Year in year out I get the Pro Evo and FIFA games to review. I look at them side by side and I've always felt advantaged to be in that position, as I can always pick the clear cut winner. Last year FIFA 06 almost won me over from Pro Evo 5, despite being one of the highly respected football games of all time. This year I feel at a slight disadvantage as I only have Pro Evolution Soccer 6 to look at this time around. But then, I could use this to my advantage - after all, I don't have to compare, and if I don't have to compare then surely I can just enjoy this title for what it should be. Is the grass greener on the other pitch? I've heard rumours, but I cannot personally comment!

PES fans might bash me for saying this, but on the face of things spotting the differences between PES 6 and PES 5 are hard - and they become harder each year too, as the tweaks get smaller and more trivial; maybe it's time for the football games to start afresh with their engines to give us a truly different experience. It's not until I sat down with a man who worships the table that Pro Evo sits upon that I realised what had changed this year - in fact, I was quite shocked to learn about the exclusion from the Xbox 360 version of being able to name and create your teams. PES 6 is quite sparse on modes all around; it has a few new inclusions, one of those being added online support for up to eight players, that's four versus four, plus the PS2 folk can play against the PC players as well. While PS2 and PC players can enjoy 33 stadiums online, the Xbox 360 version only houses eight, with no support for eight players either; in fact, you can only play one versus one online. It looks as if the PS2 is the console of choice when it comes to PES6, especially when the saving of replays is excluded on the Xbox 360 too!

Even though the changes are subtle this year and focus more on realism as opposed to cosmetics, I still enjoy scoring a well co-ordinated goal. It's nice to pick a favourite team, or a very crippled team for extra challenge, and pass the ball around the opposing players, right to the goal posts, then just slam it in the top right corner. The crowd goes wild, you go wild and the players on screen react better than they ever have; all your team piles in, kisses you, jumps on you, pats you on the back, cheers for you - and the player you just scored with has such a genuine smile on his face, especially if he's not really a striker and has just managed to get it in against the odds, that you really cannot help just feel fantastic for your team.

The science behind this game is even greater than it was. I have a new philosophy now - if you want a football science game, then Pro Evo 6 is the one to go for. It's just so realistic. Even though the graphics aren't superb, the players move so realistically around each other. The science in PES6 is that you can now expect each player to really rely on their stats - now the defenders will know that they cannot outrun the midfielders and those midfielders tend to leave it to the strikers to bring home the goals. In what almost feels like game of paper, rock, scissors, statistics and probabilities are factored in as they would be in real life - and that's why I call this game a science.

The renowned players that are household names, well, they're the players you have to watch out for, because it seems as if these guys are a cut above the rest - they're as good as you've seen in real life. So giving the ball to Henry is a good idea, because you know he'll make good use of it! Dribbling is one of the changes that really matters to the causal gamer like me though; you can now dribble without even giving it a second thought. Just use the thumbstick tightly, keeping the ball near your feet, or use it loosely, dribbling the ball along. Combining dribbling tactics with a sprint and clever manoeuvres that take you in-between opponents, you can really get some satisfactory scoring going on here!

As always, we have a host of modes available - although like I mentioned before, the modes here aren't nearly as plentiful as rival football games, or even PES games before this one. Match mode allows you to get into games quickly, whereas the Master League mode is the meat of the game and takes you through player development to improve your chosen club team. League mode allows you to play in a season with your desired team and the Cup mode lets you play a few tournaments and the Konami Cup too. Edit lets you edit teams, but not create them, and Training gets your skills up - perfect for the beginner. Then you have a couple of online modes too, where you can take on four other people along with three of your friends, for a lag-free four versus four. Of course, offline multiplayer is here too and as always it's going to be included in the multiplayer game nights when friends come round until the next PES game comes out.

I'm a little disappointed with the commentary this year. The more I play sports games, the more commentary I hear and after been treated to that of 2K Sports' NHL games, I have to say that the PES6 commentary is dull, unimaginative and slow. The crowd noises are great and the sound of the ball leaving your foot never gets old, while as always the menu music is desirable Japanese rave-pop to help you decide your game mode as quickly as possible! The graphics are always going to be compared to FIFA games and, of course, I cannot bring myself to even say they almost look as good as each other, because that would be a worthless lie. Some things are good, such as the character animation, the dribbling, how players react when they score and the genuine smile of a winning team, but things such as 2D crowds have just about had their day in this era of 21st Century gaming - as have fuzzy pitches and little zoomed out players. Next year I want some graphical improvements.

It goes without saying really; if you're a fan of the Pro Evo series then you're going to love Pro Evolution Soccer 6, so you should just buy it regardless. Sure, you lose some modes, but the gameplay feels so right that it'd be so wrong to overlook PES 6. Those graphics and audio whores might want to check out FIFA and I've heard that the gameplay on FIFA is almost up to scratch with PES6 this time, which means that next year will be the decider - the unholy war between two godly football games. PES has simply never been so good on the PS2 as it is here, and with support for eight players online to keep you coming back I'd say that PES 6 will keep you happy until PES 7 comes along - but that's just a scientific guess!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).