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It's Pro Evolution Soccer, but not as we know it...
Whilst Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka and his team are currently busily working away on the next-generation debut of Pro Evolution Soccer/Winning Eleven, Akiyoshi Chosokabe has struck off on a tangent to while away the wait with the dubiously titled Pro Evolution Soccer Management on the Playstation.
Taking the Japanese direction in terms of football manager titles, along similar lines to SEGA's "Let's Make A Pro Soccer Club" series, PES Management requires you to suspend disbelief and throw out all conceptions you may have with the likes of Championship Manager and Football Manager. In comparison Konami's effort is very much the "fantasy" offering to such popular brands; whilst they can be labelled as "sims", PES Management is most definitely the "videogame" take on the genre.
Choosing clubs from six different countries including Serie A, Eredivise, Liga Espanola, England League, French League and German League, one of the major stumbling blocks to getting into the game is the fact it shares the same lack of licenses as its namesake. As such you'll find yourself taking control of well known clubs such as Man Red or North White London, whilst fictional player names populate the transfer lists; there's little doubt authenticity is a key aspect in other titles from the genre, however the thing to realise right from the start, PES Management is an entirely different proposition. A further such initial complaint, but one that is crucially important, is the fact that the game's data seems to be severely out dated in places, with the likes of Roy Keane still lining up for Manchester United. If you're willing to look past these faults (or spend time in the Edit mode) and are not looking for a contender to the likes of Sport Interactive's Football Manager series (in fact don't go looking for anything like this), then there is a marginal amount of enjoyment to be gained from the title, if only from curiosity and the fact it has Pro Evolution Soccer on the front.
After what seems to be a life-time of pressing the X button without knowing entirely what's going on, although choosing the sexiest assistant and the type of suit you want to wear were definitely some of the tasks on offer, you'll eventually find your way through to the main appeal of PES Management... the matches. Played out with the match engine behind Pro Evolution Soccer 5, there's something to be said about a football management game with full 3D matches featuring the style and finesse we've come to expect from Seabass and his team. As PES fanatics know, the football series has rightfully won its place as the most respected football title because of the depth of attributes behind the players, resulting in the most varied and believable action in a football game to date. This seems to translate well to a football management game, resulting in believable matches that don't feel staged, however there is a constant concern as to whether your decisions are having an actual effect on the pitch. Perhaps the only criticism to be made about the actual matches is the lack of personality, which is a surprise given the attention paid to such aspects during the main game. It's very much a case of sit and watch, leaving many opportunities unexplored - why can't I jump to the touchline when somebody has fouled my aspiring young playmaker; where are the 3D representations of the dressing room complete with a tea-cup throwing mini-game???
Stepping back for one moment, PES Management utilises a definitive structure that provides a sense of guidance amongst the mass of attributes and options available. Governed by a daily timeline which highlights the news from across the globe, the run up to a match typically involves a number of steps. Firstly "Opponent Research" is used to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, which in turn you can use during the next step when it comes to changing around "Tactics" to suit the game. Finally having decided on such aspects as formations and line-ups, it's down to the "Training" ground to specialise on the proper routines to match your tactics based upon allocating a certain number of points to different areas. Despite the inclusion of some nice touches, such as the ability to create Group Tactics which take place once a certain "instigator" gains possession of the ball, the overall feeling is one that's overly formulaic and becomes far too much of a routine, particularly so when your assistant coach seems to be making most of the calls. The likes of Football Manager work well by immersing the player within a highly believable game world, in charge of their own destiny; sadly Japanese management titles appear to focus more on the aesthetics and as such this habitually structured process soon looses its charm after only a few matches.
That's not to say the game lacks depth. As you'd probably expect there's a considerable amount of information to get stuck into, replicating the pages of player attributes witnessed in the PES series and at times often bemusing you with strange descriptions. The squad-size restriction of 33 players takes a little to get used, particularly if you're used to handling senior, reserve and youth squads.
Depending on what you're expecting from the game, there are a handful of further options that continue to help PES Management distance itself away from what we typically classify as a football manager sim. Press conferences and interviews at the training ground frequent the action and ask simple questions which quickly grow repetitive and unable to develop; a Match of the Day styled highlights event, only presented in a hammy American style with dubious dialogue such as "My ranking prediction looks like this..."; and the ability to have a one-to-one with any player in your squad or make requests to the chairman.
Pro Evolution Soccer Management is similar to being manager of Portsmouth Football Club; it seems you're constantly being undermined and not really sure whether your actions are having an actual impact, in short it doesn't feel as though you're going anywhere. The structure of the game bogs down into a routine far too quickly, and despite a handful of nice ideas, it's unlikely to sustain your interest once the mild curiosity subsides.
Far from being a disaster to the franchise that we were originally thinking, Pro Evolution Soccer Management could be developed and refined into a worthy companion to Konami's heavyweight in time, but at this stage we'd advise looking elsewhere...
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Pro Evolution Soccer Management
Game Information
Available On:
PS2
| Release Date: | Players: |
|---|---|
| Out Now | 1 |
| Publisher: | Genre: |
| Konami | Sim |
| Developer: | PEGi Rating: |
| KCE Japan (see Konami) | 3 |
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Added:Thu 25th Sep 2008 16:50, Post No: 21
This game is just too fraustrating.The tactics dont make any difference at all.Only player fitness seems to make a certain difference and even then only some times.You cant help but feel cheated many times because the the computer does what it wants.
Added:Thu 06th Sep 2007 12:55, Post No: 20
it is best game but i hope there wouldot add for second team for youth also u can play ow i;m in year 2019
Added:Tue 28th Aug 2007 16:18, Post No: 19
it was hard to win the 1st match but then i ended up beating AS Roma in pre season with atletico madrid coz they said beginners use a mid table team so i did, and i am now 6th in the league and its only 8 games in but hey at least i beat barcelona 4-0, its just about listening what the coach had told you to do to prepare for matches like zonal marking etc. its either that i have a good team or that the people here that are losing are just rubbish at this game. coz i play managing games so often. im used to this kinda thing.
Added:Sun 08th Jul 2007 20:46, Post No: 18
I just don't seem 2 win any matches i put all the best people on the same team and i still couldn't win against Ajax. the tactics don't mean anything!
Added:Sat 28th Apr 2007 00:50, Post No: 17
its a good idea but it is poor but hopefully they bring out the 2nd one and its better because it is a good idea
Added:Sat 28th Apr 2007 00:48, Post No: 16
its rubbish when you do your tactics etc it deosnt have any effect on the game. in my first season with liverpool i was inconsistent but won the uefa cup, i had a second season signing, gallas, beckham, and defoe and was still inconsistent its really frustrating
Added:Fri 30th Mar 2007 20:12, Post No: 15
Personally it's the best football management game there is up till now. In my opinion, the match mode, and the aquisition of classic players could be removed, and instead there would be a better edit mode, where you could edit and change all the players' skills, age, change their nationality and you could create new players and sign them to teams.This makes sense because for example all those fans of the genius Zinedine Zidane, since if there is a new edition of Pro Management, and he would not be there since he retired, they could create him. Another thing which could be removed is the transfer of kits and other material from another saved pro series game. I think that if the mentality of the players is removed the players would perform a lot better, because if a player has a mentality from 70 -78/79 he will perform good when the team is draw or winning, and then a player with a mentality of 80 and above will play good just when the team is losing. Also in reality I don't think that mentality really exists on fotball players, at least the way it exists on this game. In real life there can be players that when their team is losing they are motivated to play good football, but it doesn't make sense that because of this, when the team is draw or winning then the player plays bad, according to how talented he is. Another disadvantage of the game is that when the players enter their 30s their skills start decreasing, and I don't think this makes sense, because when a player gets old his disadvantage to play football is the level of fatigue ac tvg rules! ulated after every match, and not that he doesn't know how to play football anymore. Also if there are interviews to the player as manager, and to the team's captain and players before the games played in Europe and before any final match or before the first game of the league season, and instead remove the Pro Evolution Soccer Highlights would be good. I think it would be good also to choose a sponsor. Another disadvantage is that the group tactics don't work very often in the game, and I think that if the players' attack awareness is used to instruct the players the direction of their passes instead of the direction of their movement it would make more sense, since there would be the group tactics for players' movements. Also other training facilities like instead of train the players according to the number of defenders, you train them sfecific formations and train players according to the attack awareness, together with the existing training types. I'm not saying that this game has no advantages because it's got some amazing thing like holding talks with players to affect their motivation. Also you will notice that if a player hasn't got bonuses in his contract he would play a bit bad and when you give him bonuses his performance will improve. Even the tactics are amazing because with all those individual tactics and players' movement you can create all your immaginable football systems. Also what could be added is that the substitute players appear on the bech bench together with the manager and his assistant coach. The commentary during the matches could also be removed, since it is not that important and a manager is not going to listen to the commentary during a football match. Then of course are other things which could be added like more clubs and changing the club's stadium's view or build a new stadium or changing the training facilities, and many other things which exist in other football management games. And if you look at Fifa Football Manager I think it's got all the extra features which together with my suggestions and the good things which I've mentioned that this game has got would make the perfect football management simulation. But with what I've mentioned as what should be removed and added regardless the other features like building a new stadium and so on would make a very good game before the perfect game someday is created.
Added:Tue 27th Mar 2007 13:01, Post No: 14
very good but hard to win mathces and also the prices for players are very high
Added:Fri 23rd Mar 2007 19:12, Post No: 13
its a load of bolox!!!
Added:Wed 21st Mar 2007 22:10, Post No: 12
when pes manager 2 comin out?