Pro Evolution Soccer 09

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When PES 2008 came out, I was as disappointed as most people with the quality of the game. It just seemed that Seabass and team had taken a huge step backwards. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it at some level and pour a large amount of hours into playing, but it just was not good enough for a next gen platform.

This time around, I was undecided whether to jump to the FIFA franchise. I went so far as downloading the demo but it was like playing through syrup so I decided to wait for PES 2009.

I'm glad I did. This time round, the graphics are slick, the music pumped up a notch and the addition of the Be A Legend mode is completely addictive. The ball physics are much more realistic and it plays an excellent game of soccer.

Not to say that everything is rosy in the garden the commentary is still inept, the lack of licensing can be solved with an updated option file (but when oh when is Konami going to realize that North American players want to use the option files created by their European cousins!!) and I have yet to try the online mode (I mainly play Master League so no biggie but the signup was tedious).

In general, and in concert with other reviews, this is what PES 2008 should have been. The core gameplay is fantastic. Now Konami needs to build on this with game modes, presentation and licensing that can match FIFA.

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Besides playing online, this game is brilliant. The gameplay is awesome and has improved alot from last years efforts. If you love watching and playing football/soccer then this is the game for you. Konami's AI improvements have made it closer to reality where now in order to score and win you have to unlock the defense, find spaces, make intelligent runs and maintain possession. Loose possession in the midfield while attacking and you'll see how the AI takes advantage of your players being out of position.

There are many different game modes and the ones most addictive are master league (ML) and Become a Legend (BAL). In the first you take a team of average players and struggle through the lower divisions, buy and sell players in order to make it to the first division and eventually dominate all. The second mode, BAL, is essentially taking control of a 17 year old player and guiding him through the football career. This new addition to PES09 is very addictive and requires real understanding of football and the different player roles.

For example, if you are an attacking midfielder you have to constantly provide passes, regain possession, create passes that cut the opponents defenses and help your team in assists and scoring.

Overall this game is highly recommended.

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Playing PES series since 1998, this PES 2009 is the best soccer title ever made on planet earth, while some like to point FIFA 09 for the "photorealistic" images, gameplay and true soccer physics are inside PES 2009 pack.

On PES 2009 we have the usual and awesome gameplay now with enhanced ball physics, 3D Kinetic motion engine, good looking graphics and last but not the least the incredible A.I., A.I. very smart and giving large hours of fun for beginners or professional PES players.

Licenses aren't problem because the missing team licenses can be fixed with the great Option Files for PS3 (Edit Data file), we just need to copy and it's done, names, logos, kits all good and official.

Offline mode is endless with all leagues, Master League and now the Legends modes. ONLINE mode isn't perfect yet but we can play very good now, nothing we can compare with last year's version.

This is a true soccer game any player shouldn't miss, great and unbiased reviews about PES and FIFA can also be found on site.

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I think Konami is playing catch up for online gaming with this product. In Asia (Thailand etc.) most gamers are in arcade style rooms where they meet up with their friends and play together. From my experience you go to these gaming locations and either play with your friends or ask someone to challenge you. It is a lot of fun. So most of the gaming so far that I have seen in Asia (maybe except Japan)are done offline in gaming centers with friends etc. The Winning Eleven, Pro Evolution series I believe was more geared towards this type of offline game playing. Granted Pro Evolution, Winning Eleven series game play offline is very good and much better than any FIFA soccer games past or present. Now with the popularity of the Pro Evolution series in Europe, North America, etc. And the popularity of online gaming I don't believe the Winning Eleven or Pro Evolution gaming series were ever equip to take advantage of the online gaming platform. EA Sports FIFA is ahead of Konami on the online gaming for the soccer series. I honestly believe Seabass and company tried their best to be better with the online gaming for their product but they are still coming up short. The Pro Evolution 2009 still have online lagging issues. The 2008 edition was a complete disaster to say the least. It is a shame for such a good game with better mechanics than FIFA the online aspect can't meet the basic mechanics required for smooth online play. I guess they have to keep trying until they get this right. Hopefully Seabass and company will get it right for the PES series one day. There is no way the FIFA series is better than PES series when it comes to realistic feel like game play. If they get the online right I honestly don't think anyone would be talking much about FIFA. I am sure PES would blow FIFA out of the water altogether.

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I have both the Xbox 360 and PS3. I was able to download both demos via Xbox live. Both demos were quite bad, to be honest. But I thought Fifa's demo was a little bit more polished. I was quite disappointed with Pro Evo's demo. So I made up my mind not to buy either this year and keep playing my PES5.

When both games released, I played both of them. I felt that Fifa was quite similar to the demo but Pro Evo was much more polished now and I was pleasantly surprised how much more I'm enjoying it. The "Be a Legend" mode is extremely fun. Btw, I bought the PS3 version because I read that there are some glitches in the Xbox version.