Expectation is a difficult beast to manage. Whether it’s the latest blockbuster failing to live up to its pre-release hype or the look on your girlfriend’s face when she unwraps her birthday present, only to discover it’s another weight-loss DVD, meeting expectation is sometimes harder than keeping David Bentley under control when he’s wearing an England under-21 shirt.

Shingo ’Seabass’ Takatsuka had a mountain to climb when creating the next-gen versions of Pro Evolution Soccer, then. Last year’s Xbox 360 game delivered a high-definition experience but fell short with respect to PES’s trademark realistic gameplay and sharp AI. It was by no means terrible - as you can tell from our PES6 review - but it wasn’t the Pro Evo we’ve come to know and love over the past few years.

A year on, however, and the essence of what makes PES so undeniably superb - the instinctive controls, the way you almost feel at one with your team when you’re playing well - is very much back in evidence. Indeed, playing next-gen Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is a warming, blissfully familiar experience that will make you wonder if you’ve accidentally slipped the old version of the game into the drive.

That’s not to say Konami hasn’t moved the series forward. In fact it’s a noticeable improvement over last year’s next-gen effort for a number of reasons. Firstly, the loose controls have been tightened up and are much more responsive, providing greater on-the-ball and close control. The AI - the foundation upon which PES has been built for so long - is markedly better too. Your players make more intelligent runs, they work together as a team more proficiently and the opposition puts up a much better fight, especially on the higher difficulty settings against the best teams.

The enhanced AI is undeniably the result of PES 2008’s much-lauded TeamVision feature, in which the opposition learns and adapts to the way individuals play the game. Having said that, the AI still feels more like an evolution rather a revolution, which is no bad thing. Defenders will track back more aggressively if you continually attack in the same way and, likewise, they’ll take advantage of weak spots in your defence unless you adapt to the way they play. However, it’s not so overwhelming that you need to change your tactics every time you run out onto the pitch.

In practice it’s probably the most authentic football experience yet, not just on next-gen but even compared to Pro Evo on PS2. Whether you’re playing a slick one-touch passing game or using the strength of big defenders to push players off the ball, everything feels spot on. Your players react the way you’d expect them to, not just as a team but also as individuals. Rooney is a bruiser on the ball and can ride the challenges of most defenders and still net a goal from 35 yards. Fabregas, on the other hand, occasionally needs protecting from overly enthusiastic opposition but technically he’s one of the best players in the game, making rarely a stray pass even under pressure.

Nowhere was this level of authenticity more evident than in the Euro final we played between England and Portugal. With England dominating the centre of midfield, Ronaldo darted along wing before cutting into the box. But, as Ferdinand and Terry closed in to cut out the run - and with Ronaldo almost certain to lose possession - the Portuguese winker faked a foul and dived to the ground. Rather than award a penalty though, the ref was well-positioned and gave the filthy cheat a yellow card for his play-acting. Admittedly he was instrumental in getting Gerrard sent off five minutes later but, for that precious moment, justice was served.