Product Description

PES 2009 is the latest installment of the award-winning Pro Evolution Soccer Series, which is known by millions of fans for its superior gameplay and incredible realism. For PES 2009, Konami is already planning a raft of extensive new additions that will further bridge the gap between PES and the real thing. The new game has undergone a stunning graphical update to ensure its players look and move even more like their real-life counterparts. Similarly, all-new options allow users to tailor the game to their own tastes, while new moves, innovative new control elements and key online elements will further the realism of the new game.

• New player models, AI elements and physics routines
• 'Become a Legend' mode - Start your career as a rookie midfielder or striker and work your way through the ranks to become a pro. Play in your favourite attacking position and work as part of a team, as opposed to controlling every player.
• 'Legends' online mode - Use your saved 'Become a Legend' player in online matches with like-minded friends, and show off your skills on the larger online stage.
• Redefined intricacies of first touch, close control and ball distribution
• Enhanced shooting and AI mechanisms
• The new control system makes full use the D-Pad and analogue stick to perform contextual tricks and feints within the players run.
• Weather, air resistance and ground friction all have an affect on the balls motion - alter your play to match the conditions just like in real-life.
• Teamvision AI has been extended allowing computer controlled team mates to adapt their tactics more realistically.
• A reworked Master League means a players' loyalty and mood now affects their performance on the pitch.
• Enhanced realism through aesthetic updates, including stadium environments and atmosphere.
• Improved depth of field thr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1027 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Konami
• Released on: 2008-10-17
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, German
• Dimensions: .28 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
PES 2009 is the latest installment of the award-winning Pro Evolution Soccer Series, which is known by millions of fans for its superior gameplay and incredible realism. For PES 2009, Konami is already planning a raft of extensive new additions that will further bridge the gap between PES and the real thing. The new game has undergone a stunning graphical update to ensure its players look and move even more like their real-life counterparts. Similarly, all-new options allow users to tailor the game to their own tastes, while new moves, innovative new control elements and key online elements will further the realism of the new game.

Customer Reviews

Pitch action is where it counts....
First things first - this game doesn't get 5 stars becasue it has a few flaws and annoying points - but that doesn't mean the *core* of the game isn't good - and that is also why it cannot ever EVER deserve one star. I don't know what game these people are playing but it ain't this.

I have both FIFA 09 and PES 09. Good start for a comparison. But I'll talk about PES as this is the review for that game. Ok.

Annoying bits out the road first.
1) Commentary - I've been switching the footy commentary off since PES4. Enough said - I couldn't care less. The crowd noise and tension on the pitch is where it counts so - despite the fact next gen should be able to handle some reactive speech programming with ease - ths is one where I say "who cares". Really. I don't.
2) Menus. Abysmal. Truly rank rotten - the lot of them. Whoever designed these for Konami should be ashamed. It's like pop art for a trainer commercial. FIFA's are terrible too - but not this bad!
3) Music. Again - mostly not my forte. I liked the cheesy rock of PES4 but for the most part - again - music has little to do with a football match unless it's hordes of ecstatic fans belting out their teams anthems. So once more - who really cares? Not me.

Now the good bits.

1) On the pitch - yes the graphics are a lot lot better. The camera angles are a whole lot better than FIFA's (even when customised) and the player collisions especially are a joy to experience. Whether crunching tackles or simple accidental collisions - the sound and physical movement is quite lifelike.
2) On the pitch - difficult passes are, in the main, more difficult and easier passes are, well yeah, easier (in the main). The spread of player skill is a bit more stretched now. You could previoulsy have humped the ball across the pitch with anybody and landed it close to your opposite player. Not now. You need to think a bit more about the passes - but some good combination moves are possible.
3) Tackling and "pressing" the opposition. On the pitch - the big guys now feel big - whereas the wee guys tend to get the brush off. But unlike previous incarnations - the inertia of your own player does seem to be a closer match to the opposing player - i.e it's not as easy as it was previously to simply get barged off the ball. Nice!
4) Speed. The balance of speed and skill has been brought into line. It's not quite as easy to charge away and leave defenders in your dust (whilst dribbling) but it's just as effective to either a) motor past down the line at speed (sacrificing control) or b) dribbling happily away. Players will keep up with you - but if you have a good dribblign skill level then you can fend them off if you make the right directional choices. Again - what would a real Lionel Messi do?
5) Tactics. The fully customisable tactical system in PES hasn't been updated in years - but it has worked well for years too. Being able to swap between 3 different formation during a game can be a liability for the untrained - but when you change things around and see some proper improvement - it's extremely satisfying. Breaking down stubborn defences with a swift change of tactics is the reward for any good manager - and PES still delivers this.

Now the grey areas.

1) Shooting. In some respects it's more realistic. Longer shots are more difficult to hit without time, space and skill - whereas low shots in the box are normally quite well struck from guys with decent shooting skill. In saying that - it's still quite easy to balloon shots over the bar from players with whom you would expect to have better control - but conversely it's sometimes easy to accidentally come up with the most improbable of finishes featuring dexterity, shooting technique and power that only belong to the likes of Cruijff or Van Basten. So for shooting - the jury's out.
2) Player movement. Other reviewers have commented on the lack of involvement of other team mates. I agree it's a bit erratic - but on the whole your colleagues do react to the right choice of tactics and attacking direction from the formation options. The forwards generally advance quite aggressively - in fact pleasingly so. But sometimes the full backs only advance of you first pass the ball with them to a team mate and then hit the B button to charge forward. So I'm not sure this has worked out best for 09.

In summary though - I do think the on pitch action deserves some really good marks - and I think it just beats FIFA in terms of "feel" and control when on the ball. Konami have some tweaks to make - and long standing issues to sort out (c'mon "Seabass" - you should be embarrassed that some of your most well known game design flaws still exist across 5 or 6 iterations of the game - and an entirely new platform to boot).

But overall - yeah I don't see why 4 out of 5 is not fair - and once more I can't agree at all with the scores of 1 out of 5. These games seem to bring out the worst in people sometimes - and for most of the reasons given I think it's a bit petty.

If you want the best on-pitch action - with a good sprinkling of competitiveness and realism - then PES 2009 is hard to beat.

Back to the good old days.................
Advantages:

*Gameplay is more fluid.
*One two's are not an easy way to take it pass the computer, the defenders now follow the running player, gaps are closed and it feels very realistic.
*You cannot simply get fast players and run! Computer defenders now close you down quicker and push you wide. You have to play to get round the AI.
*Long balls hang in the end like real life. Its easier to launch a ball over a defender and it slows down for the player to run onto, just like real life.
*When your receieve the ball the compuer defenders pounce on you, they actually put pressure on your attacks.
*Shooting is now very realistic, you cannot simply belt the ball from 30 yards and expect it to go on targe. Longe range shooting is hit and miss, just like real life.
*Players have better control than before, you can witness players make little nicks round a defender rather than simply one type of turn.
*Players now control the ball with the outside or inside of their feet, no more control in the front of you with shoddy control so you bump into the opposition (highly frustrating aspect in pro 2008)
*Graphics are better than last years colourful effort.
*Stadiums and crowds are much much better modelled.

Disadvantages:

*Keepers are better with high shots but still are poor with shots on the ground. They still palm it into the net making pathetic efforts to save the ball.
*Strength of the AI is still questionable. They defend well but don't attack with the same strength. It seems like they all play counter attack.
*A feint is still such an easy way of getting past an incomming defender.

Overall i gave this 4/5 because it is certainly better than pro 2008 and feels like the good olds days are back (Game plays like ISS:pro 2)

I have also played the FIFA demo and find this years efforts are very similar, only difference i felt is in the fluidity of the game and shooting, with pro evo slightly being favoured.

This game is miles better than pro evo 2008, but FIFA 09 is also miles better than pro evo 2008, so its a tight competition this year.

Good, but Konami still have blind spots
So another year, and another inevitable duel between PES and FIFA to be crowned king of the football simulations. Unfortunately, this time also means the occurence of the petty squabbles between PES and FIFA fan boys, with both parties claiming 'Only real men' can play their respective game; oblivious to the fact that each game indicates anyone over the age of three can, in fact, do so.
In light of this, I will try to keep my review as non-biased as possible, in spite of my allegiance to PES over the years.

To start off, I am surprised by the reviews labelling this the 'WORST PES GAME EVAR!'. However, in spite of this, I think there is reason to be critical of Konami.
While new features have been added, the gameplay remains very much the same - perhaps worse!
The player motion, as ever seems rigid, with players seemingly only being able to run at 8 different angles. What exacerbates this is the sensitivity of the analogue stick. How vexing it can be when through on goal, you tap the stick to the side to open up your body in order to perform an Henry-esque curler, but instead find your player do a 45 degree turn and run head first into the challenging defender.
If that wasn't bad enough, when you do get through on goal, you'll find you either pass the ball into the hands of the grateful keeper; or you'll imitate Johnny Wilkinson and hoof the ball 20 yards over the ball.

While the players are generally tactically sound, I still find the full-back will show a complete unwillingness to push forward and support the winger when quite blatantly need - 'Yes Dani Alves, you are allowed to push forward into that valley of space in front of you when the winger has clearly ran out of options and has two opponents kicking him from behind'.
And kick they do. The refereeing is strange. 'Pressing' seemingly involves the opponent standind behind you for a few seconds, kicking you in the back of the leg, and walking off with the ball whilst the terrible commentary team criticise you for losing possession.
And that leads me onto my next point: the commentary. One of the major criticisms of the previous games was the banal commentary. So how do they prevent this repetition? By opting to use the exact same commentary! Yes, they're back, with profound quotes such as: "If you keep the ball, the other team can't score"; "If you don't win the raffle, you can't win the lottery"; and "He could open a can of beans with his foot" That's right: "He could open a can of beans with his foot". Is any player deserving of such high praise?

Now the negatives are out of the way, I can say I still find the gameplay very enjoyable. No longer will you have to face the annoyance of passing the ball to no-one whilst your player stands there in anticipation; the pace of the game is very good; whilst, as abovementioned, the players seem very tactically aware.

The Become a Legend mode is thoroughly enjoyable too. It is the sort of feature that gives you a sense of achievement. You do not gain instant gratification and full stats within 2 seasons. You have to spend years working your way up and developing your stats before you can be considered for a top side. Admittedly, the selection process can be strange - I was dropped after scoring a hattrick. But other than that, it is a thoroughly enjoyable feature.

In conclusion, I would say it is a good buy, but I just cannot see why Konami do not improve on flaws that have been so obvious for the past few years.