Konami showed Pro Evolution Soccer 2 for the first time today at ECTS. The version on display is 90 percent complete and plays significantly more smoothly than the original game, which is currently the most popular soccer game for the PS2 in Europe.

　　Changes to the game's visuals became apparent as soon as our first game kicked off--the animation of the players on the field not only looks much smoother but actually allows for much more free-flowing gameplay. In Pro Evolution Soccer , one of the few flaws was that when players lost the ball, attempted sharp turns on the ball, or ended up on the floor after a tackle they seemed to lose all of their momentum, wasting valuable fractions of a second. This is definitely not the case in the sequel, which plays every bit as quickly as an EA Sports FIFA title, but which boasts a level of realism that none of Konami's competitors have come close to realizing to date.

　　Pro Evolution Soccer 2 really does represent a highly evolved form of its predecessor, with everything from dribbling and shooting through to close control and passing, benefiting from fine-tuning that makes the game a joy to play. The game also feels even more realistic since every action in the game now seems to boast a minimum of two or three different animations so that every player on the field doesn't appear to move in the same way.

　　The popular Master League gameplay mode, in which you start with a relatively unskilled team and then use points accumulated by winning matches to buy better players, will also benefit from some new features in the sequel. KCET has not only added a third division to the proceedings, but has also implemented a contract system which means that you will have to negotiate deals with anyone you wish to sign rather than simply being able to buy the player as soon as you have enough points.

　　The version of the game on show at ECTS, like the original game, doesn't feature all of the real team and player names that fans of the series are hoping for, but using in-game editors it's possible to re-create just about any player, team strip, and even team badge that fans of clubs not included in the game by default could wish for.

　　Pro Evolution Soccer 2 is scheduled for a European release in November. No North American release has been confirmed at this time. We'll bring you more information on the game as it becomes available.