Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

This year’s PES is a step backward, and letting players fake injury to draw fouls is the least of the offenses. The bumbling goalkeepers have been virtually lobotomized, replays are slideshows despite a disappointing dearth of presentation enhancements, and the continued lack of independent ball physics becomes less forgivable with each year. Worst of all, online play is a mess that sends players and ball alike twitching around the field. The controls still expose tons of cool moves, and A.I. teams have the canny new ability to change tactics in response to your playmaking, so the single-player game is still completely worth playing. But when almost every other aspect of the game has been either damaged or left alone, this year’s version just isn’t worth the full price.