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Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

EMAIL PRINT ps3

8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 58 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Genre(s): Sports, Soccer

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: October 17, 2008

Summary

Known by fans for its superior gameplay and incredible realism, PES 2009 further bridges the gap between PES and the real thing. The game has undergone a graphical update to ensure its players look more like their real-life counterparts. Similarly, all-new options allow users to tailor the game to their own tastes, while new stylish moves, innovative control schemes and key online elements further the realism. [Konami]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Playstation Official Magazine UK

"FIFA 09" feels like the better representation of actual football, while PES is the more fun, accessible game. And the end result is a score draw. [Nov 2008, p.100]

Games Master UK

A big improvement on last year but has ended up as the lighter alternative to "FIFA." [Dec 2008, p.72]

Cynamite

The fall of the King! Although PES 2009 is better than its predecessor, it loses the duel against an extremely strong FIFA 09.

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Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

So for soccer purists, if you're able to remove the barrier to acceptance built by the licensing(though PES includes full Champions League support, including the images and music), this is a wonderfully deep, playable, and entertaining sim. [Feb 2009, p.76]

GamingXP

PES 2009 tremendously raises the level in the genre of football simulations. If Konami had invested more money in official licenses, the game wouldn’t have to fear any challenge.

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ImpulseGamer

In conclusion, PES 2009 is an improvement over its 2008 version that still contains sturdy gameplay and lush graphics to match. The control system of the PS3 is almost perfect and the only complaint of the title is the lackluster Be A Legend mode, however I'm sure Konami will address in this upcoming versions.

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PSM3 Magazine UK

Sterling footy action but the lack of new ideas is starting to grate. [Nov 2008, p.62]

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IGN UK

For all its problems off the pitch, there’s no doubting that PES 2009 is the most fun football game on the market.

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Maxi Consolas (Portugal)

In this effort to regain the title, PES plays it safe and recovers the classic gameplay that conquered the players in the last decade. But while it can be enough to hold on the fans, the reused formula and the comeback of the same old flaws can be a growing problem for the future. [Oct 2008]

Vandal Online

It is not the best simulation, but it's as entertainment as few games, and a good challenger that we could say arrives one year late. But football fans can be happy: this year we can choose without missing.

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Gameplanet

Putting aside the disappointments of PES 2009, on the pitch, the game is still the most realistic football sim on the market. I don’t believe the PES franchise is getting any worse, rather that EA’s FIFA franchise is barking at its heels and surpassing it in some areas.

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Game Informer

While this game plays better on the pitch because AI teammates are smarter at taking runs, distributing the ball, and springing others with through balls, it lags behind FIFA in its feedback to the player and the fact that it has a better sim feature while you are on the bench.

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Playstation Official Magazine Australia

A step in the right direction for the franchise. [Christmas 2008, p.84]

Play UK

The best PES there has been for some time, but still no match for the everimproving FIFA. If you want two football games this year then they’re two worth having, but do you? Do you really?

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Total Video Games

PES makes changes to its formula that aren't particularly welcome for the most part and, while the Become A Legend mode has potential, the general gameplay has taken a downturn.

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Level7.nu

If you want to play with your friends offline or love playing master league without any changes - this is the football game for you. But if you want to play online or look forward to the new game modes Champions League and Become a Legend - prepare to be dissapointed. It's a great game on the pitch and a lot of small improvements has been made, but everything outside the pitch is far behind the competition.

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

The quality of this game greatly depends on how you play soccer games. If you play together with your friends in the sofa, PES 2009 is tough to beat. But if you play by yourself or online PES 2009 is unfortunately too flawed when compared to the competition. This might be a much better game than last year's edition on Playstation 3, but the flaws are way to many and frustrating to make this a better game than it's competitor.

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PTGamers

It still isn't quite sure if it's arcade or simulation, but at least the players aren't racing through the field like in last year's edition.

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NZGamer

Overall I think PES 2009 has the makings of a great game that’s just been held back by the lack of forward momentum.

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GameTrailers

The more players demand by way of stats, management options, and formation flexibility, the more this franchise gets left behind. Having a limited selection of real teams playing in a fabricated league just doesn’t cut it anymore. The gameplay remains as a solid foundation, but that can only take a game so far.

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IGN

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 makes a valiant effort at keeping pace with FIFA 09, and there are some improvements and good ideas under the strange gameplay changes that were made, it’s just tough to see them if you’ve played FIFA.

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AceGamez

It's sometimes strange to consider how quickly the two main performers in the world of football videogames have changed their styles. FIFA is now the American Smooth of the genre, classic, elaborate and elegant, while PES is like a Cha Cha Cha; faster and livelier but also seen as somewhat outdated.

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GameSpot

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is an improvement on last year's game, but this is a series that desperately needs a complete overhaul.

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D+PAD Magazine

When put up against the competition PES feels outdated and crude, crumbling under the weight of expectation that each annual iteration brings. The additional modes may make it the best PES on the current crop of consoles, but the rigid animations, pathetic commentary system and shoddy online component all add up to a game that just hasn’t progressed since the PS2-era as much as it deserved to.

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VideoGamer

PES 2009 is a good game, but the times they are changin', and we're afraid that Konami is being left behind. Time for a reboot, Seabass.

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TheSixthAxis

A well-presented, enjoyable game of football that suffers from a few issues involving sound and physics. If you loved PES 6 you will love PES 09 and in many ways I think this is the game’s biggest strength and, at the same time, its biggest weakness.

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3DJuegos

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 seems to be, again and lamentably, a lost opportunity. This could have been a great chance to vindicate the lost football throne, to demonstrate to the skeptics that they are cappable to make a great game, and to bring some light to a saga that is suffering, overwhelmed by new titles.

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MEGamers

This is easily the worst PES we have ever played. Hopefully next year Konami will work on improving the game. Until then though, we have FIFA 09.

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Cheat Code Central

The lack of overall polish is inexcusable.

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1UP

The PES-versus-FIFA bout is always tough to call, but while neither disappoints, I'll narrowly side with the glitzier, überlicensed competition this season: FIFA 09.

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games(TM)

Konami has made a concerted effort to make the game more accessible, but by speeding up and simplifying much of the action it risks alienating the fans of the series who are used to the ebb and flow of the real thing. [Christmas 2008, p.113]

GameShark

It’s just now you can really see the difference between FIFA and PES – and FIFA is starting to pull away.

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Game Revolution

Similarly, PES 2009 is a drunken misstep for the series, but because I’m a sucker for the underdog, I’m hopeful that Konami will get it right the next time around. In the meantime, we’re left with a game that looks, smells, and feels a lot like regret and a hangover.

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HellBored

PES fans may get a lot from this as they’ll selectively ignore some of the glaring issues, but if you’re only going to buy one football game this year, make sure it’s FIFA.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 58 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sam L gave it a3:
Despite being vastly superior to any previous PES, it's still dreadful! Goalkeepers can't catch, no one can control the ball (especially under pressure!), shooting is terrible and often completely random (especially under pressure!), free kicks are pointless, there's no power bar for penalty kicks and yet you can still miss the goal (completely random unless you kick it straight down the middle), referees will send you off for getting the ball and on top of all else it's just so poorly designed, it's like the creators gave it about 5 minutes of testing and thought that was it seeing as the ball can often go through people's faces. On top of this, it's simply unplayable on Xbox Live due to issues with lag.

bob my gave it a10:
All the hype over Fifa and everyone is forgetting what football is meant to be about, its clearly about the gameplay. This is where pro evo is still the more dominant driving force. 08 was a clear dissapointment only because of the frame rate issues but this year konami have fixed the problems and allowed the free flowing football to occur. Ive played fifa a number of times and still i dont get the satisfaction of scoring a weel worked goal then i do in pro evo. If you like better reprsentation and all the correct licences then playe fifa by all means but for me it is about the actualy gameplay, and i dont see the problem with pro evo licences anyway, personaly i look foward to edting on pro evo as this year they have even upgraded the edit mode to a large extent.

C Boy gave it a7:
This game is definitely better than 08 but it still has too many things wrong to count: referees are still too strict, the player you control has a mind of his own, the keeper cant hold the ball, players frequently fall over for no reason whatsoever and its one of the most infuriating games in the world! Your probably wondering why I gave this horrible, terrible and catastrophic game a 7, theres only one reason: Become A Ledgend mode. It is very realistic and so much fun to rise through the ranks of football from your living room. If you play well it will go quickly and if you play badly you wont get anywhere!!! There is only one slight problem with it: you can go for most of a game without touching the ball more than twice because the other players don't pass it to you. In conclusion, pretend the exhibition and champions league modes don't exist and you will have a very good game!

Thad W. gave it a9:
This game is a 9/10 or 10/10 for offline, and about a 6/10 for online. Online is better than a year ago but still frustrating--long load times during cut scenes, herky jerky game play, too much rigamarole to find a game. For online play FIFA 09 is the better choice. but offline the game is excellent, and still better than FIFA--better ball physics, better graphics, better shooting. Lack of licenses is annoying but I spend most of my time playing in the Master League building up the default team. And finding it very hard this year compared to previous games, which is good! The computer AI has improved offensively, it's much tougher to win the ball off the computer opponent on the high levels and the computer comes up with some good creative moves. In previous versions if you concentrated sufficiently you could keep a clean sheet almost every single time, even on the highest difficulty level, regardless of team ability. That is no longer true. It's frustrating the online is not better, or even as good as it was for the PS2 versions a couple of years back. But if you're happy playing offline, this is pretty darn good. I've ended up keeping FIFA for when I have an occasional craving to play online, but am doing my most of my video footy with PES.

Gaz C. gave it a9:
Man..I think some of you guys who have rated this game are playing the wrong PES!!..yes this game has drawbacks..same as most games do , but its by far the best PES yet, its all about gamplay and in this version the Ai is much more advanced, making runs into space, etc, it does a far better job. You cant just leg it down the wing and score for a header now you will get closed down. Yes be a legend can be boring to start with , but when your character improves its a quality option, you just wanna get out there and score for your team! Yes the crowd sucks , yes the players aren't playing for the same team/..SO WHAT!!..its gamplay that matters to a gamer and this has it!

Jay S. gave it a10:
I have played FIFA 09 on my PS 3. Its awesome in representation. Also the gameplay has improves a lot since fifa 07. But it is not as good as PES 2009. Reasons: - 1. Artificial Intelligence is best in this game. You just cant compare it with FIFA 09. 2. FiFA 09 becomes repetitive after some time. When you play for months, you come to know how player will react, how they will tackle, where the NPC character will make run. Also the goals you score become repetitive. THis is not the case with PES 2009 Each time new experience. 3. EDIT mode in PES 2009 is indespensible. you can create what you want to. You are just limited by your own imagination. You can edit player's face , physic, kits, balls, stadiums, graphic, different channel's logos, create your own tournament, even the stadiums. the list goes on. You got to buy this game to see it. There is no doubt fifa 09 is very good. but you need to admit it that PES 2009 is Slightly better then fifa09. 4. Its PES guys. IAt the end of the day ts how you feel when playing this game. its so much fun. You feel satisfy after the final whistle is blown. The feeling that oyu go through is something else when you score a goal in pes 2009.

Trik N gave it a9:
Pro 09 is an improvement of 08 in terms of slightly better graphics, improved ball physics and smoother online play. There is much more emphasis on Online play, able to Add Friends, choose servers, lobbies etc. Choose between Pro or Fifa 09? From playing Fifa 09 it is more realistic, harder to get past players. However Pro is the kind of game you can pick up and start playing immediately. Obviously people have high expectations for Pro 09, but what is there to improve? In terms of play its just slightly tweaked up from 08, much emphasis on Online play. Nothing astonishing as a whole in terms of Gameplay. Pass, pass, pass, Shoot. Simple as that, nothing new. All I can say is if your in need for a football game, Pro 09 is your best bet. Why? Easy, because you can pick it up and play. The game flows more fluidly than Fifa 09, enabling you to create fast paced passing movements, just how it should be.

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Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

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Summary

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