PES2009 – full game – 1st impressions
Posted on
October 16, 2008 by
not-Greg
PES2009 arrived today and I played around eight full ten-minute matches before I had to leave for work. This game is better than PES2008—that’s obvious from the outset—but is ‘better than PES2008′ good enough?
I’ll bullet-point my main impressions:
- Restless night. I kept waking up last night and remembering that in the morning I would receive PES2009 and start playing it. Then going back to sleep, only to wake up again a bit later. I never usually wake up. This is the state that a decade of ISS/PES excellence has induced in a grown man—even after the atrocity of PES2008. Is it any wonder Konami and Seabass are struggling to live up to the heights that they created?
- Nothing but worry. For the first time I opened a new PES game with an awful sinking feeling in my gut, instead of a pleasant warm feeling. This is all PES2008’s fault. It’s all Seabass’ and Konami’s fault for being corporate bastards last year and releasing an unfinished game. I’m starting out with negative expectations. For example: I read on a forum late last night that some guy had played PES2009 for 5 hours on Top Player, and by the end of his session all his matches were ending 6-4, 5-4, 7-3, etc. No. Please, no.
- Feels good to be ‘home’ nonetheless. For a decade a new ISS/PES game has been an occasion for real joy. As the menus appeared, I felt that joy wash away the heartache. Yes, the heartache!
- England versus Scotland. The classic International fixture for all those of a certain age… I play this as my first match every year. Default difficulty. 10 minute halves. Just to get acclimatised. Every year I play it with a big dumb grin on my face, because I’ve done it. I’ve survived for another year, despite the world’s best efforts to kill me, and PES day is here again, and I’m playing it right now…
- FIRST FULL GAMEPLAY IMPRESSION. OH MY GOD THIS IS PES2008. This is PES2008. This bloody game is just PES2008 at a different speed and with some new animations.
- By the end of the first half… The passage of time will ultimately obliterate everything. PES is not immune to this process, and perhaps it is happening now, in front of my very eyes… I can’t believe I ever liked—loved—this style of football gameplay. It’s just too fast. Even though it’s slowed down from last year, it’s still too fast. It’s arcadey and predictable and crude and… dull. It’s as if I’m playing one of the PSP versions of the game. Yes, that’s a good style of football game in its own way. But here, on my PS3 console, and now, at the backend of Space Year 2008? There’s nothing here. Nothing is happening. The fire isn’t catching. But that’s always the way—I have to remember that. It’s always taken a few games to adjust to the new PES. No need to be hasty. Calm down a bit.
- My first PES2009 goal. I recorded it for posterity but there’s no point uploading it to YouTube, even if I had time, which I don’t. It was a scruffy, scrambled type of goal after a pat-down from the goalkeeper (see below).
- Goalkeepers are shocking. The second-worst goalkeepers ever seen in a PES game. They’re not the worst—last year’s are the worst, by a long way. My first ever goal on PES2009 came after a weak shot from Hargreaves that the keeper could have breathed on to stop. Instead, he sort of panicked and batted it away with his hands and it fell to Gerrard following up. OH MY GOD IT’S PES2008. Sigh.
- Shooting. I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week teaching myself the intricacies of FIFA09’s semi-manual shooting system. After hours of trial and error, I finally cracked it. I went from getting maybe 2/10 shots on target to 9/10. (I’ll be writing a special article about the system next week.) My point here is that going back to full assisted shooting—arcade-style shooting—in PES2009 feels like a retrograde step too far. The shooting, although meatier than PES2008’s, is still crude and unsatisfying for me after the sublimity of FIFA09’s semi-manual shooting. I was going to try to get through this 1st impressions post without mentioning the other game, but it’s unavoidable. The new-style FIFA is doing to PES in the late 2000s exactly what ISS did to the old-style FIFA in the late 1990s: making it look stupid.
- Plus-points? In the third or fourth game I did relax into it more, and started to enjoy it. I passed it around a bit, relished holding onto the ball and biding my time before creating chances. But the nagging feeling never left me that this just isn’t good enough any more. I didn’t score a single goal in my entire session that gave me any feeling of satisfaction. That famous ’special feeling’ that people talk about in regard to PES just never materialised. BUT… I can see that this is a good football game. It’s a decent PES game in a way that PES2008 sadly wasn’t. Not a great game.
- Things can always change. It’s what I think about PES2009 in a month’s time that counts, not what I think of it now. So this ‘meh’ start for me and the game is by no means a final judgement and shouldn’t be seen as one. This is a 1st impressions post, nothing more. Last year I started out liking PES2008 and ended up loathing it; this year, I’ve started out being largely indifferent to PES2009—and who knows which way things could ultimately go.
- Tempted by the fruit of another. I’m sorely tempted to stick my hardhat on, retitle the blog to FIFA Chronicles, run off to FIFA09, switch everything to full Manual controls, and stay there for the next year, looking snootily down my nose at the arcade game that is PES2009. Maybe I’d drop in on it occasionally, just for old times’ sake. But NO, I’m not going to do that. It’s way, way too early for that kind of crazy talk. It’s a sign of the times, though, that it’s even feasible.
- Master League here I come. I know that I will play PES2009 for a good while yet. I bet I’ll start loving it once I get my Master League going, and the Default squad stiffs start (not) doing their collective thing. I’m going to play a few International Tournaments over the next day or two, just to get settled in some more. Then I’ll start an ML career. Let’s see how I feel about PES2009 after I’ve got three or four seasons of that under my belt.
Hi not-Greg,
Let me say that it’s a great blog you have their. I’ve discovered it a couple of days ago. Read your posts from late September up to now. It’s quite fascinating stuff. I am very glad to read your impressions on both games. Specifically about this post, I would like to ask how you see full Manual Control on Fifa. Does it even make sense? How is Manual, better than Semi-Assisted, particularly with regards to shooting? Keep up the good work and do tell us when you are about to change the name, if indeed you are. Take care Sir.
Told ya…
You are currently playing a polished PS2 game on your PS3. Nothing more…
I hate EA for not developing the same version of FIFA09 for PC. If FIFA09 is as good as what people say, I might…. might… get a PS3, only if it came with a mouse and keyboard attachement…. for FPS and RTS games.
oh dear….
That was rather more negative than I was expecting. ho-hum
Poor effort. I disagree with the majority of what you have written.
Oh no, could the ISS/PES love story be coming to an end?
Yeah I know that playing a new PES game always seems weird at first, but you can still see the improvements – Your first reactions don’t seem that positive.
I’ve been enjoying PES for almost a decade, but last years version (The Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned) put me off – I basically ended up playing PES6, continuing my ML campaign.
Even lost interest in patching, kits, option files etc (I play it on PC), but the past month I’ve been sucked back in by the WEBN site, as well as your blog – love the posts mate!
Played the demo for a week now (with time expander – thanks Juce
& it feels like PES2009 is the game that should have been released last year – nothing nextgen about it at first glance, but an enjoyable kickabout nonetheless.
Every year when PES comes out, it sucks on first impression because many people expect too much from it. After you’ve played the game a few times and get into the new system, you stay playing. Ofcourse, PES08 online was a joke. But when you played 1on1 or 2on2 against your friends, the one with the most skill won. You cant except a close game if you choose Saudi-Arabia against Spain, can you?
If you talk about ”its too easy, you can run in a straight line and cross inside and easly score a goal” I challenge you to do that against me.
Most people only train on attacking and then say that its easy to score goals. Try to train on defending, and you will see that you will concede a lot less if you know what to do in certain situations.
I’m getting the game tomorrow after playing the demo many many times. I can’t wait, and I will edit all the players to their clubs (which is very lazy from Konami not to do by theirselfs). I will play this game no matter what.
Food for thought. As a PC player, FIFA09 is just FIFA08 by all accounts, so it will be a difficult decision for me.
All the lads in my PC online league are waiting on MY decision (the fools) on whether to play PES or FIFA (or stick with PES6).
When Seabass comes round for tea tonight, I’m going to fork him in the chudders.
Absolutlely good review.
It’s a slowed down pes 2008, with extra shades, nice rain effect (no influence on gameplay), poor shooting, removed advantage rule, removed keeper cursor
etc.. Maybe it’s a good game, but it’s a big letdown.
PES6 is way more ballanced.
I’m considering to buy the ps2 version..
bah! just realised heraldo and yourself have come to completely opposite conclusions (or rather, conclusions on your 1st impressions…).
For some reason I was hoping for a glorious ‘all is forgiven’ review. However, after the initial negativity, I read the paragraph about the Master League (the greatest gaming mode ever!).
I’m looking forward to reading who you sign in the first transfer window, and the excitment of finally getting promotion. When you score a last minute winner with Castolo or a free kick with Minanda, then that special PES feeling will return.
At the end of the day, if you have two good football games then it’s a good thing.
Will you be getting the PSP version this year? As i’d be interested to hear the review since i’m thinking about getting one this year.
Cheers
Matt
I can see where Greg is coming with his review, it is definitely still the same PES as all the PS2 versions with polished graphics.
I must say I am a little surprised at Greg’s initial reaction given that he has asked for old PES gameplay with HD graphics. 2009 IMO is that, it plays like PES of old.
Has he been spoiled with FIFA 09? As he said it’s early days.
Surprisingly I have enjoyed it so far, I would have thought our initial impressions would have been reversed.
There is doubt in my mind that FIFA is far superior but I also like PES 2009. I will play both. That’s what I asked for before the release of both games.
Cheers
From the post – “It’s what I think about PES2009 in a month’s time that counts, not what I think of it now.” !
^^^This is what I’d like to stress.
I wrote the post in a hurry and looking back at it now it is a little more negative than I would like. But I will leave it to stand, as it’s a record of what I was feeling at the time. I just felt underwhelmed by the game.
After I posted it I did have ‘one more game’ before leaving for work – it was much, much better. I’ll post about that tomorrow in 2nd Impressions.
I’ll try to respond to all comments above in turn.
steph_wheeler – the ‘come-down’ from semi-manual and manual controls in FIFA09 has been one of the factors that moulded my first impressions of PES2009. It’s a deep topic, manual controls, and one I’ll post about in full next week – with diagrams!
TareX - I really think it’s too soon to say for sure! This is only a blog, and not objective or journalistic in any way. It’s like a secret diary that anyone can read…
Matt - it’s more negative than I was expecting too, but it’s only 1st impressions (not a review). I think this time next week will be much mroe indicative of what I think f the game.
Jim - fair enough, and I really hope that in time I come to disagree with it too.
diego - I agree with what you say about the time needed to get into the new PES. Today’s negativity was as much of an unwelcome surprise to me, although I did kind of see it coming over the past week as I grew less and less enchanted with the demo. I AM going to play PES2009 intensively until I know for sure whether my ‘year of living dangerously’ has simply extended my settling-in time with a new PES game.
Romano - I wouldn’t say PES2009 is easy. Quite the opposite, so far. I found it hard to create chances and score. I played my 8 games on Regular and never had more than 2 goals per game, most often 1. None were ‘wonder dribble’ goals either. So the difficulty (for now) isn’t an issue.
Big Al – it’s going to be at least Monday befre I’ll plant my flag in teh ground and say of PES2009: It’s definitely crap. Or: It’s actually pretty good! By then I should have 15+ hours of gameplay, including the early part of an ML season. Right now I’ve got about 90 minutes of gameplay (the other 30 minutes of my 2 hours was spent faffing around looking at things, installing data etc.)
peter - that’s my first impression, yes: a tarted-up PS2-era game that I no longer feel any great affinity with. Feels like sacrilege to say it. And it’s a double blow (at the moment) given that I’ve spent the year calling for exactly this kind of game, knowing that it was the best we could hope for.
Matt - quite right, the first impressions are not a lasting judgement.
Liam - Master League is indeed the greatest game mode ever, and I can’t wait to get stuck into it again. Like you I kind of foresaw a triumphant return to the fold, but it’s not happened today. And I doubt I will get the PSP version, but never say never. If PES2009 is another 2008 on PS3, I might.
heraldo - As you say, yes, it’s a surprise that we have come to opposite conclusions after the first hour or two of play. I feel bad after spending the year of asking for precisely what we’ve now got, but I have to report what I felt whilst playing, and that was an emptiness. A void where my PES emotions used to be.
I’ll say again though – it’s all just ‘for now’! We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I might be more disposed to seeing the up-side of PES2009 tomorrow.
Both PES and Fifa are too easy. I’ve actually started playing with Thailand!
I was playing exhibition on top player with Spurs and against PSV and was 5 up in less than 30 mins, one a screamer from jenas from 25 yards.
As a gamer of 23 years since the ZX Spextrum!, I found that after all is said and done, what matters to me is the emotion a game gives you.
After playing Fifa I found a good game there but I just sit and play without so much as a smile. When I got PES 09, things were very different. Yeah it doesn’t have some fantastic elements that Fifa has; presentation, Liscenses custom tactics and online modes (awesome) but when I played and played well I found myself with a silly grin on my face and the pleasing sensation when I scored a great goal (Off and online). For me that is the essence of the game, of any game in that fact. In this game its all about what happens when kick off comes and for me PES 09 wins hands down, especially when playing multiplayer.
I will keep on with Fifa and hope the smile grows on my face but at the moment its not there. Nevertheless a great effort from EA
oooh boy it’s gonna be close this year.
my take from having played both demos quite extensively;
after the pile of dung that was pes 08, i was overwhelmed by fifa 09 demo and had immediately made up my mind; this was the one i was getting this year.
however in a rare occurrence of patience i decided to give the pes demo a chance. once that was available, on my first go it seemed ….well…crude at best.
however, ricardospurs sums it up quite nicely. i’ve read countless reviews and opinions on both games. YES fifa is technically a “better” game, whatever that means. but pes is just more fun. i cant put my finger on it.
the meatyness in shooting, the passing being so crisp. its just more FUN.
fifa is more realistic, but the ball feels too light and bouncy for my taste. when i score it’s just; meh.
not-greg, did you experience this at first with fifa 09 as well? is it a game that grows on you?
anyway i’m definitely still leaning towards pes despite the negative sentiments. i just cannot see myself enjoying this fifa , however excellent it is, for a full year. with pes, i most certainly can!
Hi not-Greg and others!
Looking forward to you in-depth thoughts. However I think this review from Eurogamer is about right:
…what of PES 2009?
At its heart, we suspect, lie many of the same lines of code that drove the success of the series on PS2 for so many seasons, because the fundamentals are unchanged: player movement is on eight directions (with in-betweens during sprints), passing is zippy, and ball movement is physically convincing, if a little heavy. The graphics reinforce the impression that PES is reliant on existing content and assets, too, because despite the usual claim that it’s “undergone a stunning graphical update”, movement animations are wooden and repetitive, and the players look more like they’ve undergone a stunning facial beating under a railway bridge.
FIFA, by inevitable comparison, is so smoothly plastered with graphical Polyfilla that almost every angle of ball receipt, every tweak of the analogue stick, is covered by an appropriate animation, which frees the players and football to move organically in ways that PES wouldn’t countenance. It’s not quite that perfect, but the fact is we used to talk about the difference between PES’ loose ball and FIFA’s gluey boots, and these days it’s the difference between PES’ grids of movement and FIFA’s cloud of possibilities.
One of the aspects of FIFA09 which really impresses me is just how organic it looks and feels. I think Konami really must stop porting basically what is a tired PS2 game and produce a new game engine if the series is to be saved.
Ricardospurs - what you say about the ’special feeling’ you get from PES and not from FIFA intrigues me, as it’s something I’ve noticed people saying more and more as FIFA has changed tack in the past year or so and become more credible. My theory is that the special feeling come from you, the player, and from what you invest in the game. Personally I’ve started to get the special feeling from FIFA09 and from goals I’ve scored using its semi-manual settings over the past few days. This is another topic I want to post about next week though so I won’t go on about it here.
#1 – Direct answer to your question about FIFA09 is that the special feeling does seem to come with time. Especially on semi-manual/manual shooting, where you really have to graft and work hard at getting good at it. (Most will go back to Assisted shooting after a frustrating game or two; that’s what I did, in FIFA08, and I regret it now).
Again I want to say that it’s still early days yet for both games with me. What I’ll be playing most in January is STILL not something I’d like to put money on. I wouldn’t put it past PES2009 and Master League to sneak up on me and club me over the head and, er, drag me back to its cave [metaphor ends]. Of course, I could play and like both games. That’s an option we don’t always consider at this time of year…
kiwanis - At the moment I fully agree wth the Eurogamer review – as well as with its score of 7/10. Which is actually a pretty good score when you consider that 5/10 would be average. The thing is I’m used to PES being a stone-cold 10/10 game without fail, year in, year out. It’s hard to get used to this new age of ambiguities, and ‘making do’, and “well it’s better than last year”, and hanging on until PES really arrives on next-gen in 2010. I accept that PES2009 is a big step up from last year. But there’s another game that blows PES2009 out of the water for me right now…
Hi greg, back again. Been a whie since I’ve really read your blog, was interested to see what you thought of PES2009 as I’ll hopefully have a ‘copy’ by tomorrow.
Since I came back to unversity I’ve been playing FIFA and PES alot more, especially against other people. Be it 08 or 09 FIFA its essentially the same game to me (except with the bug in 09
) I understand what Ricardospurs is saying. From the moment I put FIFA08 in my PS3 I’ve been consistantly impressed by the game but it feels ‘hollow’.
Its difficult for me to compare the two games as on PES against all of my friends I’m the ‘best’ one so I rarely lose a game (normally only happening when I play with a lesser team). So my enjoyment for it is quite low and all of the little bugs in 2008 I hate. FIFA08 is a game I’ve got to grips with but I’m not the outstanding player I am on PES so its far more fun for me to play a tight close match. I also get more statisifcation out of scoring goals on it, they ‘feel’ more realistic.
So much so was I disapointed with PES2008 I didn’t touch it all summer. Came back to unversity and couldn’t bare to play it unless it was against friends. So I’ve been back on PES6 and I’m in love with it. Its a much more challenging game. Its reminded me why I loved playing football games.
I’ve only played PES 2009 demo (without the expanded time) but the difficulty level seems quite low. I’ve defaintly got better since last year but having played the previous 3 versions over the past 2 weeks I’ve got a good idea what is what and I was throughly disapointed with PES09. I was expecting a harder game, more challenging. Played on default difficulty on my very first game I beat france with liverpool 3-1. Keepers still semeed shakey, ‘wonder dribbles’ or whatever are still possible under the right circumstances. Moved straight on top difficulty, it was definatly harder and took 3 games to score and then win but the faults aren’t gone. Its definatly an improvement over PES2008.
I can’t wait to play it tomorrow but after your review I’m slightly disapointed to hear what you had to say on the game greg. I hope for both of us that its not right.
Looks like the release has got you a number of hits greg! I am surprised by the number of die hard PES fans it has dragged out of the woods. After playing the demo again, unless I hear the main game is significantly better I won’t even waste my money buying it. FIFA is clearly better. So much so, that argument isn’t even necessary. This ’special feeling’ is the feeling you get when PLAYING A GOOD GAME, something PES used to be. I can’t imagine how difficult it must sitting through a game, that’s 4 years old because you like the name on the cover- i’m looking at you Jim! (picking on you because your post was so utterly useless and pointless).
The lukewarm reception of the PES demo surprised me, because it was shocking for me. Far, far worse than PES 08 in my opinion, it’s like kicking a brick around a stadium while the fans chant monotonously watching a boring game of ping pong. I have no allegiance based on a company or name of a game- if PES is better next year- i’ll buy it.
Let me make it clear that I dislike Jims post because of the ‘poor effort’ comment. It has nothing to do with him disagreeing, or supporting PES.
one more question not-greg, as today is decision time for me.
just remembered that pes 5 was as ‘hollow’ for me in the beginning as fifa 2009 now feels to me. however that game grew on me quick and is still, to this day, my favorite footie. scored a goal on fifa demo yesterday and just felt very satisfying. the half-assed-ness that is pes 2009 (there is no denying that it IS half-assed, from an objective point-of-view; what with the licenses – yes here we go again – animations, collisions, all of that) is starting to grate.
gameplay wise as well; in and of itself it is still fun. BUT there is nothing new.
tone down speed from 08 – check (an absolute REQUIREMENT otherwise the choice for me would have been, no doubt, fifa)
new graphics – check
slightly better COM defender AI – check
aaaand that gives you pes 2009. I am not going to delve into modes, just sticking to core gameplay. the reason i am STILL leaning towards PES is player and team individuality and weight of the ball.
however, i’m thinking…maybe fifa can be MORE fun if i give it some time, as i did with PES 5. there is no room for TWO footies for me, it’s just going to be the one game.
so not-greg; now for my questions;
- how are the player and team individuality and weight of the ball after having
played extensively? and how does this compare to PES 5? (i know you’re essentially a PES fan so i’m sure you could tell me)
- and, is manager mode as immersive as master league?
this is essential for me in choosing which one it is going to be.
in the demo the differences were hard to notice for me. but then i realised i had been playing with top teams only so obviously yes, all players feel like they’re good players, which they obviously SHOULD.
hope you can shed some light on this…
ah and one more thing; have you checked out the difference in players / team (in fifa) in the eredivisie? seeing as that will be my main focus in either game.
one more addition; the question about player and team individuality and weight of the ball is about fifa, just to clarify.
Not Given – second you on the aforementioned post…this blog is great precisely because it’s mature and intelligent, and generally well thought out…unlike the rest of the drivel that constitutes 99.9% of the internet / rant over
Paww - hi again – and how are the d/l levels on uTorrent these days?
Agree with all you’ve said there about the feel of PES2009 right now. I had a bad first session on the full game (as this post shows) and a not-much-better second session. Still, as my 2nd impressions post today (Fri 17th Oct) will say (when I’ve written it), all I can hope for is that I gradually come to like the game again. But there are other factors in play now that might stop even that.
Not Given – I have seen some positives today. PES2009, for me at the moment, is a much more sedate, passing game. But after another couple of hours on the game since my first session, I stand by my 1st impressions. They’re largely my 2nd impressions too.
It’s not mattering to me at the moment that PES2009 is better than last year’s. Better than last year’s is still not good enough. They gave us a 4/10 game last year, and what looks like a 7/10 game this year – and I’m supposed to be grateful?! “Come back PES, all is forgiven”? Not at the moment it’s not.
Not Given & Matt – thanks, although I didn’t mind Jim’s remark at all. As you know it was mild considering what else goes on on the internet (the PES forums will see some serious carnage over the weekend and for many weeks to come).
#1 – The fairest answer I can give you is that after 2 weeks of FIFA09 I see as much player/team differentiation as I ever saw in any PES game. EA really did get that right this year. Seeing this depends upon being familiar with the game, though. Playing PES2009 this morning, I saw little difference between Paraguay and Holland in one International Cup tournament. Then in the next I saw a world of difference between Senegal and Croatia. The difference was that the first session was ‘cold’, but by the second I’d settled in.
PES has always rightly been celebrated for the way individual players shine. FIFA09 is still slightly behind on this front. Teams, though, I’d say it’s even.
Again, all opinion is subject to change. If in February I’m playing and loving PES2009, and FIFA09 is gathering dust, I’ll revisit this post for a good laugh.
There is a discussion regarding goalkeepers which we need an “offical” or at least independant opinion on. The question is:
Can you control how the keeper dives at shots?
If anybody does have a reply to the above, feel free to email me on rick_sood@hotmail.com
Ricky – thanks for your question, and I can confirm that—fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view—you cannot control goalkeepers’ dives at shots in normal play in PES2009, or in any other football game at the moment.
The only control you have over the keepers is making them charge out to collect the ball from an oncoming attacker. Then they’ll dive at the player’s feet to try to block/collect the ball, but it’s not something you have direct control over.
You also do have control over the keeper at penalty kicks, when you can choose what direction to make them dive in as the kick is taken.
Other than those two exceptions, there is no control over keepers.
in pes2008 you could take control of the GK like a regular player, for example in 1-1 situations (when GK was closest to ball). It seems u cannot do it in pes2009. is that correct? (i think u were pressing L1+^, or something like that). if no, how u do it?
Petros – thanks for your comment, and do you mean the Triangle-press to charge the keeper? If so, then it very much is still in PES2009. But I think you mean something else—I faintly remember an option in PES2008 to override the CPU’s control of your keeper in defence and control him like a regular player. I never used the option in PES2008 and haven’t noticed it in PES2009. I will have a look next time I’m on the game and post back here.