 360, has lost some features and features along the way in an inexplicable way. Fortunately for the handheld of the Japanese giant, the second attempt seems to have been the right one: PES6 for PSP is this time a robust, substantial game, which has little to envy - in terms of content - to the versions for major consoles. Let's start with the uploads, an authentic cross (without delight) of the laptop; definitely improved compared to the grueling ones of last year, so much so that now, apart from the consistent initial loading, everything else flows in a rather acceptable way. And then yes, finally the Master League was included, thus guaranteeing that longevity that the 5 had not even remotely been able to enjoy. And this is already a fundamental step forward, without a shadow of a doubt. Fortunately, the improvements are not over, since the dramatic slowdowns during the beans in the area have fortunately become only a memory; moreover, the real use of the widescreen, the PSP's strong point, brings with it a greater vision of the playing field and therefore a simpler and more effective organization of actions, especially in midfield. The commentary has instead been cut, with the exception of a few sentences on the occasion of the goals, but honestly it will be difficult to find someone who will miss it. From the point of view of contents, PES 6 for the Sony laptop therefore remedies practically all the heavy flaws of the previous episode, thus managing to satisfy even the most demanding gamer. But the gameplay?
Comment
PES 6 for PSP is a huge step up from the frankly disappointing fifth episode. No longer stunted and limited, this year's chapter is a competent, solid, valid and rich soccer game that effortlessly obtains the crown of best title of the genre ever made for portable consoles. The only real weaknesses that still keep it away from the Ps2 version are unfortunately linked to the insurmountable limits of the PSP interface, lacking some fundamental keys for the most savvy players. And it is a shame that this disadvantage has not been balanced by an online multiplayer mode, which would have certainly made the overall picture much more pleasant. But all in all we can't really complain about a PES 6 which, without surprising, brings an intact or almost intact experience to the Sony laptop; which, given the disappointment of last year, is certainly not a small result.
For
- A real PES, in all respects
- Excellent playability
- Very good graphics
- The missing keys are a significant burden
- No online multiplayer
- Improved but still consistent uploads
Where are the keys?
The effort of Konami programmers in trying to bring to PSP an experience as faithful as possible to the original is therefore indisputable, and for the most part successful. Where, however, even if they wanted to, they could not do anything about it is in the number of keys available on the Sony handheld, which lacks two backbones and an analog stick compared to the controller around which the game was designed and developed, or the dual shock. . The weight of this lack is inevitably variable from player to player, based on the knowledge and depth with which he usually faces PES 6 matches. the experience yes satisfying but slightly incomplete. If there had been an online multiplayer mode, however, one could have quietly closed an eye; unfortunately, this great potential of Sony hadware is destined to remain unexpressed also in this case, allowing you to challenge a human opponent only via local wireless connection. A final word on the graphic component, extremely faithful to the Ps2 edition especially for the polygonal modeling of the athletes; the compromises, few, are mainly to be found in the textures on the sidelines, washed out and poorly defined.
