PES 2009 is another good soccer sim from Konami, but it's a pity that there are no serious improvements since last year.
What's new? Two features are important enough to refer to: the first is the licensed UEFA Champions League mode, which in contrast with previous same titles published by EA Sports, makes full use of this worthy license. You will find out that PES 2009 seems to be so realistic when playing a Champions League match, that you would think for a moment that you are watching it on TV. The other feature is rather a copy of the FIFA serie's Be-A-Pro. It is called Be A Legend and it offers football experience through the eyes of only one player of your choice. Up to 3 of your friends can join you as you try to be the next big thing of football, by gaining experience points.
Unfortunately, above all those things, there is no serious improvement anywhere in the game. What does it matter if there are new menus and a new intro movie? The series is indeed good, but to keep going on, the developing team must react more seriously than now. There are also several issues into the stadium which the creators are still to get rid of.
These problems include, the animation, which exists only near the ball, leaving the rest players wondering like dead. Furthermore, the cutscenes like the ones of a yellow card and a throw-in seem not to fit the pace of the rest game. And to make matters even worse, the way a matchup is presented and the discontinued ''dead'' commentary of PES is the final blow you could be hit by, as Konami is experiencing this particular problem for many years.
Overally, PES is a series which needs to be developed from the beginning, in order to see what is right and what is wrong with it. What the new features added to the game was blown away by Pro Evolution Soccer's technical issues. I hope that in the future something will change, even if it takes years to come up with perfect.