Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Game Review

‘Superior’

PES is the direct competition to EA Sports FIFA for all football gaming fans and for me FIFA was overshadowed by Konami’s creation many moons ago. FIFA may hold the licenses and can give a superb visual effect with team kits and trophies but the actual game play of PES is by far superior. The way the game play is run on PES is smooth and apart from the one or two anomalies it faces the player’s realism is outstanding. There are one or two annoyances the game does hold like the fouls given for perfectly good tackles but the 2009 version has improved on this factor well. The only other criticism you can aim at Konami’s football masterpiece is the fact they do not hold licence rights for the English Premier League. As an alternative the ‘English League’ posses names such as North London and The Potteries. As a slight perfection disorder I have to spend a good two hours prior to my first match on the PES game to edit kits and team names but this is something gamers can live with in order to appreciate such a flawless game of interactive football.

‘Become a Legend’

PES 2009 has also continued evolving by improving the Master League game emphasising more media and player interaction along with adding the very addictive game mode ‘Become a Legend’. This involves adding yourself as a Professional Footballer.

You edit the features to gain the similarity, your position and what type of player you are. Once this is set up you’ll take part in a Non-League match up where scouts from the specified League you wish to play in will watch you and contemplate making an offer. Depending on your performance will depend on who come in for you and due to the difficulty of the mode and the fact your player is very inexperienced with not many stats, don’t be surprised to see the likes of Stoke City banging on your door.

The way you play is from the view of you being the player so it isn’t the traditional camera view when you play. Added to the difficulty of adjusting to this, the camera actually rotates around you when you’re involved in play which really does challenge you in not only playing well and scoring goals but getting familiar with how to play at all. It can sometimes be highly irritating when you think your running through on goal only to be fooled by the camera rotation and you loose the ball but for those who like a challenge it becomes annoyingly addictive!

You will have to be patient though and may find yourself on the bench every other week with the only way to gain more experience points by watching your team and waiting for the call to go on, you can speed this up though in order to avoid too much waiting around. After you’ve settled into a season your player will come on in leaps and bounds. Many of my friends are a few seasons down the line, at their 5th club winning trophies and playing a part in England’s latest World Cup campaign. The offers then keep rolling in during negotiation periods and you can request to leave too with the chance to widen your horizons and play over seas. It really is a great idea and if you put the time in on it and adjust to the game type it becomes highly enjoyable.