The Verdict

Raoul

Love it or hate it? Or in between?

We have had a good bit of time by now to decide.

Lahinchians

love it. its got a few problems but its still a great game

Otacon

So far, loving it. The Master League is where I am spending most of my time, but Become a Legend is also brilliant.

I like the inclusion of the custom soundtracks as well.

chavezychavez

I've owned PES since PES 4 and played the hell out of that game.
Since then, I've bought and played PES 5, 6 and 2008, but nowhere near to the extent of PES 4. Good games but nowhere as exciting as PES4.
This year, PES 2009 has really grabbed my playing time again. Be a Legend is where its at for me.
They've finally managed to re-instate the "jump out of the chair and celebrate" feeling when you score a goal in BAL.

Online has its issues again admittedly, but I'm only getting the odd game that is badly affected by it.

Fingleberries

chavezychavez wrote: »

They've finally managed to re-instate the "jump out of the chair and celebrate" feeling when you score a goal in BAL.

I have to agree with this - when you manage to score a good goal in this mode, you feel like you've earned it. A great goal almost ensures that you drop the controller and start running for the corner flag yourself

Freshly squash

I think it's good, not great and honestly Konami could have tried a little harder.
Things like licences and club names wouldn't colour my opinion of the game. I have a sort of affection for the same made up club names every year, Mersyside Blue etc. I've got used to PES being short on them and I know they are facing up to the financial might of EA, so it's unrealistic to hope that most real clubs will be present any time soon. However to lose some licences, resulting in less proper teams then ever before is a bit shoddy. You would think once they had Liga Espanola fully licencened, it would stay that way. Obviously not and I think it's indicative of Konamis somewhat lazy attitude over the last few years.
First of all, improvements. Graphically it's a lot better, not amazing but a least more polished. The inclusion of become a legend is a good idea but really they couldn't have got away with ignoring that mode for any longer. Online play is improved but once again it would have to be considering the absolute joke of last year. Perhaps the best improvement is the option to quickly start the second half of a game at half time, which makes the whole activity a bit more streamlined.
Now whatever about what I've said above, the main thing for me and I think for everyone who has played PES is the gameplay. As FIFA improved year after year, I still held up PES gameplay as superior. The depth of controls and their responsiveness was something FIFA couldn't match. Add to that the sense of simulation of the real game that came with PES. PES was the superior game simply because of it's gameplay.
Until last year.
We all know what was wrong there. Namely, close to everything. This year some of the problems have been addressed but a lot still remain. The ability to dribble over 60-70 whilst dashing is still present. Now of course, only somewhat speedy players can do it. I still think thats a bad element of the game. The shooting mechanics are inconsistent. Some players will blaze over from 2 yards out in front of an empty net and others unleash unstoppable rockets from well outside the area. When these things happen I frequently feel that I havn't really been in complete control, that it's been the code determining the players along pre-set routines. Also the old trick of cutting inside and finding the top corner remains.
The pace of the game is just....just about right. It's maddeningly difficult though to play free flowing stuff at times, players seem incapable of making intelligent runs off the ball.
Defensively the game is a shambles, defenders are clueless and caught out of position all the time. It's a complete lottery defending crosses or corners.
Goalkeepers. Why, oh why is it so difficult to make goalkeepers who aren't functionally retarded. They aren't as clinically braindead as last year, when they seemed to have hands made of tissue paper. They still flap,fumble and palm the ball, even easily saveable shots. Their distribution and positional sense is rubbish.
The Ref is a joke. Seemingly every tackle is card worthy, even if the ball is won and what constitutes a red card offence is seemingly arbitrary. Also the AI gets away with blatant fouls, typically when you are in a scoring position. I don't mind a game been tough but unfair is a bit much.
Finally commentary is absolutely ****e.
Overall it's a better game than last year but it's nowhere near as good as it could or should have been. I really was hoping they would put it right this year but I think they've fallen short. It's not a bad game, it's probably a seven out of ten game but after rushing out and buying PES on release day every year, I'l think twice next time.

ImJohn

Pes is the best and this year it didnt disappoint me except for online. The gameplay is unreal once again and thank god liverpool is finally an official team

Ourlad

I haven't really got into the online part of it yet, but stuck into the master league at the moment. My only complaint so far is it can be very unfair at times but other than that its the most enjoyable since PES 5.

beardo81

Be A Legend is really good, online pisses me off like hell sometimes tho with the jumping and teleporting ball.....

dhayz2000

Freshly squash, good review, it sums up my sentiments also. The only thing I disagree with is this part:

Freshly squash wrote: »

The shooting mechanics are inconsistent. Some players will blaze over from 2 yards out in front of an empty net and others unleash unstoppable rockets from well outside the area.

I think that the shooting mechanics are very good. Only certain players (and usually when their condition is only top, and on their favoured foot) are capable of banging in rockets from 30 yards. This is completely realistic in my opinion.

As for players missing from 2 yards, I haven't seen this often, but if for example, you round the keeper, have a tight angle and try to shoot with your bad foot, then I have seen them sky over, which again, I think is pretty life-like.