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There are similarities of course to what EA Sports is trying to achieve with FIFA 11's Pro Passing feature (and it's amusing to see after last year's introduction of 360 degree passing in both games that again their biggest feature is shared – either indicating an eerie mind-link between the two or suggesting that there's a spy in the midst), but Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 takes it two steps further and pins its entire game on it.
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There's still a through-ball button, but everything it's capable of can now be achieved with a well thought-out pass, and when it sticks the game is much more satisfying for it.
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It's now all manual, requiring something of a rewiring for a mind schooled in nearly ten years of Pro Evolution Soccer's old ping-pong system players must calculate whether they pass to their teammate's left or right foot, or apply more power to send it forward into space. Passes are now informed by power meters that appear under the player in possession, a graphic that's stylish, unobtrusive and absolutely central to pulling off decent balls to team-mates. What proves so tough to get our heads around is the new freedom in passing, a feature that fundamentally changes the way that Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 is played. There's+been+a+graphical+overhaul+too,+most+apparent+in+the+stadia.+ So new that it's initially a struggle to get to grips with, and after a twenty minute session we're still left learning the ropes. This truly is a new dawn for Pro Evolution Soccer. Regardless it's here at last, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 does what Pro Evolution 6 should have done it tears up the style sheet, kick-starts a fresh brand of football and is unlike anything you've ever experienced from the series. But the formula itself is creaking all too loudly so what better time for a reboot? It's been promised for some time, and given FIFA's dominance and how Pro Evolution Soccer has struggled to gain a foothold on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 it's arguably four years overdue. The result was a game of football that, while not as exacting or authentic as FIFA, was exciting and, most importantly, a world of fun. Not that Konami's Tokyo team have been producing bad games – last year's Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 was a great effort that managed to stay faithful to the formula laid out some nine years ago, and in many ways it perfected it. This year Pro Evolution Soccer will be back - it's a mantra that's become wearier as the promise is broken year on year. You've heard it all before this will be the year where Pro Evolution Soccer steals the break on FIFA, when it makes up for the ground lost since it stuttered on to the current generation and when it can finally reclaim the glory lost since its PlayStation 2 heyday.
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