Today we hearken back to hallowed antiquity, if only briefly, to recall the long-running legacy Konami has crafted in the annals of soccer video games. Long has Electronic Arts’ FIFA-licensed series played second fiddle to Konami’s efforts, whatever their given franchise name at the time, be it Winning Eleven or PES (Pro Evolution Soccer). The latest effort by Konami, on an annual basis, seemingly always turned out to be the avant garde offering we were promised, much to the chagrin of EA Sports and co.

This year, however, the playing field has turned out to be far more level than likely any of us expected. Presumption has turned me, and numerous probably companions, into the fool, as Konami appears to have stumbled a bit with Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.

As is my long-standing tradition, the graphics whores of the world get my first nod: PES 2008 fails to deliver on a number of levels here. First and foremost, unless you have the best of High-Definition setups, the player models are rather jagged and rough around the edges. The stadiums are well designed overall, but the crowds continue in the android-esque vein of all sports titles. The players at full spring appear awkward, which is a bit of a shocking leap backward for Konami’s sports development house. The one saving grace of the visual department is the framerate, which is noticeably higher than prior incarnations of the series and sporting next to no slowdown.

The crowds are, unfortunately, just as standard-issue in the audio department as they are in the visual. The timing of their “oohs” and “aahs” are a bit off, and the celebrations after key plays are far too short-lived, with the traditional chants of soccer fans throughout the ebb and flow of the game sold very short. There is also a bit of a high note to save the day here as well: the commentary. It beats most sports titles out there in its cleverness, diversity and timing.

The gameplay itself is fluid, intuitive and a bit less academic than its FIFA counterpart. Maybe it’s just me, but PES seems a bit easier to get into and yet does not sacrifice the integrity of the game it is supposed to be simulating.

Unfortunately, the scant smatterings of good news end right then and there. While All Pro Football 2k8 was able to overcome its lack of brand/league licensing, PES 2008 is not. 2k Was able to prove that licensing was but a collection of graphical code that was expendable if the gameplay was there and if the offering contained enough to keep the player occupied. Konami, conversely, has failed to make the same case.

With the aforementioned hit-and-miss audio and under whelming visuals, there is no savior aside from the highly fluid, but unimproved gameplay. No major clubs or stadiums are to be found here, and Konami made no effort to hide the fact that they were blatantly copying marquee players with generic look-alikes.

As much as I wanted to love and adore PES 2008 for being the stellar soccer title that once again put FIFA in its place, much-ballyhooed licensing aside, I cannot make that assertion. This is a vaguely above-average effort that only fans of the series should purchase. Newcomers would do far better to pick up last year’s edition.

This round of the EA v. Konami soccer conflict ends in a stalemate, and unnecessarily so.

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