Defence: Reduce by 25%

Balance: Increase by 5%

Stamina: Increase by 10%

Top Speed: Reduce by 67%

Acceleration: Reduce by 33%

Agility: Reduce by 50%

Short pass speed: Reduce by 25%

Long pass speed: Reduce by 25%

Shot accuracy: Reduce by 10%

Heading: Increase by 10%

Technique: Increase by 5%

Aggression: Reduce by 67%

Teamwork: Increase by 25%

These are basically tweaks of the player attribute values in the option file. Here are the ingredients I had, to create the realism patch: XBOX 360, Datel Max Transfer Kit, 64MB Memory Card, PES 2009 editor v2.8, Exploder_resigner program. If you don’t have some of these, please google it yourself to find them. Do leave a feed back on how did you like this!

No PES is ever complete without the patches and tweaks. With FIFA, even patches and tweaks won’t make them quite complete. Because, with patches and tweaks, PES would be the next immediate thing to real football while FIFA would still be a long way behind. The core gameplay of PES 2009 is a splendid piece of work. Don’t complain about the game being fast or slow or stuff like that. Those are all editable stuff. You can edit almost everything and they will all have an impact on the game. The part that is the raw basic game that is not touched by the edits is what I call the core gameplay. That’s where PES2009 rules over FIFA 09. Also, editing PES is always fun.

What I’m talking here is about a realism patch. This is basically tweaks of the player attribute values in the option file. Here are the ingredients I had, to create the realism patch: XBOX 360, Datel Max Transfer Kit, 64MB Memory Card, PES 2009 editor v2.8, Exploder_resigner program. If you don’t have some of these, please google it yourself to find them.

Here are the tweaks that I made:

Agility Tweak: Reduce agility by 30% to 35% – The players in PES2009 turn all too quickly. With not enough animations to back that kind of agility, it looks very unrealistic and impossible. Even otherwise, the agility values seemed to be very high which made it look like a pure arcade game. Reduce it by 30% or 35% or 40% and you’ll see less of clumsy and cluttered moves.

Speed Tweak: Reduce top speed by 15% to 20% – The game is still a bit faster though this is one of the slowest PES’ ever. I’d love to see the speed drop a bit so it’s very very close to real football. After this tweak, you realy have time on the ball and gameplay is that of real football’s speed. You’ll love the fact that you can really build up your attack with the gameplay freedom that PES2009 offers.

Stamina tweak: Increase stamina by 10% | Improve condition/fitness by 1 – The default stamina values are little low for professional footballers. They should generally be able to play competitively for all 90 minutes and they should be able to play 3 matches in a week. With all the slower gameplay and less agility, you don’t want your players to lose stamina and crawl across the pitch. Give them more stamina while you have taken away the agility and speed. Helps to balance the work rate on the pitch.

If you have done these tweaks, PES 2009 will be the game for you! Amazingly close to real life football. The game gets lot more tactical and intelligent. You can set up your game so beautifully to your heart’s content. Also, the difference between teams and players will be much more visible now. On the whole, the tweaks will re-invent PES 2009 for you. Try them and let me know.

In all PES forums, most of the threads I see are just on how bad the game is, how online sucks, how poor the animations are, why the scripting should stop and stuff like that. These kind of discussions just dominate all the PES forums. There is too much whining going around. If you give PES 2009 the chance it deserves, you’ll know that it is a great game. I was a PES freak and as I bought XBOX 360 I bought FIFA 08 and FIFA 09. Continued with FIFA because PES 2008 was unplayable. Having played all these games for months, I can tell you that PES 2009 is the best football game. Let’s talk about the nice things about the game. Let’s talk positive things. Let’s do some constructive posts. Let’s all revive this forum.

Let’s not talk about wishlists. PES 2010 is already on its way. There is so much to learn and tweak in PES 2009 that would make this a much better game. Talk about how to resolve certain situations. Talk about how certain tweaks and ideas improve PES 2009. Shall we get busy creating threads and writing posts?

Something very basic and something most of you might know but still here it goes . . .

The roles that you assign to each player on the pitch is very crucial. It has a huge influence on how the players behave on the pitch. There are some quick information that you should know.

1. Full backs going out of position: When you assign an RB or LB role, these players do join in the attacks very often which sometimes leaves exploitable gaps behind. If you don’t want your full backs to charge forward, go to formation edit, choose them and change their role to CB. As CBs, they won’t leave their zone there by providing you defensive support at the back all the time.

2. Desparate for a goal: While you’re desparate for a goal, you might change your formation to an attacking one. While you’re doing it, also change the roles of your DM and CM to AM. This would give them license to go to attacking third and look for opportunities. Also set your striker’s role to CF and not SS. This would complement well with your midfielders being AM.

3. Knock around: If you want to knock the ball around and protect a lead for a shortwhile, you’d have to have your players in close distance so you can find them and pass to them. If you have a four man midfield, set them all to CMs or DMs. Even set your strikers roles as AM. That would keep all the players in close company for keeping the ball as well as defend in numbers.

4. Defend to save your life: If you’ve got a comfortble lead and you simply don’t intend to score more and all that you care is to prevent conceding goals, you can improve your defence by doing this. In formation and player settings, set your CF to mark the opponent’s CF. This would mean your CF would always try to roam alongside the opponent CF and be available for defending, in addition to the defensive options available.

That’s it for now! Cheers!

As soon as I booted up PES 2009, five things hit me. One – the pitch graphics is just amazing. Two – the pitch is so big. Three – the gameplay has been slowed down to perfect speed. Four – anything works as long as you play well. Five – the games can be completely random. The pitch graphics is the best I’ve seen in a football game. I have a 40″ HDTV and FIFA 09 pitches don’t look this good. In all the stadiums, you can play afternoon kick-offs as well which are the best. The night matches are such a beauty unlike the dark corridors in FIFA 09. Ah, how I love the pitch being so big. The size of the pitch gives a new dimension to the game. There is so much space to keep the ball, dribble the ball, draw defenders and create openings etc. It feels like football.

PES 2009 has been slowed down by a great extent. PES 2008 was in frantic pace. It was just crazy. In PES 2009, I think they have hit the sweet spot with respect to the speed. It is not slow as sluggish or fast as hell but it surely resembles the pace of real football than FIFA09. It is the unsophisticated animations that gives us a feeling that this game is fast. I’d say this game is as fast as the real life football. Real football is slow in general and shows some bursts of pace depending on the situations. That’s very beautifully captured in PES 2009. Now I can truly control the pace of the game, at least when I have the ball. I can knock it around among my defenders and midfielders and can quickly use my pace if I see an opportunity, just like real football.

The great thing about pro evo is that it allows you to play the game the way you want to. There are no beaten paths, no routine play or boring build-ups. This is what gives us the famous PES promise of ‘you’ll never score the same goal twice’. I’m not trying to say that FIFA 09 is scripted but it works in a framework. It does not allow you to play freely. Don’t get me wrong. FIFA 09 is a great game and it is seen as a more complete offering than pro evo. In FIFA 09, I get this feeling that the game wants you to play in a certain way and forces you to play that way.

See, I’m a good football gamer and a very normal one too. I don’t do flip-flaps and all that. I just play my game, the game I normally see on TV every weekend. FIFA 09 does not allow us to beat defenders. It’s not that uncommon in FIFA 09 as it is in real life. You don’t need to do flip-flap or a 360 degree spin everytime you want to beat a defender. In PES 2009, you can beat the defenders with your normal dribble. And I love that. But beating a defender with the dribble does not mean you get no challenge. The defenders can catch the attackers purely based on the speed and strength attributes, and direction and angle of the run. All other things being equal, a man without the ball can run faster than the man with the ball. But the difference should not be too much because there won’t be any attacks and if the difference is less then you’ll have too many break aways and one-on-ones. Pro evo has got this spot on. The speed advantage is neither for the attackers nor the defenders.

You can play the style of football you want to, provided the players you are suitable for it. You can play one-touch-short-passing game, you can play a long ball game, you attack through the wings, you can split through the centre, you can play slow build-up game, you can shoot on sight etc. Basically what Konami tell us is, here is the set of things you can do, come with a combination of these things and score the goal any which way you want. Whatever PES2009 allows us to do, it allows to do them very very well. Take shooting, you can shoot from distance as well as from difficult angles, depending on the player that you control. Take crossing, it is so sweet in this game. It is a real weapon. In FIFA09, crossing was kind of discouraged by the way the game plays. Crosses are always useless so you stop playing that kind of game. In FIFA09, it’s unnaturally hard to cut back from the sides. In FIFA08, it was way too easy and probably hence, they made it so difficult in FIFA09. In PES 2009, you can cut-back beautifully.

If you can attack so effectively in all these ways, do we end up with huge scores such as 10-8 or something? No, certainly not. Because, the defence behaves very well. They know exactly what to do as defenders. They are very smart in staying in their positions and cut down spaces for you to exploit. They also pre-empt your possible next pass and attack the passing lanes which you keep you guessing and provoke you to be innovative on the pitch. The defenders don’t walk around disinterested. They play as if they certianly don’t want to concede. In FIFA09, defenders were a big problem. They were made a bit ineffective so that you can score goals. The played up all the time and even with all the tweaks and tactics, it’s hard to keep them deep. It’s not the playing up that was a problem. It’s their lack of pace while staying so up that made it all too easy for the attackers.

Basically, in FIFA09, the players who are not controlled by you, had only half brain. Which is why the defenders were not smart in moving to their positions and cutting the spaces. Similarly, you’ll have attackers who don’t make smart runs while you have the ball. Basically, the AI of your team mates lacked game intelligence. The FIFA players are not very dynamic. They are in fact, lazy and lethargic. This is the reason why the FIFA games do not produce the excitement of Pro Evo. To be honest, I have really really enjoyed FIFA 09 but what I realise now is that it lacks longevity. The fact that FIFA has all the licenses make you play as various teams which will give you a feeling that you’re experiencing variety in gameplay. If you play team A vs team B about 10 times continuously, you’ll see that the games will pan out in a very very similar fashion. In comparison, PES 2009 plays a much more random game.

In contrast, the PES players are much better. They do close spaces in time and they do make intelligent attacking runs. I read somewhere that the AI off the ball player in FIFA does not make diagonal runs. All that it can do is to run in a straight line. The PES AI players run diagonally as well which creates a truckload more of possible attacking moves. In FIFA, the players that you don’t control do not decide or act on your behalf. All that they do is run and not stand still. Only when you take control of them, they come alive. Whereas in PES, even the players that you don’t control do think and act on their own. I’ve heard quite a bit about people complaining about their team mate AI that gets sent off. That’s because AI thinks on its own and it could be an aggressive player. You can easily resolve this problem by selecting the player that’s closest to the ball carrier. So now you’re the one who’s is in a position to make a tackle or get sent off. It’s your decision then.

I also love the fact that you can even play the long ball game. They can sometimes be very effective. You can time your jump and win the ball and can truly make it very effective if you have the kind of players that would take advantage of the situation. The other thing I like in PES 09 is that the set pieces can be very useful. If I get a foul outside the D, I don’t have worry about the interruption of my attack. I can make that free kick really count. You have a variety of ways to deliver the free kick and they can be good fun. Quick freekicks are also implemented very nicely.

I get a feeling that this is the best football game ever. They seem to have fixed exactly those things which were the pain points of PES 2008. That’s all they had to do. At the core of PES, you have a great football game. You may not garnish it with decoratives but you can certainly avoid making a mess of it with your extra efforts. PES 2009 is no way complete. It is lacking animations big time. Very limited number of animations mean jerky looking movements and arcadish looking game. Despite all this, for me the FIFA 09 vs PES 2009 is over. PES 2009 is the clear winner by a country mile. The race is not as close as the reviewers are making it out to be. It might take years for FIFA to reach the gameplay levels of PES. Konami have understood the beautiful game lot better than EA. That’s why PES 2009 is much more realistic and resembles real football than FIFA 09.

Guys! You might have read my long game play review of FIFA 09. Thanks for your nice feedback there. Now, I’m gonna share my experiences of some aspects of FIFA 09, which could be helpful to you. Once again, a long post!

‘I love this game’ is not the same as ‘I’m good at this game’. I’m a decent football gamer. I’m not a great player but I’m pretty good. I play just for fun and relaxation and I don’t play for ranks or points. I don’t want to master this game for two reasons – one is the fun factor will be gone and the other is I don’t take this seriously. This is just a game which works as a stress-reliever for me. Still, I can’t really enjoy and relax if I happen to lose 10 matches in a row. That’s how FIFA 09 started for me.

I chose to play at ‘professional’ difficulty because that was my standard difficulty level in FIFA 08. As always I played for Chelsea. I tried to use the real life formation that Scolari uses. So I put in a 4-1-4-1 with Drogba as striker and Essien as defensive midfielder and Lampard, Deco, Ballack and Joe Cole finding a place. The game is a bit pacy but I kinda liked that pace. having got adjusted to that pace I still found myself struggling to create or finish decent chances. I wish I could watch the complete replay of the match that I lost because I wanted to see where I went wrong.

After losing a few more matches, I didn’t need my match videos. I could see the problem areas one by one. As the game is fast, I tend to go forward and forward, which is not required. I could control the pace of the game by my actions. Don’t have run with the ball everytime you have the ball, just pass it back, let the players do their movements and runs, see the space and slowly knock the ball up. At any stage if you feel you’re forced to make a risky pass, just don’t do that, pass it back or make the easiest pass, keep the possession. From the half way line to goal, it takes only two or three passes. So, don’t hurry them. If you’re worried about the ticking clock, play 10-minute-halves instead of 5-minute halves.

Have you felt that something is wrong somewhere but you can’t put a finger on what it is? If yes, get your tactics right. There are some key questions that you need to answer before you start the game. Do you want to play short passes only or short/long passes? Do you want to play narrow or wide? How do you want your chances to be created? How high should your defenders be? The answers to these questions will depend on your personal preference and your team’s capabilities. You would adjust the custom tactic sliders based on the answers to these questions.

It is very important to get your tactic right up front because a 10 minute match could be half over before you could realise something is wrong. In FIFA 09, I have this habit of having my defenders stay deep because of the throughball threats. While I was playing Stoke City, at half time I realised that it was a waste because Stoke weren’t that threatening with their through passes and my defenders can always catch up if something goes wrong. So I pushed up my defenders which added a new dimension to my attacks and the result – two second half goals. Don’t jump into the game blindly, spend some useful time on the tactics.

Against better teams, I struggled a lot in the final third. Everytime Drogba was fed with a decisive ball, the made a meal of it. Drogba had the skill and pace but still I couldn’t have him run with the ball even for a few yards. The defenders were all over Drogba, every single time. Then I realised that it is a problem of my formation. I was playing 4-1-4-1. What happened was one of these 4 midfielders would play the ball to Drogba, who on his own had to run towards the two or three defenders ahead of him. It wasn’t going to work, not even in real life. I just imagined what Drogba would have done in those cases. He would trap and hold the ball until reinforcements came in. That’s what I had to do too. Now, as Drogba I started holding the ball and played it back to one of the four surging midfielders.

Then I thought it makes sense to have a partner for Drogba so that I can keep the ball in the final third for more time. That’s when I switched to 4-4-2 diamond. I brought in Anelka for Joe Cole. Since then it was a completely new ball game. I haven’t started using the flanks so much because I’m still learning to cross. When I had decided that I’m not going to create chances using crosses, there is no point in my formation having two wide men. When I changed from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-2, I felt like I’m playing with two extra men because I had all men in the zone where I play.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the players are subject to realistic fatigue in this game. they do slow down in the last half hour of the game. They do become tired but keep an eye on the opponents – they could also be tired or injured. All players around the 30-years mark, do get slowed down in the second half. In Chelsea, Deco and Ballack definitely lose some pace as the game goes on. Their game is not built on pace but if you bring in some fresh legs it makes a huge difference. I brought on Kalou and Malouda for them and anyone could see that those were the subbed in players. They were zipping around with energy and to have such active subs also kind of wakes you up and brings some belief for you. It did for me.

People have told this a million times – finesse shot is your friend. Very true. when you play a finesse shot, the player does not rush the shot. He stops a bit and take a well aimed shot. In xbox360, finesse shot is the right shoulder button (or simply the right button, not trigger). I find it more comfortable to have it in the left button becaue in order to play the finesse shot I need to take my finger off the left trigger, which is for sprint. That’s logical, isn’t it? Take your foot off the gas when you want to apply brakes!

The thing with finesse shot is that, I was so conscious that I should play a finesse shot, I used to forget the fact that I need to apply appropriate shot power. So whenever you get into shooting positions, two things should come to your mind – your finger on finesse button and correct shot power. It’s ok if you apply less shot power but avoid giving more power. Shots on target improves confidence and also could result in rebounds. Shots off target are of no use at all. So less it better. Shooting here in FIFA 09 is more life like. The chance will be gone in a second. When it’s there you should grab it. If you don’t take your chances well enough, you would get beat.

The teams are built with realistic strengths and weaknesses. You can surely see a difference between Man Utd and Everton, Aston Villa and Sunderland, West Ham and West Brom. This is quite different to FIFA 08 where pretty much any team would play like Barcelona. I remember that even second division teams would string 20 passes while you can only watch as they are simply unstoppable when they want a goal. In FIFA 09, the teams play truly to their strengths. If you’re playing as Chelsea, you should be able to beat about 16 teams in the premier league while the other four can be anyone’s game. Don’t then say the game is easy, say the game is true.

So finally, where have all these left me? I’m not winning matches 10-0 on legendary. But I’m winning matches 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 and drawing some matches 0-0, 1-1 and sometimes losing to big teams. But I’m creating chances, getting my shots on target and more than anything I’m enjoying my games. I’m playing the league now. I’m now 4th in the table with 27 points after 15 matches, with a goal difference of 5. Man Utd leads the table with 35 points in 16 matches. I think I’ll get them sooner or later.

Don’t frustrated or annoyed at video games, especially a great game like FIFA 09. Just put some thought and you can start enjoying the game.