PES Chronicles

I might have found the answer to the riddle of PES2008. Assuming that the riddle is: How can I play PES2008 with enjoyment for longer than I have already played it?

I fired up PES2008 on my PS3 this morning with a considerable lack of enthusiasm. The game’s faults are well-documented across a hundred different websites. (The print magazines are strangely quiet. A token one-page, semi-humorous feature on the problems with PES2008 is all we have got out of Official PlayStation Magazine since their disgraceful 9/10 review that failed to mention the horrific technical problems that marred the game until two months after its release.)

I didn’t feel like playing England vs Scotland, or resuming either of my two Master League careers (the Coventry City one and the Singers FC one). I fancied something different. I decided to try out PES2008’s League mode.

I’d never really bothered with League mode in PES. Ever since Master League came along, Master League is pretty much all I’ve ever played.

Before Master League - back in the days of ISS - I don’t remember there being a League mode. There was one of sorts, but it was composed entirely of International teams. It didn’t feel right. I used to play tournaments all year round on the old ISS games. It was great fun going through the alphabet and trying to win the World Cup with every team in the game. Teams like Nigeria and Ukraine were pretty easy, but it took me about 20 separate attempts to win it with Wales.

League mode on PES2008 is unknown territory. I’m sick of the English league and English teams - I’m hip-deep in an English FIFA08 right now - so I leaned toward the Italian league. I chose to play with Juventus.

I set up my beloved 4-3-3, with Del Piero slightly out of position as a left-sided CF. I don’t really know some of the Juventus players, so it took me a while to sort through them. I arranged the subs’ bench to how I wanted it.

Then I played my first couple of games. I played four in total. I won 2, and I lost 2. I found PES2008 to be a pretty good game again, to be honest. It was challenging. I had to defend well and be careful not to attack too much. I had to take the chances I created or be punished. At times, it was frustrating. And, best of all, I was unable to go on any mazy, dribbling runs with the players at my disposal.

I tried to - of course I did. I’m human. I tried with Camoranesi, with Nedved, even with Del Piero (too slow). I tried and failed to score ‘Elcherino goals’ with any of my team. This was good.

After the four games I felt something of the old fire. The urge to get on and see what happens next, see how far I can take this thing. In League mode, of course, there is no player development and no transfer market. The players you start with are the only players you’re going to get. This, too, is a great plus-point.

Here’s a random kind of goal I scored during one of the games. A corner comes over, is partially cleared by the CPU defence, then Juve’s rangy CF, Iaquinta, gets his head to it (let’s ignore the CPU goalkeeper’s Paul Robinson-style flap at the ball as it crawls past him into the net, eh?):

League mode could be the future for me and PES2008. I’ll say that right now. Could I play nothing but League mode all year? Yes. In conjunction with the very involving Manager Mode on the very good next-gen FIFA08, I might yet salvage something out of this terrible year. Trying to win every PES2008 League with every team could be a lot of fun, and genuinely fulfilling. I could even go down the road of setting up custom Leagues - Superleagues! - and trying to win them with the likes of Reading.

Ah, but first I have to give Master League one more chance. I owe it to PES after all these years to go that extra mile. Before I can think about jumping ship to another game mode, I will resume my Singers FC career for at least a few days, using some devious House Rules. One of the rules involves keeping some of the Default players, permanently.