There are some who argue that Pro Evolution Soccer has become too confident in its position as the "true football fan's game of choice". It has lived up to its name to a degree, with evolution rather than revolution being the name of the game since 2003's Pro Evolution Soccer 3, and this series of minor changes was reflected in the 2008 edition, released on PS3 and 360 late last year to generally favourable reviews. Now the Wii version has arrived and succeeds in aiming, dragging and waggling the series out of its complacency. It's no exaggeration to say this is the most revolutionary football game I've played since Actua Soccer introduced motion captured players and 3D environments back in 1995 - which is great, because a shake up is just what this genre needed.

So, what makes the game so revolutionary, as if you hadn't already guessed? The control scheme. I've gotten fed up of reading press releases stating that the latest piece of shovelware to soil Nintendo's shiny white box of tricks finds a "unique and novel use for the control system", but Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 really does. Traditionally in football games you find yourself controlling one player at a time. Not here. Want Giggs to run into space in time to meet the perfect through-ball? No problem, grab him with the Wiimote and drag him where you want to go, then point the Wiimote at the space and press B. Brilliant - no more blaming AI for your tactical failings. Using this initially baffling system, you can pull off some wonderful, flowing moves to outsmart even the most nuanced opponent, and it's extremely rewarding. It'll take a good few games (and a lengthy tutorial programme) to fully get to grips with the system, but not as long as you might think upon initially leafing through the rather hefty manual. You'll be expertly drawing lines all over the pitch like a deranged Alan Hansen in no time.

It's not all darting runs and inch-perfect passing though, and sadly the controls don't work half as well when it's the opposition making a fool of you in the middle of the park. Tackling is theoretically just a case of pointing at the player you want to tackle and pressing A (or shaking the nunchuck at the last second for a side tackle). Great in theory, but it just doesn't feel responsive enough, especially compared with the quick and fluid attacking options, and as such you often find the opposition running rings around you, even when you choose to man mark them (point the player without the ball and press A). It's partly because of this that you'll find that goals aren't particularly hard to come by in this incarnation of the beautiful game, but it's also because the shooting is as unimaginative as the defending. To shoot, you simply shake the nunchuck - there's no aiming involved (except to choose whether to lob or shoot) - whether you score, force a save or send it blazing over the crossbar is all down to your timing and the skill of the player you take the shot with. Not necessarily a bad thing - it worked perfectly well in Wii Tennis - but it feels far too simple when you get a free kick in shooting range and the only input required from you is a shake of the nunchuck - I could go down to the park and shake a stick while people played cuppies if I wanted that experience. Hopefully Konami rethink this approach in the inevitable 2009 version, because a little more skill and less luck would do a lot to rob the Internet fanboys of the unimaginative argument that the Wii is full of simple games for simpletons.

But this is beginning to sound negative and it really shouldn't, because the overall take-home from this is that the brave new control scheme that Konami has introduced is a triumph, allowing for complex moves and a degree of accuracy previously unimaginable. I can't overstate how much of a joy it is to see that perfect move come off, and to know that you were directly responsible is amazing. It's equally impressive that the developers have managed to implement a control system that is both deep and surprisingly intuitive, with some real strategy to it - you can even play an offside trap by raising your Wiimote at the right time, to send your defence running forward!

So, how can you implement your newfound sense of control? Well, there are the standard options of Friendly, Cup, League and Champion's Road. Master League is conspicuous by its absence, but then it was from the series' first PSP outing too, so I imagine it'll be included next time around. Of these options, Champion's Road is the least straightforward, adding an element of fantasy league to the proceedings. You create a fictional team with your own choice of kit and logo, and have a set of rubbish payers already assigned to you. You then play real teams by entering into various competitions with as few as three other teams each, loosely divided into regions (Western Europe, South America, etc.) The fantasy league aspect comes into play when you beat an opponent and/or complete mini-missions (score with a volley, keep a clean sheet, etc.) and you get the opportunity to steal a player or two from the opposition. Great, you may think, but before you begin sketching out a plan to steal Drogba, Beckham or (erm) Earnshaw, you should realise you only have a limited say in the player you steal. Your choice is limited firstly by the fact that the star level of player you can take is capped based upon your progress, and that the players are represented by facedown playing cards. The only clue you get as to who's who is by the text that appears below with vague clues like "He can run all day long" and "Play in defence and you won't lose." It's an interesting diversion, but a properly implemented transfer system would be infinitely preferable - and as a side note, I haven't seen a decent one of those since Man United: The Double - an MSDOS game released in 1996!

Graphically, the Wii version has more in common with the PS2 iterations of the game than its next-gen cousins, but it still looks rather nice when zoomed out as it is for the majority of the time. Only when the play zooms in on the players does it become a bit of an eyesore - definitely more of a Martin Keown than Christiano Ronaldo on the looks front - but it does the job. If you want a good-looking football game, even on the high definition consoles, it's pretty widely accepted that FIFA is the title for you. That said, a rather nice touch is the ability to use a team full of Miis for a full on big-headed triumph of silliness! I'm increasingly impressed with the way in which developers seem to be allowing Nintendo's menagerie of user-created cartoon freaks to become a part of the action.

The audio element has typically been a massive chink in Pro Evolution Soccer's armour. Past outings have mixed the embarrassingly Europop dance feel of the menus with a hideously stilted and inaccurate commentary from Peter Brackley, so it's fair to that say my expectations in this department were never high. Impressively, Konami has proved me wrong here - not with the music, which is as dreadful as ever, but with commentary that is delivered by the more recognisable voice of Jon Champion. It's hard to say if they've improved the accuracy of the coverage, or if Jon Champion just sounds more comfortable, but I won't be switching to German or French commentary as I have in the past anytime soon.

In terms of a multiplayer kick-about, Pro Evo Wii (Pro Wiivo?) offers a two-player mode offline and over the Internet. The offline game is every bit as good as you'd expect, with the extra competitive streak and unexpected element that a human opponent introduces, but the online mode is also surprisingly well implemented. Unlike the PS3 and 360 versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, the Wii version seems to suffer from no lag whatsoever online. Finding an opponent can take a bit of time and there's no indication of when the process will end, but once you get there it works flawlessly. If anything this is better than the single player matches, because you can't rely on the tried and tested moves that the AI struggles to deal with, and it's very addictive. Once again it suffers from the Wii's ludicrously user-unfriendly system of needing unique friends codes for each game, but that's Nintendo's problem, not Konami's - as is the lack of voice communications, but then Xbox Live has rather spoiled me in that respect. Curiously, even online you can see all the lines the other player is drawing, which may appear game breaking at first but actually makes a great deal of sense. After all, real players can guess where the opposition is going based on the body language - it's only the same as that and once again it's Konami's ingenious way of giving more control to the player. There's no rival to FIFA 2008's brilliant five vs five Be a Player mode here, but then with the whole game being more based upon the team than the individual, it's hard to see how such a feature could have comfortably sat with the other game dynamics.

Minor reservations aside, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is the rarest type of sports game; one that redefines the way you think of the genre. This should be up there alongside Trauma Centre and Mario Galaxy as the poster children of the Wii - unique gaming experiences that are impossible to replicate on other systems. By giving the freedom of flowing football to the players, Konami has pushed the series further than I imagined possible. On a purely technical level it may perhaps not be worthy of a 9/10 - there's no master league, and the tackling and shooting are a bit iffy - but 'technical' doesn't blow away my football sim preconceptions in the same way that this has. Colour me impressed.

Reviewed by Alan Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).