For my money, PES 5 (from 2005) was the last good Pro Evo.

For a long time Konami have stuck with the formula “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” - meaning every release felt exactly the same as the last. Other games in this period began to evolve and, out of nowhere, FIFA became the better game. With player movement feeling stiff and clunky, PES was stuck in the past. The game’s title, “Pro Evolution Soccer”, could almost be considered false advertising.

But guess what? PES is back.

Response time issues still dog the game but there’s a huge improvement, and its slower pace is a welcome relief from FIFA. As a whole it requires more football knowledge to progress and some of the new features really add something.

The stadium editor for example, allows you to create a custom stadium for each team in the game.

This is a serious game, which can frustrate you as much as delight you. Whereas FIFA still encourages a constant counter-attack approach, PES requires build-up play.

The new passing system means that if you don’t aim properly, you’ll more than likely lose possession or kick the ball out of play, whereas even with its new passing system FIFA still produces pixel-perfect passes far too often for my liking.

This is the best PES ever - and I’ve been waiting a long time to say that. But is the best PES ever good enough to beat the best FIFA ever? I love FIFA offline this year because the new Career Mode is so much more in-depth than ever before.

But I love the passing in PES, and the Online Master League (where you buy and sell players online, competing in an online career with other players).

So this year, I’ll be getting both!