A few months ago we reviewed FIFA 2008 and declared that it just might win the league this year. At the time Konami was putting the final touches on its juggernaut PES series and has now finally released to market what is once again the premier football game. While it doesn't have that many changes this year, what it does have really stands out and once again confines FIFA to the minor premiership. PES 2008 is the best football game we have ever played, but whether you agree with us will depend on a few factors.

The way we see it is this - if you want the most realistic football game ever made, go and buy FIFA 2008. With that comment you are probably wondering how PES is the best football game we have ever played. Well, we prefer a pick up and play style and that is exactly where PES continues to excel. It doesn't play the most realistic football - you can run a player the entire field and score - but it just remains fun, where as FIFA at times can be very frustrating due to lack of action on the field.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 continues the tradition of previous PES games by having exhibition, league, cup and master league modes. The first three are fairly self explanatory but the main meat and potatoes remains in the master league. For those new to the franchise this tasks you with taking a low division team through to the premiership and winning. To do this you will have to manage injuries, wheel and deal in the transfer market, and generally play good football as well. It is very much like FIFA's management mode but obviously without the official licenses.

Those who have played Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on Xbox 360 will find not much has changed. The graphics really haven't improved and the gameplay is still as fast and flowing as ever but the few slight changes that have been made do stand out. The animation seems improved, and Konami is continuing in its quest to bring more licenses in for stadiums, teams and players. However where the game really has improved is the challenge it brings. Most of us find a way to beat the AI and then continue to use that play style to win games over and over again, but this is no longer so easy to do.

With the game being so fast paced it can be difficult at times to get a grip on what is going on. Of course the rules of the game don't change game to game but sometimes you will have a referee that will book a player for anything while others will take a long time to pull the yellow card. While this is consistent with the real world it can make it very hard to play.

Often we found ourselves down a player within twenty or so minutes of match time because it really is much harder to time slide tackles than it should be with players of this professional caliber. However with that said, when you get it right it is very, very satisfying because of this. Another controversial addition is the ability to dive and win free kicks. While if the referee picks you up doing this you get a yellow card, it is rather easy to trick the referee into thinking you have been fouled. We don't have a problem with this feature, what we have a problem with is the lack of ability to turn it off. It is a blight on the game and we'd rather play without it.

We found in PES 2008 that this could not be done because Konami has set the game up to learn how you play. You will find yourself having to continuously adjust game by game and play by play to a new style. There were many times we were found ourselves very comfortably winning games and dominating, only to have the AI pass the perfect through ball and score turning the tables their way. Not once did it ever seem like the AI was just 'catching up', they just caught the defense out time and time again as we continued to play the same style over and over again.

The licensing juggernaut continues to hound Konami but some improvements have been made again this year. Unfortunately the English Premier League remains out of Seabass' worthy hands but they have added Brazil, Newcastle, Tottenham and Ireland as officially licensed teams to continue their challenge against EA. However it still really sticks out that they don't have some of the biggest teams such as Arsenal and if Pro Evolution Soccer is to take the next step it needs the Premier League and fast. The game does feature over 3000 players and 250 teams which is nothing to be sneezed at including the popular Socceroos here in Australia.

Visually the game is a treat. You can easily pick out licensed players from just looking at the players on screen rather than the name and the animations are, as mentioned, improved. Brutal tackles look brutal, and you can generally tell when a player is going to get booked or sent off from the reaction of the referee. However the game still can't shake the feeling that you are playing in a local park rather than a huge stadium like New Wembley - FIFA still has the edge on the atmosphere side of things. Konami is also taking a leaf out of EA's book and providing an extremely polished commentary team as well as unique world soundtrack.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is the best football game on the market in our opinion. However whether we recommend FIFA or PES 2008 to you depends on one thing - do you want the most realistic football simulation around or are you happy with high paced action with lots of goal mouth action? The choice is yours but we pick Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 any day of the week.