Well, i'm sure that many soccer/football fans would be interested in reading this review. The ongoing debate of PES vs Fifa, yet to me, none have emerged on top.
Special thanks go to our friends at Exotique who provided us with PES09 for review. Ok, so, on with the review.
First of all, i was never a PES fan, to be completely honest, it was only last year that i tried out PES for myself, and wasn't fully impressed with it, since i was more of a Fifa fan. But this year's PES serie, PES09, has exceeded my expectations. For starters, Konami have acquired the UEFA Champions League license for the next 4 years.
Graphics
Become A Legend mode, player stepping onto pitch.
The graphics in Pro Evolution Soccer are quite good. For one, the players look amazing. Even a Fifa fanatic must admit, the players structure, being both their faces, and their kits, are quite realistic! Konami never ceases to amaze me! I mean, players looked nearly the exact same way as they do in real life. Thumbs up on that part. Also, wrinkles in the players' kits make them look more natural and life-like.
Next, stadiums. Not bad at all actually. One thing i noticed that the ball, when shot into the crowd, goes along the stadium lines, meaning, if there was a flight of stairs, the ball would bounce on that stairs, something that hit me, and left a bit of a mark
The disappointing part comes here though. The crowd that surrounds the pitch while playing, not that impressive. Also, the turf needs some work, needs to be more natural-looking.
Sound
Something that i'm quite please with in PES09 is the commentary. Commentators that you'd get used to hearing are English men Jon Champion and former Liverpool player Mark Lawrenson. They seem to boost the match with their comments, continuously, only flaw is that they cease to change their tone of voice and flow of words when scoring opportunities are produced. Still, the commentary makes the game more and more realistic.
Crowd sounds haven't been changed much. It seems that the sounds from PES09 have remained relatively the same from its predecessor, PES08.
Gameplay
The Menu
Pro Evolution Soccer is, in my opinion, more realistic when it comes to player to player interactions. By this i mean, the way players pass to each other, the way they control the ball, the way they shoot. It's not like most Fifa games, you shoot you score, especially on beginner, but more of, ready-aim-fire/shoot. That's practically why it's more realistic, diving headers aren't always met, same goes for first timers, the ball isn't always hit, which keeps you more on the edge. You have to get your cross perfect, so that the player on the receiving end will hit the ball, still, doesn't mean the ball will end behind the keeper, because i got used to it being that way from Fifa, beginner/amateur
mode. Beginner mode in PES is completely different. It isn't as easy to score, thus keeping you more hyped.
Players move naturally in the ground, the vast variety of tricks interests many soccer fans. Also, friction plays an important role in the game. Ground conditions would affect the ball, in terms of the bounce of the ball, and ball movement in general.
Loading screen tips and key binding is shown with Xbox 360 controller keys, so for PC fanatics, that may be considered as a big no no.
Camera angles are now more realistic aswell, and some new teams and stadiums add up to bring you the new improved PES09!
Gamemodes
UEFA Champions League
Konami have secured the License for the UEFA Champions league for these 4-years, i guess we'll be seeing more of the Champions league
On to this mode, one may experience a different type of play, since now you're not only competing with teams from your country, but from countries from all around Europe. The UEFA Champions league, in PES09, is surely a bonus, and adds to the fun. The intro clip to the UEFA Champions League mode (seen above) gives you a warm welcome to the new mode. Konami have done well with this one!
Become A Legend
Your youngster’s gaining experience in Become A Legend
The 'Become A Legend' mode is quite similar to the 'Be A Pro' in Fifa. You start by creating your own, 17-year old youngster that would start training with a small team that is chosen in the early stages of his career. You customize this player in many ways, be it hair style, colour, kit, accessories, you may even change his boot.
You will then start by taking part in training sessions with your player, which i found quite boring after sometime, since it doesn't give you much sense of competition, but your player will eventually be promoted to the reserves bench, and later on to the starting line-up.
The camera, while in the game, focuses on your player, and is quite comfortable, when you get used to it, because it turns so that you have a view of the ball and your player simultaneously. Your youngster gains experience by each game that he takes part in, and he'd soon be a regular player of the starting eleven.
Later on in his career, your player would have offers from other clubs, and it is your job to choose which club you'd like to sign with!
Master League
The Master league mode is another gamemode in PES that keeps you wanting more. Here, you can either choose an existing team, or create your own custom team. By custom i mean: team name, emblem (create your own or upload your own), stadium, cheering stance, and kit. That's all yours to customize.
Your team will participate in for the following: Cup, League, European Championship, and European Masters Cup. Master league isn't for the faint hearted, it's the MASTER league.
League - Cup
Yet another gamemode, you compete with teams from one country, for the League Title, aswell as the for the Cup which is included in this mode.
Multiplayer
Online play is quite better than last year, the main reason of this being that the servers have improved, and very few connection errors occur while playing online. Online playing could be played in two modes. Ranked, or non-ranked. Playing and winning a Ranked match would increase your global ranking, loosing will decrease your ranking, and playing a non-ranked match would be just for fun.
Surely a game not to miss!
Verdict
Graphics - 8.5/10
Players look very realistic, kits wrinkle quite naturally, stadiums look well built, only drawbacks are the crowd and the turf.
Sound - 7.5/10
Fan sounds could be a bit better, same goes for the songs in the game, commentary is pretty good on the other hand.
Gameplay - 9/10
Love the way players pass, shoot, dribble, the whole lot! Good stuff!
Multiplayer - 9/10
Patches updates are shown when connecting to multiplayer mode, making it easier to keep your game version up-to-date, very little lag is experienced while playing. Well worth the rating.
Final Rating
8.5/10
Surely a game that must be tried out! The game has improved in practically every area it could! Great stuff!
Hope you enjoyed reading! PES09 may be purchased from Exotique
Back to the writing log...
General of the Army The Punisher
Comments
sacchi1412
16-Nov-08 10:06:46
the italian commentator is nothing real to the real commentator i hear.....pes commentator says gol when some1 scores while real italian commentator says rete. and even how they talk is different.
btw i have a prob, when i go on system settings and select commentator and save system setting the next time i play it still becomes english
TyphoOneEe
17-Nov-08 18:57:31
I should buy this (:
Johnny-X
18-Nov-08 18:50:00
Actually it's not like they always say "rete" or "gol", it isn't a written rule or something -.- I find their commentary much more flowing and their voices much less annoying than the English ones.
I have the same problem as well, I just go to system settings everytime I play...
Crissy
04-Jun-09 14:07:43
One of my Favourite games tal-football Gr8 Review btw
