Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Pro Evolution Soccer has remained a veritable piece of classy software for many years now, usurping the excellent International Superstar Soccer titles from Major A to the point where Konami decided to retire that initial brand and focus on what had been seen as the underdog back in the days of the PlayStation. Other than the Wii efforts that introduced the superb motion control mechanic whereby off-the-ball footballers could be directed using the Wii Remote’s Infra-Red pointer to literally draw their path for strategic runs, the other home console iterations have retained a strong sense of familiarity that has kept fans satiated for more than a decade. What has Konami brought to the table for Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, though?

To start with, the basics of every other entry are back, albeit in a somewhat stripped down fashion. Those picking up Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D must realise from the off that this will remain one of the strongest football releases until the inevitable 2012 edition later in the year, but it lacks any online multiplayer (despite Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on DS including such a feature), and certainly gives off the air of being Pro Evolution Soccer Lite, with no training modes, for instance, and particular elements appearing to not be quite as ironed out as you would imagine; slowdown can rear its ugly head during some camera positions and the way the lower touch-screen is used is hardly user-friendly to say the least (having on-the-fly tactics, the radar and player data all crammed into tiny areas of the screen makes viewing anything clearly quite awkward).

Never fear, though, as the close controls, fancy player moves, atmospheric crowd chants, strong soundtrack with fully licensed songs, UEFA Champions League branding, in-depth commentary from Jon Champion and coverage from Jim Beglin, as well as the highly detailed visuals with stunning real-life facial recreation, are all present and correct. The Circle Pad works delightfully with the action as well, giving an advantage over the two versions that appeared on the Nintendo DS immediately, yet there are times when the controls in general can feel slightly cramped when trying to pull off every single special step-over, one-two pass, and piece of trickery assigned to numerous button press and Circle Pad pushes combined. The main draw of this new version, however, is not particularly how it plays so similar to its home console big brothers, but is definitely more about how the introduction of 3D, whilst not an obligatory feature, is without a shadow of a doubt the key reason for at least giving this tweaked arcade football title a try.

Rather than keep the bog-standard camera views of old, Konami has attempted to craft specific viewpoints for Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D that are hoped to take full advantage of the Nintendo 3DS’ parallax image trickery that adds a whole new level of depth to a tried-and-tested formula. The default option is the much-talked about ‘Player Cam,’ which has never been a popular choice to begin with, and works to a degree here, yet still does not quite give the best viewing angle required for accurate passing and defending. The over-the-shoulder start-up camera position looks stunningly impressive from a 3D point of view, but results in a considerable amount of spinning as the camera continuously attempts to re-position itself around to the back of the current player when switching from one team-mate to another, something that can lead to terrible headaches in the long-term, as well as cheap goals from the opposition. It inadvertently adds to the difficulty level, yet not in a challenging manner, more the fact that it is tough to defend once the ball has been lost, meaning close attention must be made to the radar on the lower screen that is in itself frustrating due to being even tinier than in past releases.

The other four camera positions included are ‘Normal Close,’ which brings the view far too close to the action so that barely anything else can be seen unless right in your personal space; ‘Vertical Wide,’ which conveys a superb sense of 3D, and always has your team playing towards the top of the screen in both the first and second half as it would have been nigh on impossible to shoot without pure guesswork otherwise; ‘Wide,’ is the perfect view that most players are familiar with and will naturally want to revert to. 3D does not really add much to this particular viewpoint, but for anyone feeling rather uncomfortable with ‘new’ styles, as many did with the changes for the Wii versions, this touch of ‘safety’ will definitely appeal. Finally, there is ‘Vertical Close’ that looks fantastic and shows off the impressively detailed character models, all with the intricately mapped faces that look amazingly similar to their real-life counterparts (unlike FIFA’s hideous monsters). However, the action is far too close most of the time, making any defending actions very difficult and invites some slowdown in when too many players appear on the screen at once.

On the gameplay side, a large sector of the video game football community began to criticise Pro Evolution Soccer in recent years for not changing its spots, so Konami brought in a more realistic ball control, passing and shooting. Whereas in the past even the most wayward of balls would magically stick to another team member’s foot like some mystery magnetic force was at play, in recent years the game has relied on the user accurately directing passes and aiming shots with a great degree of accuracy. What happened when these changes were implemented? There was uproar from Pro Evolution Soccer veterans, claiming the controls were now too loose. Anyone a little unsure about this 3D version should know that the ball-control skill of players remains loose to an extent, and when that next dead-cert in front of goal shot becomes a near-miss for the tenth time, it is not the game’s fault, it is that of the player. The 3DS Circle Pad gives a high level of player control, so there are no excuses for embarrassing mistakes after some practice.

In the end, the more you play Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, the more you become absorbed in the fun factor of Konami’s classy series, and enthusiasts will eagerly snap up the chance to use the edit function to update any incorrectly named players, teams, leagues and even stadia. Content-wise, there are six stadia to play in, ten leagues to participate in, 60 national clubs to choose from, and 170 league clubs available (ranging from England, France, Italy, Holland, Spain and a batch of hand-picked teams from elsewhere in the world). The Exhibition mode allows for a quick one-player match, Champions League is the normal European cup run, and the Master League permits the building of your own personal team that can later be registered via StreetPass so that players can have matches against each other, only finding out the results later at home.

Be it the creation of your team in StreetPass on the Master League, playing through the five difficulty levels on offer, or getting to grips with the superbly realistic motions of players, the impressive quick player switching and amazing visuals, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D may have let some down due to its lack of online features or four-player wireless play, but it will definitely keep Nintendo 3DS owners eager for some football action more than happy. The only fear is that people sinking money into this 2011 version are going to be somewhat stung if, as predicted, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 3D comes out towards the end of the year.