Hands up those of you who have been eagerly awaiting for Pro Evolution Soccer to make it’s PS3 debut, ok now that we have established that this is the most highly anticipated game to hit the PS3 this year, lets us begin with the review.

As anyone who loves football knows, Pro Evolution Soccer has always been the game to have when it comes to eleven men kicking a ball about a field, it just offers so much more realism when compared to it’s FIFA counterpart, but does the latest version do the game justice after last years slightly disappointing (but still excellent) Pro Evolution Soccer 2006 on the Xbox 360?

The first thing that you will notice when you load up PES 2008 is that the presentation has been given a next generation gloss, scrolling the menus up or down will give you all the usual option which you have come to expect such as Exhibition, Cup, League, Master League, Training and Edit mode, there is also a thumping soundtrack to accompany it. This new look it certainly kicks things off in a good way and only serves to raise your expectations.

But what you want to know is how the game plays and we are glad to say that you won’t be disappointed, this year Shingo ’Seabass’ Takatsuka and his team have implemented a new feature call Teamvision, this is a sophisticated technique that allows your computer opponents to learn and adapt to your particular style of play, therefore if you always use the same route to goal they will soon learn this and exploit your weak spots. The computer controlled opponents are as intelligent as ever, make a slack pass and they will read it and cut it out, be slack at the back and they will make you pay.

One of the other new additions which has been causing controversy is the diving, however this isn’t as bad as some people have been making out, it is quite rare that the AI uses this move to it’s advantage and every time we tried it this it resulted in a quick booking from the (strict as usual) ref.

The star players in PES 2008 stand out as always, Ronaldinho is as speedy and tricky as ever and Rooney is like a run away train as he bulldozes through midfielders with ease, perhaps the only thing wrong with the players is that some of their on screen likenesses are quite poor, while players like Ronaldinho are very close to real life, others especially in the smaller teams look nothing like who they are supposed to be.

The most noticeable thing when you are in the thick of the action is how much better the goalkeepers have got, scoring from corners for example used to be a lot easier as usually the ball (if saved) would be palmed back into the box, however keepers will now do their best to direct the ball away from the danger areas, that’s not to say they are perfect though, at one point our keeper had made an excellent save only to stand up and walk into the post, which then resulted in him walking into the post and gifting the opposition a goal, well that’s football.

Freekicks and Corners remain unchanged from the tried and trusted formula which has served PES well over the years, as does taking penalties, however should you be on the receiving end of a penalty then you will notice something quite different, this is because the camera is actually placed behind the goalkeeper, meaning that you get to stare the penalty taker in the eyes, this is certainly a good way of doing things and while it takes a bit of getting used to it works really well.

One of the things that will please people who played last years version on the Xbox 360 is that the edit mode is back in, you can again edit players and teams, although you can’t edit strips from official teams, although this makes sense. One of the other new additions is ability to import a picture using the PS Eye and use it on a player you have created, although we were unable to test this as we didn’t have the camera available at the time.

Graphically PES 2008 is an improvement and certainly the best version yet in this respect, the action on the screen looks crisp and although slowdown has been mentioned it is not something we noticed to a great degree, except perhaps in the cut scenes. There are a few new changes worth mentioning, when you pause the game you now see a picture in picture view of the dugout, it doesn’t really serve any purpose but it is a nice touch, this also applies to the masters league menu were you will see snapshots of your fans and players. The replays offer all the usual cameras and controls to enable to you to view your goals from every angle and thankfully this year you can again save your replays, enabling you to show off your best goals to everyone who will watch.

Perhaps the biggest surprise this year is the commentary, no longer does it lag five minutes behind the play, it is actually very good and seems to be relevant to the on screen action by keeping up with the game quite well, this is something that Konami didn’t seem to master in the series before, so it’s good to see that work has gone into this.

The easiest way to sum this game up is to say that Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 plays the perfect game of football and although FIFA may be a prettier game to look at there is no doubt that when it comes to the on field action Pro Evolution Soccer once again takes the title, although this year there was only a few points in it.

Rating: 9.3/10

In the run up to Christmas the Playstation 3 catalogue is now starting to grow and thankfully a lot of the games being released are of high quality, take Folklore for instance, this is a game which has had a quieter release than most, while other games such as Warhawk and Resistance have been taking the Playstation 3 limelight, this game has sneaked out without too much fuss being made over it, however don’t be fooled by this because Folklore is probably one of the best and most original games to be released on the console so far.

The story behind Folklore sees two strangers being drawn to the mysterious town of Doolin, where it is said that the living can speak to the dead. The strangers soon learn that the town serves as a gateway to other realms which is full of creatures such as fairies, spirits, and monsters. In order to solve the mystery of the town, the pair must journey through these worlds and discover their secrets.

The game centres around two main characters, the first one is Ellen who is a young lady that lost her mother in mysterious circumstances when she was young, at the beginning of the game she receives a letter signed by her mother and this motivates her to go to the village of Doolin in a quest to find her. Keats, the games other character is an editor for an occult magazine called Unknown Realms, his path to the village is slightly different as he receives a panicked call from a woman speaking of strange goings on in Doolin village who pleads for help before being cut off, this phone call gives Keats a gut instinct that he also must go to the village.

One of the interesting points about the game is that you must complete each characters story in order to complete the game, at the beginning of each level you are given the choice of which character you would like to use, so when playing it is probably best to alternate between each of them, well unless you have a better way of doing it.

Doolin is the centerpiece of the whole story and acts as a gateway to the realms of the Netherworld, it is from here that you will visit these realms, although you can only spend a limited time in them before you return to Doolin to piece together your days investigation. Doolin is a very small place and so it won’t take you very long to explore it also has very interesting inhabitants which you will get to know throughout the game.

The main point of interest at the beginning of the game is the village pub, it is from here that you will get the information you need to open the gate to the realms of the Netherworld. Once you manage to enter the realms things really start to get interesting, you work your way through the Netherworld fighting all kinds of wild creatures and bosses (know as Folk) and collecting their ID’s (souls), this in turn enables you to gain Folk powers.

Collecting the folks ID’s is probably the best use of the Sixaxis controller yet, there are many different ways of doing this but perhaps the best example is that of the Bargest which is one of the first folk you will meet, to collect their ID’s you have to defeat them in battle which will then cause their ID’s to glow above their body, it is at this point that you push the R1 button and jerk the controller back towards you, this results in the character collecting the Folk ID. Some of the Folk you collect also have the ability to become more powerful, this is done by meeting certain requirements, such as killing a certain amount of creatures or by gathering certain items. The Folk powers can also be combined when attacking which makes for some interesting results.

The controls in general are very straight forward, the left analogue stick is used to control your movement and the face buttons for your Folk powers, interestingly you can use the face buttons to map any of your acquired powers, to do this you just press L2 to access a menu with the entire list of your powers, once you find the ability that you want then you just press your chosen button to assign it, you can then use these Folk powers to defeat the various Folks that you come across when traveling through the Netherworlds Realms although certain Folk powers work better on some Folks than they do on others.

Perhaps the games biggest downfall is its repetitiveness, you will have to complete each realm with both characters, although since both characters feel different to use and have their different reasons for being there it is tolerable.

Graphically Folklore is a very beautiful cinematic game, the atmosphere that the developers have created is spot on with good variation in the environments you will visit. The CGI cutscenes are also very well designed and add to the general feel of the game. The whole atmosphere in Folklore is very eerie and is helped by the spooky music the plays throughout, so overall the presentation cannot be faulted.

Sony have a habit of publishing games for their consoles which offer something different and in Folklore they have done it again, this game offers the best use of the Sixaxis yet along with a strong story and a whole lot of gameplay, if you haven’t considered buying this game yet then we urge you to at least rent it and see for yourself why we rate this so highly.

Rating: 9.3/10

NBA Live 08 finally hits the shelves, but is another sports game enough to tear you away from FIFA?

I will say straight away that the graphics are truly amazing on this title, the player likeness, animation and background stadiums are just so realistic. The movement of each player is very fluid, and this becomes even more obvious when used with the new control scheme.

The left stick as usual will control your player, but the right stick now deals with ball control, if you are one on one with a player, twitch the right stick in any direction and your player will show a bit of flair, enabling you to play around the opposition.

Also new to NBA Live 08 is the use of L1, press this and it will show your players hot spots, red is OK and blue is rubbish, aim for the red spots and you will find that you will rarely miss the basket. Controlling the player is a lot more fluid than other basketball games, it seems easier to tackle a player, gain control, pass around court, set up and shoot than in any of the previous games.

The main game offers the usual Dynasty Mode where you hire and train team players and staff. The FIBA World Championship allows you to play as some of the top international teams, or even play as an NBA team. The NBA All Star Weekend has a group of mini games to play through, these include 3 Point Shootout, Slam Dunk Contest where you have to perform the best possible dunk and the judges will rate you, and finally the NBA All Star Game.

Also new to NBA Live is the Scenario Play, here you can create your own game situations and share them online with other players.

At the time of reviewing, the EA server for NBA Live 08 was down but you are promised plenty of cool features including ESPN news ticker, the usual quick play, quick play plus where you can pick your own team from your favourite players, an online league with up to 32 other online users, leaderboards and an EA Locker Room to share rosters and scenarios.

NBA is a very fun game to play, the action is fast and frantic and it just looks fantastic, the power of the PS3 really shines through thanks to this game and therefore if you want a next generation sports game you could do no worse than this one.

Rating: 8.8/10

With Tony Hawks being the unrivalled king of skateboard games, its time for EA to try their hand and show Mr Hawks how to do things.

The game starts off rather amusingly as your character gets involved in a very serious but funny accident. Your job is then to build back all of the skills lost in a series of tasks set by the local skaters, shops and magazines.

San Vanelona is a huge skating mecca, it consists of shopping plaza’s, skateparks, school yards and long, fast roads. Throughout San Vanelona are fellow skaters who are going about the streets doing their thing, follow them and you may find some cool new areas. Some of the skaters will offer you a challenge, these consist of Follow Me, where you need to stay within a certain distance of the leader; SKATE, where you pull off a move and the next player has to copy it, make a mistake and you gain a letter, spell SKATE and its game over. Deathrace is where you and a few other skaters head down a large hill, weaving in-between traffic and padestrians, trying to get to the next checkpoint, and ultimately the finish line.

As well as skater challenges you will also be invited to local events like Own the Spot where you have to perform a high scoring move that knowone else can beat, Best Trick, Pro Challenges and also Film and Photo challenges, where your camera man tells you what they want and its up to you to choose a location and start filming.

The main progression in the game is made through the magazines. There are two mags in San Vanelona, The Skateboard Mag and Thrasher. Your goal is to get onto the front cover of each of these mags, and once you have done that you will be swamped by potential sponsorship deals. The more sponsors you get, the more clothing and boards you can afford.

For those of us used to Tony Hawks games, the controls will come as a bit of a shock. The Left stick is used to control your skaters body and the Right stick to control the board. To pull an ollie you need to pull back on the Right stick, then push forward, the longer you hold down, the higher the jump. To pull off a manual, you need to find the biting point of the Right stick, pull down just slightly on the stick and your skater will lean back on the board, lifting the front wheels from the floor. Once you have gotten used to the controls, the moves you can pull off have a greater sense of realism and feeling of satisfaction than on Tony Hawks.

The graphics and sound on this game are great, going for realistic looks and noises for the city streets, plus as expected, a very impressive soundtrack.

There are a few niggling problems with this game that takes away from the great polish, the camera is far too low, causing your skater to block the view ahead and if you take a sharp turn, it takes far too long to get back behind you, and when on some of the tougher challenges, this can get very frustrating. Also is the lack of self righting, more often than not you will find your worst enemy is not another character or some crazy move to pull off, but a simple curb. Hit one of these and you will go flying, but when you get back on your board you tend to face the curb again, with no room to gain speed for an ollie, so you have to unceremoniously turn your board around and gain another run up. Now dont get me wrong, I love the ultra realism of such things, but it does take away from the fun gaming element.

Rating: 8.6/10

Multiplayer games are fun, everyone knows it and therefore it’s no surprise that Sony’s new release, Warhawk, falls into this category, but is fun enough and does this game cut it were it really matters? Read on and see what we think.

Before the action begins, Warhawk lets you customise your character and vehicle options, although this may not offer much to begin with, as you progress throughout the game and gain in rank you will unlock more items to use in this way, although many players may ignore this option by diving straight into the game, it is definitely worth using should you find the time.

Warhawk’s is an easy game to pick up and play. There are two teams of up to 16 players (With players choosing the side of the Eucadians or Chernovans) and games are battled out on one of five massive maps, these are Archipelago, Eucadia, The Badlands, The Destroyed Capitol and The Island Outpost, each map is very diverse and well laid out and there is no doubt that players will each develop their own personal favorites over a period of time.
There is no single player at all in Warhawk, therefore should you wish to play this game then you will need a decent internet connection. Playing in a multiplayer match couldn’t be simpler, just before you start you are presented with a list of servers, all you need to do then is choose the one you want and then you will spawn into the middle of the match, most of the time you are connected straight away without much problem and once in the game it is pretty much lag free. Using the community section you can find friends online and join in with their game, this is a great option as it would be impossible to find anyone on your friends list without this. All in there are four Game Modes in Warhawk and these are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Zone, each mode offers a unique and intense multiplayer experience. Most of the game modes explain themselves really, the only exception may be Zone mode which is all about capturing bases, however, once a base has been captured, players can “grow” the boundaries of the base by continuing to stay within its zone radius. Once two zones are large enough, the bases will merge and provide more spawn points, vehicles, and also allow you to achieve points faster. To win, your team must earn more points in either the allotted time, or earn enough points to achieve the score limit.

At the beginning of the game each player has the same starting weapon and the vehicles on each side seem to offer a good balance, meaning that it always turns out to be a fair game. As you wander through the levels you will be able to acquire new weapons such as a flamethrower, rocket launcher, machine gun and the binoculars (which can be used to call an airstrike). There are a good range of weapons and they all seem to be pretty effective, however it would be nice to see more and perhaps we will via the PSN once the developer gauges the games popularity.

It could be said that one of the most exciting parts of the game is when you find a vehicle. The vehicles in Warhawk come in a few shapes and sizes and range from Jeeps and Tanks to the Warhawk’s themselves, none of these are supremely powerful though and can be taken out fairly easily by someone on foot (providing that they have the relevant weapon in hand). Controlling the vehicles is simply a matter of using the analogue sticks to steer and the trigger to accelerate (or take off if you are in a Warhawk), some motion control has also been implemented into the game courtesy of the Sixaxis and this allows you to fly the Warhawk around using nothing more than your reactions, however even though you can adjust the sensitivity for controlling your vehicle in this way, it is still very difficult and therefore you will probably end up being thankful that the developer has not made this feature mandatory, meaning that you can switch it off via the menu at any time.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Warhawk is that even with all 32 players on screen, the action just doesn’t seem to slow down, it can get pretty hectic at some points but everything just seems to keep ticking along nicely. Graphically everything is presented in a way you would expect from a next generation game, the vehicles are all highly detailed and the environments look fantastic, although it isn’t the prettiest game you will ever see, it is obvious there has been at a lot of attention given to this area of the game.

As previously mentioned Warhawk is a very basic and therefore this could be it’s downfall with some members of the gaming public, with only five maps, limited weapons and no single player mode it may be hard for some people to justify it’s price tag, however most of these issues could be solved with future updates and providing these don’t cost too much then Warhawk could become a very popular game for the Playstation 3.

Warhawk promised much in the build up to its launch and we have to say that now its here, we are not disappointed, this is because it does exactly what it sets out to do by providing a next generation multiplayer game that is easy to access and fun to play, sure some of the in game options may be lacking at the moment but this does little to take away from what is a genuinely fun game.

Rating: 8.8/10

Ever since the 1990’s EA have been bringing us a yearly dose of Football via their FIFA franchise, to begin with this was a excellent series which was unrivalled, however two things happened to change this, the first was a little game from Konami called Pro Evolution Soccer and the second was that FIFA jut wasn’t that good anymore, mainly due to the fact that it just didn’t evolve with the times. We are now at the time of year again were FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer prepare to square up to win over the hardcore football fans and Pro Evo already has the advantage here due to it’s loyal fan base, but can this year’s FIFA make them swap sides?

When you first start up FIFA 08 it will be of no surprise to you that everything from the background music to the menus are crisp, clean and easy to navigate as well as looking and feeling fantastic. As with last year’s FIFA you are also able to have some shooting practice using a player of your choice whilst you are waiting to startup a game and once in a game the commentary, player likeness and general presentation is perfect as usual.

But how does FIFA 08 play you ask? Well I can say for certain that this version is a big improvement over last year’s Xbox 360 version and this is due to the massive differences in player movement on the park, tackles now feel more realistic, for example if a player goes for the ball and mistimes his tackle, the opposing player will jump over him and continue on his run, or alternatively if two players go for the ball at the same time then it will spin away from both of them, retrieving the ball also feels more realistic, rather than just running up and taking it you really have to work to get it back and all of this adds a very realistic feel to the game. As well as the defending it seems that EA have also been working on things up front also, the shooting feels much more precise as you are able to use the analogue stick to pick out where you want your shot to end up, although to me it still doesn’t have the randomness about it that Pro Evo does when your are on the attack.

As well as improving the defending and attacking elements, EA have also added in some additional moves for the player to get to grips with, these include things like body feints and stepovers, the great thing about these is that they are really easy to execute and make FIFA feel much closer to the real thing. Another new feature I should also mention briefly is the ability to take full control of the goalkeeper, this is the first time that EA have allowed this, although it makes things very difficult so I get the feeling that most people will stick to the automatic setting.

The AI opponents certainly seem to be more intelligent this time around, EA have said that this is due to the 1000 potential reactions per second, now that’s some pretty impressive stuff and in the game you can really tell that you AI opponent can read you next move, make a shoddy pass and he will be on to it like a flash, or try the easy through ball and he will cut it out without flinching. The main positive about the strong AI is that no one game really feels the same and this is what the FIFA series has been missing for a long time.

Looking through the menus you will notice that FIFA 08 provides you with all the usual tournaments that you will have come to expect, however glancing down a bit further you may be intrigued by the option which says “Be A Pro”. In this mode you take control of only one player with the camera following him rather than concentrating on the ball, your teammates are controlled by the computers AI and therefore it is up to you to get your player into decent positions to enable him to receive that ball from them, this is certainly a different way of playing the game and to an extent it works well, however there are frustrating moments like when your teammate doesn’t pass to you even though you have a clear goal scoring opportunity, but then again, that’s football.

If you are the type of player who likes authenticity then FIFA 08 will provide this to you by the bucket load, all the usual licensed teams, cups and competitions are present, but that’s not all, you can also take part in online leagues, ranked matches or custom games which all provide you with all the excitement of competitive sport.

Although this years version of FIFA provides a great improvement over previous versions, I still feel that it’s not enough to convert fans of Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA 08 is a sturdy football game in every sense and as usual it’s presentation is unrivaled, however it still seems to be missing the one thing that makes the Pro Evo series so great, I just can’t put my finger on what that is, but perhaps in next years version of FIFA, EA will.

Rating: 8.5/10

If there is one game I remember fondly from all my days spent in the arcades when I was younger, it is Sega Rally, the game to me was just arcade perfection, all you had to do was put your money in the machine and then race around the dirt ridden tracks in your mission to be the best, it was easy to learn, addictive and a whole lot of fun as well, so when Sega announced this game for the next generation consoles I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, but now that it is here do I still feel the same?

The first thing you will notice about Sega Rally is that is a dream to play, picking up the controller and racing around the track for the first time will have you in awe, the game looks just wonderful and the handling of the cars is arcade perfect, sure if you are a fan of any of the more realistic games like Gran Turismo or the PGR series, then the handling make take you a while to get to grips with, but once you do then just try putting this down because it will have you hooked.

The main bulk of your gaming time in Sega Rally will be spent in Championship Mode, this varies in difficulty but everyone (regardless of skill) starts in the Premier Tournament and within this there are five difficulties to get through, these are Amateur, Professional, Expert and the Final with each consisting of three to four races, from here you will then progress to the Premier, Modified and Masters Tournaments which are all structured in a similar way.

At the beginning of the Premier Mode you start out with a Subaru Impreza and although it may take a while to get used to, after a few races you will soon be sliding around the corners like an expert such if the excellent handling of the cars. Sega Rally really is an incredibly rewarding experience, ever bump, brake and power slide makes you feel like you are at the wheel of a real car, sure you may bounce of the scenery should you not take a corner properly and about forget seeing any damage should you collide with an opponent because it won’t happen, but these things don’t matter because this isn’t meant to be another realistic driver, this is arcade racing at it’s finest.

As well as the excellent handling of the cars, the racing surfaces also play a big part in the race, drive around a track once and on your next lap you will notice that you and your opponents previous lap has made permanent marks deep in the surface, this plays a big part in how the track handles and you will need to accommodate this as you negotiate the road, this becomes especially difficult on later tracks such as Alaska where the surfaces are made of a mixture of snow and ash meaning you will literally be bouncing off the walls. The track deformation isn’t the only obstacle you will come across as each racing surface offers up something unique, as you progress through the game you will drive through snow, sleet, sand, mud, water and gravel, each of these provides different challenges, you can also feel the difference between all of them, meaning you will need to compensate for whatever surface your car happens to be racing on.

Should you like you’re racing with more than one player then you have the option of either split screen (which works very well) or on the Playstation Network. Online Sega Rally delivers quite nicely, all the usual options are present should you require a quick race against strangers or a custom one with your friends, I had no problems when looking for a match and found that each race I took part in was both varied and evenly matched, how long the lobbies of this game will stay popular for is hard to say but the option to race online is there and very well presented at that.

Graphically Sega Rally looks absolutely stunning, the environments are rich in detail, all bursting with colour from the blue skies to the tropical trees and it really makes the game feel true to it’s arcade roots, but perhaps the best thing of all is the way the environments interact with your car, drive through mud and it will cling to your bumper only to be partially washed off as you drive through a puddle, or watch as you are trying to negotiate a corner while the car in front kicks up sand causing your view to be obscured, it’s all very nicely done and not only effects the race but looks unbelievable.

If you like your racing games arcade style then there isn’t a game that exists that is better than Sega Rally, it looks, feels and plays like no other game, even if you are not particularly a fan of racing games it is just so hard for me to imagine you not liking this such is it’s grip on you from the moment the accelerator is pressed, racing purists may want to look elsewhere for their speed fix but not me I’m hooked. Highly Recommended.

Rating: 9.8/10