As every self-respecting PES player should know, it is possible to map strategies to the controller’s face buttons and then use them on the fly during games by pressing L2+X, or Circle, or Triangle, or Square, or any combination thereof. (It’s the same for the Xbox 360, of course. Except with different names for the same buttons.) I’ve met PES players who have played the game for years and know nothing about any of this. They’re strange people.

My setup really hasn’t changed since the controller seen above was grey and belonged to a PlayStation1…

(For those truly strange people who don’t yet know, you configure your strategy setup via your team’s Formation settings. This year the options are tucked away under the Team Tactics heading. Go into that menu and start playing around. It can be a bit fiddly (setting up my strategy layout takes about 10 minutes) but it’s all fairly intuitive once you know where everything is. And don’t forget to save your hard work at the end of it all: Data Management>Copy Formation>Save Formation.)

Strategy Plan A (ultra-defensive)

(Both of the Strategy Plans provide alternate formations that you can configure how you please, and switch to for as long as you like in-game at the press of two buttons, without having to pause and visit the menu screen. FIFA take note.)

• All players set to HIGH defensive responsibilities.
• Back line set to DEEP
• Counter-attacking set to SELDOM

This alternate formation can be almost impregnable if you concentrate fully. Don’t let the CPU’s tricksy passing and one-twos drag your players too far out of position. It’s good for holding onto a lead when the other team is piling on the pressure. It’s also surprisingly good to play with for a little while, as the enhanced midfield and defensive presence leads to great possession in the middle and forward areas. It’s easy to leave this one on for longer than you intended.

Strategy Plan B (ultra-attacking)

Use with extreme caution!

• All players except the CB set to LOW defensive responsibilities
• Back line set to HIGH
• Counter-attacking set to FREQUENT

In PES2008 I have been absolutely carved wide open at times when using this to try to get back into a game. But at other times, as it’s intended to do, it has got me back into games and even won me games. It’s best employed when you want to contain the opposition in its half, especially when you have a corner or a free-kick in an advanced position.

Naturally, it’s at its best when you have the ball. When the other team has the ball, it’s best to cancel it in most cases. Your players will run back to their original positions and hopefully snuff out any danger. Switching straight into the ultra-defensive formation is often more effective than simply reverting to the standard formation (4-3-3 in my case).

The only times I play with this formation switched on all the time, and never cancel it even when the other team has the ball, are when I’m behind or level in the last few minutes and I feel like taking a gamble. It sometimes pays off, and I get the equaliser or the winner thanks to all those attackers. But it also sometimes costs me another goal. As I said, use with extreme caution.

Both of the above alternate formations are very useful for confusing the CPU players under certain conditions. What follows is a bit of an exploit, but I’m not ashamed to say I use it. Not much, but I use it. Considering all the advantages the CPU teams have over me, I think I’m entitled to this small one:

When the opposing GK is about to take a goal kick (for example), quickly switch to one of the above formations. As he takes the kick, none of your players will be where they were when the AI computed its kick. You stand a good chance of getting the ball. Switch back immediately to your regular formation, or play on with the alternate one at your discretion. Again, use this carefully.

Pressure and Counter-Attack

Pressure and Counter-Attack are fairly self-explanatory. In practice their effects are often imperceptible and/or annoying. Both have the potential to tire your players if left on continuously.

Pressure is highly controversial among the PES community. It makes your players go ball-chasing even more than they do already, leaving massive gaps that your opponent (human or CPU) can easily take advantage of. As with Strategy Plan B, I tend to be very sparing with Pressure, only really using it when I’m desperate.

Counter-Attack is an odd one. It’s reputed to make your forwards sit higher up the pitch, level or almost level with the other team’s defence. When you’re defending deep, though, your forwards are often so far away with counter-attack switched on that you struggle to clear your lines. I tend to use it when I have collected the ball in defence and have time to pick a pass to a midfielder, who will them hopefully play it forward to the advanced strikers. It’s not good to have this on when you’re desperately heading or hoofing the ball clear and you just need an outlet.

And that’s it. Obviously, the better your players, the better they will carry out your strategy. In years past, my ultimate teams of Master League galacticos have completely destroyed some opponents using the alternate formations at the right times.

I really do play with these strategies mapped to my controller all the time. I’ve dabbled in the past with Opposite Attack, Player Change, Centre Attack, and the rest of them, but I’m settled on these for now. I’ve never used them online, but that is going to change this year (as soon as the online play gets sorted out). It’ll be interesting to see how they work against a human player.

A special post today as I have finally, finally, finally played a demo for PES2008.

I managed to get in touch with one of my few remaining real-life friends (Minanda and Burchet et al unfortunately don’t count) who has two things: an Xbox 360, and a high-speed internet connection. A couple of phone calls and a bus ride later I was sitting on his couch, holding the unfamiliar bulkiness of the 360’s controller as the loading screen for the demo of PES2008 floated in front of my eyes.

First impressions, and I mean first:

It’s not as fast as people made out. It’s still fast, but it doesn’t run at the insanely fast, Defender-style pace that I was genuinely worried it might do.

The slowdown is so imperceptible as to be almost a non-issue for me. When I first saw the slowdown in a replay, I actually thought it was a feature, something deliberately inserted to add style and/or drama at key moments. Far more serious for me is the mammoth pause before the referee blows his whistle and allows you to take free kicks and penalties. It feels like an absolute age. It was mildly frustrating in the demo games I played. Time will tell if it’s even in the final game, and if so, whether it’s something I can get used to.

Gameplay: fantastic! It seems to be everything I hoped it would be. Not only is the gameplay slower-paced than I thought, but the shooting mechanic seems to have been completely revamped. In PES6 I could score first-time shots for fun. In PES2008, so far not one attempt at a first-time shot has led to a goal. Instead the ball has either skewed wildly off to the sidelines (on one occasion actually hitting the corner flag), or rolled tamely into the keeper’s waiting arms.

The shooting is heavy this year. When was the last time we had heavy shooting? It was PES5, I think, although for some reason PES4 is nuzzling at my memory right now.

As for the graphics… So many reviewers and previewers remarked that the next-gen visuals were nothing to get excited about. Well. Call me Mr Easily Pleased, but I was almost literally speechless when I saw my beloved PES playing out in full HD next-gen graphics before my eyes. The qualitative leap seems as great to me as it was from the PlayStation to the PlayStation2.

I stayed at my friend’s place for a few hours, playing about 30 games in that time, making sure to sample all the teams and all the difficulty levels.I’ve gone from being slightly underwhelmed by the prospect of PES2008 to being extremely excited again.

The only cloud on the horizon is represented in this thread over on PESfan (membership required to view). Two of the UK’s leading PES players have got their hands on advance copies of the full game on PS3. One of the players - the European champion, Rob McLean -reports that the game is insanely fast. Most worryingly of all, it seems that the PS3 version may have significant slowdown. More significant than the 360 demo version’s slowdown? It’s tough to get a straight answer out of them, as they’re being bombarded with questions from all angles, and they understandably want to play the game. But it seems likely, especially given some comments reported from Seabass himself, that the poor old PS3 has once again been afflicted with lazy-developer-itis.

Certain kinds of 360 owners are cock-a-hoop at what they see as the latest victory in their ongoing battle with the notionally superior console. Me, I don’t care about the so-called console wars. I’m not 15 years old. I just want to play my favourite game in the most ideal conditions possible. I will wait to see the quality of the PS3 version for myself. If I have to get a 360 to experience PES2008 at its optimum, that is what I will do.

Who would be a PS3 owner at this time? If in the future the smoke clears, and the PS3 does emerge to achieve its full potential, those of us who were here at the start will never forget the cold, clammy feelings we had at times like this.