Despite the brilliance of the game-play experience on offer, both in single player and when played with friends in the same room, there are some graphical issues, which again spoil what could have been an excellent game. During certain circumstances, PES2008 suffers from slowdown during play, usually when the screen is crowded with players. This only usually happens on the more detailed stadiums such as The Bernabeu, or when it is raining, but at its worst it does adversely affect the game-play. Mercifully, it is rarely at its worst, with only slight slowdown occurring in crowded situations in the majority of the stadiums. Although it is not something we expect to see on a PS3 title, it can just about be excused, especially as the early PS2 iterations suffered from the same problems and Konami are still familiarising themselves with the PS3’s architecture.

The graphics themselves are a very mixed bag. Up close, the bulk of the player faces look almost identical to their real-life counterparts and the officially licensed teams all sport well modelled kits. However, in normal game-play, it simply looks like an up-scaled PS2 game, with the grass textures still looking very unrealistic and players seemingly looking nowhere near as good as they do close up. The replays are truly shocking, stuttering along at a frame rate that is barely above 5-6FPS, as do the cut-scenes at the start of the match or the victory celebrations afterwards. There is a distinct lack of polish in the visuals and it is definitely an area that Seabass should be prioritising for next year’s game.

Jon Champion and Mark Lawrenson take over the English commentary positions for PES2008 and do a better job that Peter Brackley and Trever Brooking did previously, although they do start to grate after a while.  The crowd noise is noticeably louder than PES6 and does a good job of conveying the atmosphere of a soccer game. The real downer sound wise is the ball noises, which sound more like a fat person sitting down than they do someone kicking a soccer ball. This is most noticeable when dribbling with the ball, as each touch causes a loud thud to be heard as if the ball has just been kicked the length of the pitch, rather than a couple of inches in front of the player.

With PES2008, Konami have really begun to test the patience of the devoted followers who have been with their series for many years. Although the core game-play has been improved upon, the lack of a satisfying, realistic single-player mode, a laggy, unplayable online mode, the strange licensing decisions, the lack of a comprehensive edit mode, the sub-par graphics and the slowdown sometimes present in game-play and always in replays, make the game feel un-finished. Whether or not it is worth your well-earned money will probably depend on how desperate you are for a new soccer fix this year. Despite its failings, it still plays a better game of soccer than FIFA 08, but there are certainly a whole host of improvements for Seabass and his team to implement in order to make PES2009 a game that is truly worthy of the Pro Evolution Soccer name.

6.5 Graphics Looks great up close, but is more like an up-scaled PS2 game during play. The slowdown in replays and sometimes in game-play is unacceptable. 7.5 Sound Improved commentary and crowd atmosphere, but sound effects are a disappointment. 9.0 Gameplay Still plays as well as ever, with lots of subtle changes to the dynamic. May be a bit on the quick side for some. 8.0 Replay Value The single player Master League is still unchanged and the online multiplayer is fundamentally broken. Still, with a group of mates in the same room, PES2008 will easily last until next year’s edition. 7.8 Overall Just about passable for this year, as the game-play is still superior to the competition, but serious changes need to be made for next year’s edition if Konami want to stay on top of the soccer pile.