Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

Out of a roster of around 6000 players, there are only 15 "stars" - like Messi - with magic feet to bamboozle, befuddle and blind. Yet their pirouetting, pretentious ways remain fallible - balance, in other words, is preserved - through smart application of the new defensive techniques.

Elsewhere, the renewed focus on freedom is another product of the team's painful but necessary process of self-examination. "We've been developing PES for over 10 years since PlayStation 1," Seabass muses. "Every time we release a new version we've found that the freedom of the game has gradually disappeared. We maybe made it too complicated."

This manifests itself most clearly in passing, which, in tandem with a reworked shot power gauge, affords "unlimited freedom of passing" according to its creator.

Every pass or shot performed in PES 2011 brings up a power gauge on screen, which is situated in open play directly beneath the player so it is always in focus. Making use of this while holding L2 and pressing a pass button, the ball can theoretically be sent wherever you want it to go.

The team has clearly looked back in considerable detail over the history and development of PES to trace how it got here and where it needs to go. One unexpected side effect is the return of a long-forgotten feature: game speed.

"In PS1 days there was an option to change the game speed," Seabass recalls. "I looked up how long it was before I decided to have this back and it was about 12 years ago the last time. I've put it back in this year."

In practice, you can change the speed at any point via the pause menu, from -2 to +2, with zero being the regular setting. The difference between the extremes is clear enough and while its ultimate utility remains to be seen, its inclusion can be no bad thing and gives an extra way to tailor the experience to taste.

When it comes to playing the game, the flipside to being treated to an unprecedentedly early showing becomes apparent, with many features yet to be implemented and others not working as they should. The feint system, for example, at present produces looping, sliding animations that are clearly unfinished, and tackling hasn't been fully worked in, making it hard simply to get a foot in.

These aren't criticisms, of course: it's simply not possible to make any meaningful qualitative judgements on such elements at this stage. What is possible with this build is to get a decent feel for the ebb and flow of a game, the new power gauge, redone throw-in system, game speed, passing freedom and so on.

The latter could well prove to be the most significant addition. Experiencing it at first is to realise how much the playing of PES has been, if not on autopilot then certainly in a comfort zone of familiar ease. Which is a roundabout way of saying I end up blasting the ball to row Z and beyond in my early attempts to precision-place a pass.