Seriously, wtf has Konami done this year to the AI???

[tushar_t]

I bought this game in the 2nd week of its release and have been trying everything since, including taking lots of good honest suggestions from here - so I've given it enough time. Apart from marginal improvements here and there after tweaking some tactics, the AI is still horribly pathetic. Wingers just standing around near the half line while I'm in attack, strikers standing outside the edge of the box while I cross it in, midfielders either near my own box or the opposition, leaving the centre of the field, more often than not, empty etc etc etc!

Infact for the first time ever I actually tried FIFA properly and whatever its faults may be, the AI on that game is easily superior to PES. How the hell did this happen - EA actually trumping Konami in an aspect of gameplay? I really think that there has been some change of personnel in the PES team at Konami because I just don't see any other explanation for the lack of effort in this year's version.

All I want to know is how do Konami gauge the fans' opinions of the latest version of their games. Do we know if the focus next year is on improvement of gameplay or another new useless mode like Champions League?

 

[thorbarry]

Yea, the ai in this version aint the best at all.... nothin worse then making a run through the centre and seeing some player, beside you in a good position, then he doesnt make the run... chances are if you go forward he'll move back... so annoying

 

[Baddar]

This is one thing PES used to be great for.

Your team-mate AI always used to make runs into space, making them seem intelligent. This just doesn't happen anymore. It's almost like Konami have taken the suggestions of the game being too easy and fixed them by making your team mates worse, rather than trying to make the opposition AI better.

 

[thorbarry]

anybody actually seen a player make a good run, without you passin with L1 to make him run?

 

[Kevthedrummer]

no. I'd say this is the most frustrating aspect of the game, as someone already rightly said, players seemed to move into space much better on the previous generation.

 

[Baddar]

anybody actually seen a player make a good run, without you passin with L1 to make him run?

Is L1 the run button on PES as well as FIFA then? Can't remember seeing as it's so long since I've played PES 09.

It can be frustrating on FIFA too, because pressing L1 and then triangle is the lobbed ball over the top, so you sometimes end up playing a ball you didn't want to, because you forgot to let go of L1 before trying to play the player who made the run in behind. :/

Onto FIFA's AI, that's something that's vastly improved this year, probably on par with PES's AI from a couple of years ago on PS2. Your wing backs actually bomb forward this year. They did it a little bit last year, but not as much as I'd have liked. It's good now.

 

[Kevthedrummer]

Is L1 the run button on PES as well as FIFA then? Can't remember seeing as it's so long since I've played PES 09.

It can be frustrating on FIFA too, because pressing L1 and then triangle is the lobbed ball over the top, so you sometimes end up playing a ball you didn't want to, because you forgot to let go of L1 before trying to play the player who made the run in behind. :/

Onto FIFA's AI, that's something that's vastly improved this year, probably on par with PES's AI from a couple of years ago on PS2. Your wing backs actually bomb forward this year. They did it a little bit last year, but not as much as I'd have liked. It's good now.

holding L1 as you pass starts a 1-2 move basically.

 

[goonerfan]

My theory is that they made the AI worse to encourage people to use the Unassisted controller setup, so people get used to manually making off-the-ball runs, I guess this is to try and ape the format on the Wii version of PES but it is nowhere near as intuitive.
But yeah I play semi-assisted, and the AI are so useless at making runs that I seldom pass the ball without holding L1 so every player moves about a bit more. You are all spot on, this is one of the most annoying things with the new pro evo.

 

[Dunno1982]

I have to agree with the all the previous comments above but i also hate it when my defenders which are not under my control at the time dive into wreckless challenges & give away penalties & freekicks around the box & then score, it bloody drives me insane.

 

[goonerfan]

Yeah that is so frustrating, that and when a player you are controlling automatically tries to intercept a pass flying way over his head, or too far to the side of him, misses it and stops running, allowing the attacker to easily get in behind.

I guess the fix is to play unassisted but I couldn't get used to it...

 

[shaun7]

Sometimes my players move into open space and create wonderful teamwork but soemtimes not. The AI needs to improve. But I cant see how the AI was better in previous games. I played Pes 5 recently and players rarley went into open space. I believe this was a problem with Pes that never got really fixed.

 

[Amateur]

I bought this game in the 2nd week of its release and have been trying everything since, including taking lots of good honest suggestions from here - so I've given it enough time. Apart from marginal improvements here and there after tweaking some tactics, the AI is still horribly pathetic. Wingers just standing around near the half line while I'm in attack, strikers standing outside the edge of the box while I cross it in, midfielders either near my own box or the opposition, leaving the centre of the field, more often than not, empty etc etc etc!

Infact for the first time ever I actually tried FIFA properly and whatever its faults may be, the AI on that game is easily superior to PES. How the hell did this happen - EA actually trumping Konami in an aspect of gameplay? I really think that there has been some change of personnel in the PES team at Konami because I just don't see any other explanation for the lack of effort in this year's version.

All I want to know is how do Konami gauge the fans' opinions of the latest version of their games. Do we know if the focus next year is on improvement of gameplay or another new useless mode like Champions League?

Dude, just stay with the PS2 versions of PES, the Next Gen Versions are a waste of time.

By the way, don't expect improvements for PES 2010, it has become abundantly clear to me that Konami won't make the proper improvements. Next Year Improvements?? Champions League featured on Master League Mode.

Now that I think about it, I haven't even played the Champions League mode yet, not once. I was playing a League career and I was expecting to qualify for the Champions League, but before the end of the 1st season.. I'm just bored by PES09, to the extent where 2 games feels like 4 hours of playing.

Whatever they have done to their game, I feel it is easier, less responsive, more Unrealistic, it doesn't feels like PES. It kinda looked like PES in the videos, but as soon as you play it -you- know this isn't as good as the Older versions PES6 or PES5.

I think the New PES feels more like FIFA.

And as for the AI on PES09, the Attacking AI is quite decent actually, but the Defensive AI is embarrassing. The series just isn't as intuitive, responsive, and realistic as it used to be.

It even feels more Scripted, as now the Com decides everything from Player Positioning to Tackling.. If the Com also Passed and kicked the ball?? What would We do in the game??

The Wii version is also flawed, WHY should I "Manually" control a player's off-the-ball runs?? Not only does it render most of the important Stats Irrelevant, but it also sounds like a very Arcadey way of playing a Football Sim.

We should Dictate How the Com moves our players -instead- of guessing How the Com will move our players.

But "manually" positioning Our players?? How am I supposed to control all the 11 players at the same time?? It's a bad concept.

 

[dan80]

do u no what else is annoying if u want to make a long cross from your own half by pressing l1 and circle and lets say u are evra at left back he doesnt pass it to a team mate he blasts it with his rite foot and off the pitch wtf is that about but yeh the al sucks i know when i want to make the pass and when i want the player to run and they end up running backwards in defence

 

[ykl]

Calm down guys, just trade your pes09 and buy another ps3 game etc: MGS 4, GTA4, Fallout 3.........or you may try fifa as well....

 

[tushar_t]

but i also hate it when my defenders which are not under my control at the time dive into wreckless challenges & give away penalties & freekicks around the box & then score, it bloody drives me insane.

100% correct. Wingers won't make easy runs down the flank but defenders will readily commit to adventurous and stupid tackles. Ridiculous! And what about when you're taking a freekick and it hits the wall and bounces back, the free kick taker cannot be controlled for a few seconds?????

These are really basic flaws, I'm astounded how they've been left in the final version of the game.

By the way, don't expect improvements for PES 2010, it has become abundantly clear to me that Konami won't make the proper improvements. Next Year Improvements?? Champions League featured on Master League Mode.

I really wish I could disagree here, but you seem to have summed my opinions on the matter.

 

[sandaweches]

I've started playing ML at Top Player and I would disagree with comments regarding sidebacks and smf's not making runs into space.

In the game I was playing with default players I collected the ball with Minanda in the middle and to my surprise I saw the sideback dashing forward on the right side asking for the ball which I thought was a nice addition to the gameplay.

Although I would say this ML plays a bit different than earlier PES versions. I guess in PES09 the difficulty is not in having utterly worthless players like earlier versions, but it lies in the actual game itself. I was 1 goal up from a nice cross and a header (which would rarely happen in older pes versions - especially in the first ML game at Top Player), but then the other team started adding pressure and I couldn't score more (although had some chances). Eventually they equalized and the game ended in 1-1.

so I guess the changes to AI and gameplay in PES09 makes it challenging in a different way compared to earlier versions. In the older versions, the first few ML games, I would be lucky to have a shot on goal, let alone a goal. and usually the games end in 0-0 until the default players stats improved.

that's my experience at least.

 

[gooderz]

yeah very random isn't it... i play at barca and sometimes we put together an 8 man, one touch uber goal but other times the full back will change direction 6 or 7 times then hoof it into row z!!!

 

[Tech_Skill]

I bought this game in the 2nd week of its release and have been trying everything since, including taking lots of good honest suggestions from here - so I've given it enough time. Apart from marginal improvements here and there after tweaking some tactics, the AI is still horribly pathetic. Wingers just standing around near the half line while I'm in attack, strikers standing outside the edge of the box while I cross it in, midfielders either near my own box or the opposition, leaving the centre of the field, more often than not, empty etc etc etc!

The AI has always cheated in pro evo, but in the last 2 years its got out of control to be honest. The game has been made harder not because the AI can actually play good football, but because at the key moments (on very hard/top player) the CPU disables the AI players and surrounding you whilst its players take on some form of superhuman ability.

Its called 'GOD MODE', when the AI decides its going to score and short of luck, their isnt much you can do about it.

How many times on top player/very hard, have you been dominating a game, gone 1-0 up, then ALL OF A SUDDEN, your attackers dont move forward anymore, dont run into space to exploit the through ball, your passing becomes way off and CPU become incredibly hard to tackle?

Now you know why.

PES AI doesn't actually play great football, it makes things harder for the player by disadvantaging you rather than outplaying you.

In my opinion.

 

[zizou4ever]

The AI has always cheated in pro evo, but in the last 2 years its got out of control to be honest. The game has been made harder not because the AI can actually play good football, but because at the key moments (on very hard/top player) the CPU disables the AI players and surrounding you whilst its players take on some form of superhuman ability.

Its called 'GOD MODE', when the AI decides its going to score and short of luck, their isnt much you can do about it.

How many times on top player/very hard, have you been dominating a game, gone 1-0 up, then ALL OF A SUDDEN, your attackers dont move forward anymore, dont run into space to exploit the through ball, your passing becomes way off and CPU become incredibly hard to tackle?

Now you know why.

PES AI doesn't actually play great football, it makes things harder for the player by disadvantaging you rather than outplaying you.

In my opinion.

I couldn't agree more. This is one of the most irritating things on PES.

 

[Tech_Skill]

I couldn't agree more. This is one of the most irritating things on PES.

Definitely, Konami brought this crap in under the guise of 'teamvision', but its simply ramped up AI cheating. The main CPU tactic, is simply to rush which ever one of your players has the ball with about 3 attackers, if you successfully pass it around them and exploit the gaps they leave, you will be amazed at how fast these AI players can then bolt back up the other end of the pitch and defend the CPU goal, its crazy, no skill about it.