Once bound to the high-speed processor and far grander storage space of the personal computer, football management titles are now finding their way across the murky waters of platform migration, onto an island I like to call 'Consolebourg'. Indeed, in recent years we have seen invasion on this make-believe, and frankly ludicrous, land by many of the more esteemed and accomplished management sims. Sure, LMA and Premier Manager have been ploughing away at the console-based gaming field for some time, but the arrival of the football manager series to these rarely trodden lands has renewed interest in the possibility of leading teams to glory from the armchair, rather than the spinny desk chair that makes me dizzy.

With the much loved Pro Evolution Soccer 5 only a matter of months old and many of us still marvelling at Ronaldinho's vast range of skills, none of us could have been blamed for expecting to wait until the release of the PS3 before Konami blessed us with another soccer title. Then, like ex-England goalkeeper David James (I say 'ex' more with hope than fact), Konami have come rushing out of nowhere to swing wildly at the football market once more.

Pro Evolution Soccer Management may come as a surprise release to many die hard Pro Evo fans, and my thoughts on the news of its impending dip into the games market were filled with uncertainty, excitement and the hope of boobs. While Konami undoubtedly boasts unrivalled gameplay that has EA Sports stamping their little feet like a petulant child, the nature of its glossary of footballing terms and general ins and outs of the British game have been a little ropey. To my knowledge, I have rarely heard John Motson call any defender a 'Stronghold Guardian', and if you went to Millwall on a Saturday with a banner that read 'Good Old Football', you would probably require surgery to remove it from whatever orifice it was crammed into. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to judge this title to harshly before I even got started, and as I delved deeper I crossed my fingers, toes and eyes (have no choice with the latter) that an English football fan had been consulted at some point in the development stages.

First things first, don't expect too much. EA Sports fork out an enormous amount of money for the rights to the official paraphernalia that comes with the English Premiership and, like the young child I referred to before, they will kick and scream if anyone else attempts to take a slice of their big fat football cake. Therefore, you can expect to see many a clash of Man Red against Middlebrook, live from the Trad Bricks stadium. But let's move on to what we know and love about the Pro Evolution series.

Customisation is, as usual, in abundance. Leading with one of its best feet forward, you must manifest a managerial representation of yourself to yell from the touchline, tell the press you didn't see anything untoward and throw hot tea, football boots and gravel at your playing staff. The variation is impressive enough and although it lacks the extensive options available when creating a player on Konami's sister title, you can pick a look to adequately match your management style, be it a Stuart Pearce tracksuit or a Sir Alex Ferguson suit.

Next you must accept that guiding Tottenham to finally winning some silverware is impossible, even more so on your own. So, it's time to hire some staff, starting with a personal assistant. Not too sure if these are too apparent in the premiership, and after Sven's little slip up with his P.A. at the F.A. they may not feature again (or always will, depends how you look at it). You are presented with four or more attractive females that will guide you through the rest of the game. With choice ranging from an attractive brunette graduate to the stunning blonde daughter of a wealthy businessman, it is clear that Konami believe management is much more fun when assisted by someone with commendable assets (and you thought hoping for boobs was pointless!)

Once you have chosen your personal assistant, she leads you through the hiring of a coach and three scouts, followed by choosing which team to manage. Disregarding the obvious choice for any fans of a team, you can base your decision on the varying difficulty. This ranges between clubs such as Chelsea, who offer lots of money but require consistently impressive performances, and clubs like Portsmouth, who have little cash but will be satisfied to finish outside of the relegation zone. The good news is that money is no longer in points but in real denominations.

Once into the season, you will need a few friendlies to get your players up to speed and it won't be long before you realise a few shortcomings in your team that require a dip into the transfer market to rectify. The three scouts you hired earlier offer you a variety of players and report on their findings each week. Unfortunately, the transfers within this title still have an air of the obscurity that Pro Evo always seems to suffer from. Salary is on a yearly scale, whereas the ludicrous amounts footballers get paid is usually expressed in weekly numbers. There's also no indication as to the factors that will make a player interested in signing for your club. The other problem is that the budget you're given at the start of the season is set and won't change, which really takes away half the fun of the transfer market, as adding to your fund isn't possible. This means selling players is relatively pointless, as the money you acquire goes straight into the chairman's pocket.

What really sells this title is the graphical content. Every player has been created with a 3D image and when you arrange meetings with your staff you actually see (but don't hear) them talking to you. As for the games, the engine from the successful Pro Evo series has been utilised and each game is fully viewable from a variety of camera angles. Although the game can be easily sped up using the shoulder buttons, the one thing missing is the ability to merely watch the highlights of a game, instead of every minute of the ball bouncing around in midfield. But outside the match engine the graphics are more than solid, and by far and away my favourite feature is the Sky Sports style TV show that takes place before the season and before any big game. Two presenters talk to football expert Michael about upcoming events, which is a revolutionary idea that sent shivers down my spine the first time I saw it. The only shivers the music causes however, are ones of pain in my eardrums. Within the match the atmosphere is still as close to a real game as we have seen, only hampered by the simply awful commentary that we now expect from Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking.

The controls are as simple as moving around a menu, and anyone familiar with the Pro Evo titles will find that the slight changes are as easy as the decision to play Jermain Defoe or Gregorz Rasiak. The only real issue that may cause some user error is the usual localisation problems that Konami seem to constantly suffer from, i.e. transfers being 'negotiations' etc. But apart from these minor translation errors, it's quite easy to quickly work through a season. Although, not as quick as would be possible if it weren't for the intricacies of preparing the tactics each week. Your coach provides you with tips for how to play to your strengths whilst exposing your opponents' weaknesses, but it rarely differs each week and becomes a tiresome task once you have formed the team that you wish to play each week.

Football management titles are all about living the dream yourself, therefore their success relates closely to how official they are and how deep they can reach into the thoughts and expectations of football fans. Unfortunately, where Konami have excelled in gameplay, they have failed to really capture the hearts of footy fans more than Robbie Savage. The reason for this is probably not so much that the game lacks in quality, rather than that most of us are simply children of Football/Championship Manager; therefore, the bar has already been raised to a height that could never be achieved by a debut in this much-loved genre. But with five iterations of Pro Evolution Soccer, you would be naïve to expect too much from Pro Evolution Soccer Management, and as a result, some of its more unique features shine like the light bouncing from Dion Dublin's bald head. My advice is to get hold of this title despite the strong competition, because it won't be long before Konami get to grips with football management and are competing with the best of them.

Reviewed by Rob Byron for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).