Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

[RaychelSnr]

From clunky cartridges to compact discs, wired controllers to Bluetooth sticks, Goldeneye battles at your mate’s house to online Call of Duty wars -- through the years I have welcomed all sorts of changes in my gaming life. But the one thing that remained constant was Pro Evolution Soccer. It was always my preferred choice when the new footy season came around -- that is until last year of course.

Konami’s winning formula has been tested and surpassed not only by time, but also by the rapid rise of competitor EA Sports’ FIFA series. With a stellar showing this year, FIFA 09 once again raised the bar for soccer games. Can Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 win back the title, or at the very least stay in the top division?

Read More - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

[Qb]

Some fair evaluations and criticisms, but I've heard a TON of good things about the Be A Legend mode. His point about being able to start with an existing player in FIFA is a good one and would have been a nice option in PES. But if he insists on comparing PES's BAL to FIFA's BAP, don't you think he should mention that FIFA's mode only lasts four seasons?

[ant0n]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Offline I think PES beats FIFA.

[therizing02]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Offline I think PES beats FIFA.

Definitely.

[Abar22]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Some fair evaluations and criticisms, but I've heard a TON of good things about the Be A Legend mode. His point about being able to start with an existing player in FIFA is a good one and would have been a nice option in PES. But if he insists on comparing PES's BAL to FIFA's BAP, don't you think he should mention that FIFA's mode only lasts four seasons?

I agree. There also seems to be little complaining about a Be a Pro bug that basically ruins the mode. Whenever your teammates serve a suspension from yellow or red cards they never come back to the team for that season. 3/4ths of the way through my first season I realized Beckham and 3 other starters for the Galaxy were never coming back. At last count Becks was gone for 8 games before I decided to hang that mode up. The rumor was if you made captain there was a way to get them back by putting them in reserves for a game and then moving them back but why should this even be an issue?
Combine that bug with a 4 year limit and a lack of in season games (league cups or champs league is missing, can't remember) and the winner of the Be A _______ mode is apparent.

[asu666]

I've played both a lot this year after having played WE9 on my Xobx the past few. I have to say that FIFA 09 is the game that has finally passed the PES series. Outside of the license issue, the rightstick defensive switching, and financial model in FIFA's Manager mode put it over the top. The graphical upgrade to FIFA 09 was pretty great too. PES still has a few little touches that FIFA is missing like seeing all the subs coming into the game instead of just one in FIFA and a Master League mode option in FIFA would be a nice addition too. The race is still very close, but PES needs to kick it in gear now that it's pretty much neck-in-neck. If only American football had the same quality race going on.

[Matt10]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

I think when you compare the two games, you have to compare the two types of gamers.

It is my opinion that casual gamers picked FIFA over PES. How could you not be a casual gamer when MM is broken, yet you still hail it worthy - or how about the roue-one football shown by the AI. Or how about the fact that you can't give up 15 shots on goal on any level above Regular/Pro.

As for the hardcore gamer, gameplay...gameplay...gameplay...game modes...gameplay. I'm not going to go into detail, because usually the hardcore gamer is a soccer fan - not just a soccer video game fan. A hardcore gamer wants his 'MM" mode to be long-lasting, and the AI to be active in their transfers/negotiations. A hardcore gamer wants to be able to play 20-35 min real-time halves and still keep the score at 0-0 by halftime.

PES surpassed FIFA with flying colors in my opinion. Did anyone ever notice that EA changed their control scheme to match that of PES the last couple of years?

I don't know who came up with what is considered "next-gen" graphics or not, but I believe PES does a great job at representing true physicality of players.

FIFA 09


PES 2009

[Pared]

Ha. That's great. You had to take probably the worst picture of the PC version and compare it to prove your point.

For anyone interested, here's a link to that same websites pictures of the 360 version, which provide more accurate pictures to just how stunning FIFA really looks:

http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/fi...16163536218032

[Matt10]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Ha. That's great. You had to take a the worst picture of the PC version and compare it to prove your point.

For anyone interested, here's a link to that same websites pictures of the 360 version, which provide more accurate pictures to just how stunning FIFA really looks:

http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/fi...16163536218032

My bad. I never said FIFA didn't look good. I was actually comparing PES to FIFA - how PES is on the right track.

It's EA, man - it's already a given the graphics for FIFA would be legit. I didn't know it was a PC shot - thanks for the links anyhow.

Should I include a disclaimer stating I'm not trying to bash FIFA as well? Read all my posts in the FIFA forum - all positive and just dissapointed in some key elements.

[Abar22]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Fifa is definitely a good game but it has major issues that ruin both Be A Pro mode and MM. In MM almost every team is set to pressure too much in their offensive third of the field. Combine that with the ability to close down and dispossess offensive players in a flash and you have route 1, end to end football. Even if you want to slow the game down by passing between the midfield and the back line you aren't really playing slow because you have to ping-pong the ball between the lines to keep possession.

You have the cpu buying up star players in the transfer market only to keep them on the bench. Then as the season rolls on and games are introduced in the middle of the week you get teams that are completely gassed because the cpu doesn't change their starting line-ups. If you add all those up get a very pretty, detailed, involved Manager's Mode that doesn't actually play very well.

It took me 60 or so games to really see the writing on the wall with Fifa. It's a fun game at times and good online but the mode crushing bugs that don't get a patch are too much to bother with.

For me Fifa wins in graphics, licensing, online play, and the features of MM. PES wins in BAL, the execution of ML, and represents the game of football the best on the field.

My 2 cents...

[kromo50]

Still WE09 is the game for me. It takes a little bit to get the shooting and the passing to the wrong guy is bad but over all this game plays so much better the FIfa. I also have been playing this game since PS1 but if you are going to get this it is way better on PS3 then 360 just because of the controller that is if u play with the D-pad.

[Qb]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

I may have started it to an extent, so I apologize, but to be fair let's keep it about PES when possible...

[GOBLUE_08]

I havent played PES on consoles in a couple years but on pc PES is King and its not even close. Especially with all of the mods and patches folks put out.

[Saint19]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Pretty fair review I guess. However, I think PES's graphics are pretty good. The faces look better than Fifa's. I love how sharp the players are in comparison as well. But I really wish the animations were more like some of Fifa's.

[ant0n]

Re: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Review

Pretty fair review I guess. However, I think PES's graphics are pretty good. The faces look better than Fifa's. I love how sharp the players are in comparison as well. But I really wish the animations were more like some of Fifa's.

You sure? Because Fifa has some faces that are pretty good as does PES. The thing Pes is hindered by is because it's graphics engine does not have enough texture like the faces in FIFA. It's why the faces in pes really look like pictures pasted on a maniquin. The thing PES has over PES is the kits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P12Bn1IdVI

Some look better on PES and some on FIFA. Look at Deco and Terry.