Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Xbox 360)

I can understand why this game has recieved some negative reviews but not the quantity of them. I got this game on the day of release but refrained from writing a review because i was so frustrated with it. There was even a controller thrown at one point! As i have been playing pro evo since the days of ISS on the original playstation i was determined to stick with it and see if it grew on me which it certainly did. Ill admit that this is far towards the simulation side of football games as you would ever want to go and they possibly took it a bit far(some of the players cant dribble past jogging speed) but it encourages people to play a passing game, use the one-two function and create better team moves. Gone are the days when Michael Owen could run in a straight line through your entire team in about 2 seconds. Much like in real life dribbling is about close control and direction shifts, only applying sprint when there is some space to run into and the ball is away from the opposition player. As such first touch is even more important than in previous versions and it can be far more effective to stand still if in space so as to draw defenders out before commiting them with a pass. People used to sprinting everywhere with little patience will find the computer to be irritatingly good at tackling and defending. If you press left bumper after a pass the passer will pass the ball then make a forward run, combinations of these give-and-go passes can be used to devastating effect in this game. Also people familiar with all previous versions of pro evo will know that some versions the shot bar is more like a height bar with the shot being determined by your players stride pattern in relation to the shot and his attribute "shot power". That is the system used in this version so people trying to half power it and blast it into the net will not score may goals unless their players have good enough technique to control that shot. As for the tackling system it is very similar to the previous version with holding of tackle to muscle them, but now tapping it seems to more freely attempt a stab tackle than it did with its predecessor. This may be a bit more than most people want to think about with a football game with it being very difficult to score with basic passes and long dribbles but as with all other versions every single player action can be taken to an extremely high level and if you understand the real life game of football and are prepared to "bring your A game" for want of a better expression to every match then the football that can be played on this version can occasionally be like watching a frantic real life top 4 battle. This is even more the case in master league where the new champions league section brings tough game after tough game. One of my friends was loving playing two player versus the computer because as he rightly said the computer can now finally give your a real game. With better defence, better passing and some evil corner kicks the computer can now score against you with means other than 35 yard free kicks(which went in 90 percent of the time on top level on the last game). Many people will find this game too slow or get frustrated at the lack of dribbling but i find that all these changes have made this game more realistic and at the end of the day pro evo has always been a simulation game with fifa being the arcade alternative. However hard this game is to play it is worth it when you see the football that can be played on it.

Very quick delivery, excellent condition - everything you could hope for - and all for 1p (+ postage) ???!!!! Thank you.

Despite all of the positive reviews FIFA 09 was getting I still decided to ignore them and wait for the new PES game, to which I have been very loyal to over the years. Unfortunately, the extra wait was in vain. EA's FIFA games have been getting closer and closer in recent years to taking PES's crown for best football game. I feel this year they have finally done it. Konami have rested on their laurels for too long now. I personally think even last year's PES (2008) was better than this. PES 2009 is still quite good, but it also has too many faults. The commentary is almost identical to last years effort. Even on the pitch - where Konami always used to beat EA - is not without it's problems. Passes don't always go in the intended direction. Shots on goal will often go sky high. And the more I played the game the more little things started to annoy me. On a more positive note; graphics are pretty good, and the Master league is still good fun. Also included now is the UEFA champions league. However, FIFA 09 (which I have subsequently bought) beats PES in almost every department this year; graphics, commentary, online, and dare I say it...even gameplay. Konami really have to get their act together now before even more PES diehard fans defect to FIFA next year.

bought this for my flat mate for his birthday and after enjoying PES08 was really looking forward to playing it. I am so disappointed!the through balls are terrible.it's almost impossible to make the pass go where you want. it does work occasionally and when it does it's very effective but i would say about 60% of the time it doesn't go where you want.the referees are dreadfulevery tackle (even if in the replay the player clearly got the ball) results in a yellow card. the number of completely ridiculous red cards is really annoyingthe commentary is a jokethe two most annoying things for me are 1. when the keeper makes an unbelievable double save and palms it over the bar only to get abused for not catching the ball from a shot that came from about 6 yards out. 2. the manager of the team gets slated for not bringing on any substitutes AT HALF TIME! everything they say is terriblealso they have made the crowd chants this year really annoying. it's just a repetitive drone noise that does your head in.the menus look like something you would expect in a game 15 years ago, very blocky and plain (that really doesn't matter but it's annoying)become a legend modea great idea and i do actually quite enjoy playing this. however, all of the above still applies and it takes so long to make your guy any good that it just gets frustrating. I'm in my third season (it's taken me ages!!) and my player is still rubbish.also, computers just aren't smart enough yet to control the rest of the players. it's just so annoying!! you can make an awesome run and not get the ball then one of your team mates will make a great run and the guy on the ball passes to you. it's just completely random.basically, PES are having a laugh. they were charging £40 when i bought this and it's worse than PES08 by a long way. the only fun bits are playing against your mates and maybe the become a legend mode. you can play against your mates on PES08 and the become a legend mode is probably worth about £10. tricky to see where they got the £40 price tag from...

It's not too bad, the lack of licenses again is still annoying but the master league and champions league are still fun, become a legend mode a bit lacking though.

I still have no clue why i bought this game...maybe i'm a FIFA FanBoy but this game is just rubbish...oh why did i ever bought this...

Fun for all the family to play for hours on end for all ages 5-75 we all had so much fun

Great product