^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER FAQ
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
By El Pinguino
Version: 1.6
0. Legal stuff
1. A quick word about this FAQ
2. What is Pro Evolution Soccer?
3. Tricks and Techniques
4. Master League
5. Secrets
6. The ultimate squad
7. Credits
--------------
0. Legal stuff
--------------
*This FAQ was written by El Pinguino. You may not make any money from it nor
may you alter any part or all of it in any way. You may not distribute it
for access in a public place (such as a website) or place it in any document
for publication without the express permission of the author. Finally, do
not link directly to this document. Instead, link to www.gamefaqs.com
*Send your (sensible) questions and comments to
[email protected]
------------------------------
1. A quick word about this FAQ
------------------------------
*This is my first FAQ, and I'm starting the way I mean to go on: no bull.
This FAQ will not have anything in it that you can find in the manual for
this game. It's a waste of my time, and if you're too lazy to look in the
manual you don't deserve to know the information.
*For players' real names, check one of the Roster FAQs at GameFAQs.
*This FAQ is the product of my ongoing play of Pro Evolution Soccer, so I'm
likely to add stuff as I go along.
--------------------------------
2. What is Pro Evolution Soccer?
--------------------------------
*Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) is the European name for the game known as
Winning Eleven 5 (or 2001) in Japan. I haven't played Winning Eleven, but I
hear that PES is slightly more up to date and graphically better. In my
opinion, this is the most complete simulation of football ever released, at
least until PES2 comes out. This is what FIFA games dream of being.
------------------------
3. Tricks and Techniques
------------------------
3.1 Getting better
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Obviously, getting better is all about practise, and in PES there's a handy
training mode. Get in there, and select "Controls". In the Controls menu
there are demonstrations and instructions for most of the moves in the game.
Watch, try, repeat. Get to it.
*Try pitting two five-star computer teams against one another in Exhibition
mode. Watching the computer play itself is a good way to pick up tips.
*Because this game is so close to the real thing, watching football games on
the TV can improve your PES playing. Look for when players change pace,
track back, switch the ball from side to side and so on. After all, they're
professionals, they know what they're doing. Ahem.
3.2 Strategy
~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Check your team out in the Formation screen. Look at the stats to see where
your players are good and bad. Konami looked at the Championship Manager
player database to decide the statistics, so needless to say they have a
massive bearing on performance.
*On higher skill levels, it's important to know your opponent's strengths
and weaknesses and adjust your squad appropriately. For example, England
have good width and speedy strikers, so when playing them you have to mark
their strikers out of the game, and pass through the middle. After playing
teams a few times you start seeing their tactics, which don't change from
match to match other than changing attack attitudes.
*I tend to use two substitutions to replace tired players (press R1 at the
Member Change screen to see who's tired) and keep one in case of injury.
3.3 Finishing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Good finishers have high scores in the Shot Power, Accuracy, Attack and
Response stats, and very good strikers also have stars in the Reaction,
Scoring and 1-1 Score special abilities.
*Finishing range is inside the penalty box. There aren't many players in the
game who can stick them in consistently from outside the box.
*There's nothing more annoying than having phenomenal build-up play only for
your strikers to spoon it over or wide at the crucial moment. As you should
know, you direct the shot with the d-pad, and the strength (and therefore
the height) of the shot is dependent on how long you hold the shoot button.
The slower a player is moving, the more likely his shot will be on target if
he's in finishing range.
*Good finishers are unlikely to miss from finishing range, so you can try
and put the ball right in the corner of the goal.
*Players in PES have a designated strong foot, and a tiny minority are
equally good with either foot. If a player shoots with his worse foot his
accuracy is greatly reduced.
*One on ones with the keeper have their own player ability. If a player
isn't great at one-on-ones, the best move is to try and chip the keeper with
L1 and square. Remember though that you still have to aim the chip, and that
the chipped ball will swing a lot.
*Finishing from headers is hard to start with. The idea is to direct the
header downwards to fool the keeper. Practise is the only way to improve.
3.4 Free kicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*In all cases of free kicks don't let the shooting gauge fill up much more
than half way, because after that most players tend to shoot too hard and
the ball balloons off into row Z.
*If the ball is less than 25m from the goal, hold down on the d-pad while
the shooting gauge is displayed to give a slow, dipping shot. You'll need it
to get the ball over the wall and down into the goal.
*If the ball is between 25m and 29m from the goal, don't press any d-pad
direction when the shooting gauge is displayed.
*If the ball is 30m to 35m from the goal, hold up on the d-pad while the
shooting gauge is displayed to give a low, hard shot, needed to keep the
ball down from such a distance.
*Further out than 35m don't try the shot, unless you're Roberto Carlos.
*Curl the ball by holding left or right while the shooting gauge is
displayed. Players curl better inwards (e.g. if they hit it with their right
foot it curls left) unless they have a star for their Outside stat.
*The higher a player's curling stat, the easier you'll find it to bend it
round the wall, but remember to compensate for the curl when you aim your
shot.
*Free kick diagrams. Apply these to any distance. GK is the goal keeper, the
8s are the wall and the o is the ball. The + is where the ball should pass
the wall.
*Position 1: Small angle
________________
* GK
+888888
O
*Position 2: Wide angle
__________________
* GK
888888+
O
3.5 Corners
~~~~~~~~~~~
*When you first play an ISS or PES footy game, corners are incredibly hard
to pull off consistently well, especially after the "corner-head-goal"
pattern which happened in 9 out of 10 corners in the FIFA games. Remember
though that, like the rest of the game, practising corners is pretty much
the only way to get better. There are a few basic pointers though.
*When you choose which player takes the corner, you have to decide on
in-swing (the ball moves out away from the goal but swings back in) and
out-swing (the ball starts off going towards the six-yard box but swings
away). Left-footed players are in-swingers for right-hand corners and
out-swingers for left-hand corners, and vice versa for right-footed players.
*Remember that as with free kicks you have to select the swing direction by
holding a d-pad direction until the ball is kicked. This does technically
mean that a player can be both an in-swinger and out-swinger from the same
corner, but it's so hard to accurately hit the ball with the outside of the
boot that I just stick to the system outlined in the previous point.
*The idea of in-swinging from a corner is to bypass all of the opposition's
defenders by going around them (instead of over them, because defenders are
generally good headers), getting the ball to your far-post striker for an
easy header. It sometimes works at the near post as well, if you have a
near-post striker with good Jumping and Heading abilities. If you have a
good long-range shooter on the edge of the box for corners (like Scholes for
England) then you could also swing the ball to him round the outside of the
defence.
*Out-swinging can fool three-quarters of the keepers in PES if done
properly. The idea is to send the ball originally quite close to the goalie,
but make it swing away towards the end. That way, the ball is always just
out of range for the keepers, and he's drawn off his line to catch the ball,
leaving the goal open for someone on your team.
3.6 Commentary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*I know the commentary in PES is dire, but it does occasionally give you
hints on what strategy to use.
*PES features a fatigue effect, which causes players to get more tired as a
game progresses, making them worse at running and jumping. You can't see the
stamina as a percentage like in FIFA, so you have to be pretty observant.
The Stamina stat is a clue as to which of your players will get tired
quickest, but the PES commentator also helps out. When he says that the
team's looking tired or something similar, the player you were controlling
at the start of his sentence is very tired.
*During a free kick within 30m, if you hear the commentator say that the
range is not impossible, or is the player's specialty or whatever, you
should at least hit the target, if not score. If he doesn't say it, switch
your free kick taker.
3.7 Dribbling
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*I've received a few emails asking how to hold on to the ball when
dribbling, so I've compiled a few tips.
*There are four grades of dribble speed, which can be used by holding a
button in addition to the d-pad direction. The standard dribble is achieved
by not holding any buttons except the d-pad. Holding L1 and the d-pad gives
an ultra-slow dribble, which allows you to change direction more quickly and
drastically. Holding R2 is a fast dribble, which is faster but is harder to
change direction quickly. Holding R1 is the full-speed sprint, which is very
fast but has very little control.
*The R1 dribble is really only useful when you have a lot of clear ground
ahead of you. The camera makes it difficult to see what's coming up, so use
your radar to check, and start changing direction to avoid defenders.
*Getting past defenders is all about changes of pace. If approaching a
defender at full speed (R1 dribble), change to the standard dribble and
sharply change direction. As soon as you're facing a bit of clear ground
ahead, shift up to the R2 dribble, and you should leave the defender behind
you. If you change speed too late, the defender will just nick the ball away
from you as you zoom past him. If you do it too early, the defender will
anticipate it and intercept you. Practise makes perfect.
*The L1 dribble is good for dribbling through two or more defenders, and
also for getting past defenders when you're close to the touchline.
*There's often a choice to make when trying to get past defenders: should
you sail past them, or use your silky skills to waltz through them? To make
the decision, look at the player stats. Players with a high DribbleSpd and
Speed stats but a lower Dribble stat favour the first approach, and players
with a high Dribble stat but low DribbleSpd and Speed stats would be better
off with the second.
*If you're feeling skilful, try pressing R3 to knock the ball ahead and
jump. If timed right, you should avoid the tackle perfectly, leaving you
free to retrieve the ball. To do this well you need clear ground beyond the
defender, and a high Speed stat and DribbleSpd stat.
*Finally, there's the shot fake (square + x). It's good if you can pull it
off, but it works better against human players than against the computer.
3.8 Defence
~~~~~~~~~~~
*Not much to say here, because the computer takes care of defence pretty
well itself. Just a few pointers in case you're getting beaten constantly.
*The AI is good at defending, and is especially good at holding a defensive
line and playing the offside trap. Make sure that when you see the rest of
the defence moving forward as a unit, you move the player you're controlling
as well, to make sure the offside trap works.
*Check your defenders' Defensive Line stat. If any of them has a low stat,
don't play the Offside Trap, because it's likely not to work unless the
opponent has really slow strikers.
*If the opponent always plays the ball to their strikers, get your central
defenders to Man Mark them out of the game.
*If attacks come from many different players (like Brazil), Aggressive Zonal
marking is the way to go.
*If your central defenders are significantly shorter or worse at jumping
than the strikers, close down the opponent's side halves or wingers to
prevent them from crossing the ball.
*Finally, use the X button to tackle whenever you can. Only use the Circle
button slide tackle if you have no choice, or if you're confident of getting
the ball. On higher levels, you're likely to commit a lot of fouls if you
use the slide tackle too much.
----------------
4. Master League
----------------
*Even though this is the core of the game, I don't have much to say on it,
because doing well in the Master League is all about sense.
*Never buy mediocre players. When you come to get rid of them to make way
for your stars, you won't get any points back, so it's better to save up a
little longer and buy top-quality players straight away.
*Your first purchase should be a striker. Scoring goals gets you bonus
points, but conceding them doesn't lose points. So logically it's better to
buy a striker.
*If you want to build a great team quickly, set the difficulty to 1 star.
You can always crank it up again later for a challenge.
*Try and unlock all the secret teams before starting a Master League season.
That way you'll have a choice of all the best players in the game.
----------
5. Secrets
----------
*Remember when you unlock something to save your option file.
*Win the American Cup (in Cup mode) with Brazil to unlock a Classic Brazil
team. Pele is called Perles, and he's on the bench.
*Win the American Cup with Argentina to unlock a Classic Argentina team.
*Win the European Cup with Holland to unlock a Classic Holland team.
*Win the European Cup with Germany to unlock a Classic Germany team.
*Win the European Cup with England to unlock a Classic Europe team.
*Win the International Cup as France to unlock Euro All-Stars in Exhibition
mode under National teams.
*Win the International Cup as a South American team to unlock World
All-Stars in Exhibition mode under National Teams.
*Win all cups and Master League Division 1 to unlock Master League vs
National matches.
*Every time you win a Master League Division 1 season you'll unlock classic
players in the Freelance area. The players are in the Roster FAQ by Nogs.
---------------------
6. The Ultimate Squad
---------------------
*This is the best possible squad that can be assembled from all the players
in PES, in the Master League. High prices don't always mean great players,
but they mostly do. All players have their most useful positions listed.
*Starting XI:
GK: Buffon (30 points to buy/7 points to maintain per season)- Italy
Left Back: Roberto Larcos (43/13)- Brazil
Right Back: Thuram (33/9)- France
Centre Back: Badenfauer (57/21)- Classic Germany
Centre Back: Brusi (48/16)- Classic Europe
Defensive Midfield: Davids (44/14)- Netherlands
Attacking Midfield: Perles (65/25)- Classic Brazil
Right Midfield: Beckham (57/21)- England
Left Wing: Craff (65/25)- Classic Netherlands
Left Striker: Madorna (65/25)- Classic Argentina
Right Striker: Radolno (61/23)- International
*On the bench:
GK Toldo (30/7)- Italy
Left BacK: Maldini (34/9)- Italy
Centre Back: Nesta (33/9)- Italy
Centre Back: Stam (35/10)- Netherlands
Defensive Midfield: R. Karman (48/16)- Classic Netherlands
Attacking Midfield: Poltani (61/23)- Classic Europe
Attacking Midfield: Garrit (56/20)- Classic Netherlands
Right Wing: Van Tasben (57/21)- Classic Netherlands
Left Wing: Gregs (41/12)- Wales
Striker: Shevchenko (48/16)- Ukraine
Striker: Owen (56/20)- England
*Other stars:
Zidane, Verilino, Vieri, Scholes, Figo, Raul, Ravoldi, Kluivert, Roome,
Campbell, Roy Keane, Raceca, Tristao, Gomincha
*Formation:
___________________________________________________________________
| |
| LW |
| LB |
| |
| |
| |
| CB LS |
| |
| |
| GK DM AM |
| |
| RS |
| CB |
| |
| |
| |
| RB |
| RM |
| |
|__________________________________________________________________|
It looks a bit spread out, but don't worry. Davids is fast and strong enough
to help the back four, and Roberto Larcos is easily fast enough to get back
from a forward position. If you find you haven't got enough linkup between
defence and forward, swap Craff for R. Karman, then put Davids at Left
Midfield and Karman at Defensive Midfield, and bring Davids backwards using
Position Edit.
Captain: Badenfauer
Left and Right Corners: Roberto Larcos
Long and Short Free Kicks: Beckham
Penalties: Perles
Remember, you can always change the attack or defence attitudes to adapt to
your opposition.
*NB: This team is the ultimate, ability-wise, but when you play a Master
League on 5-star difficulty it's difficult to score from anything other than
free kicks and headers. With that in mind, your five-star Master League team
will have a much higher proportion of powerful, fast players.
----------
7. Credits
----------
Thanks to Konami TYO for making the game, and to GameFAQs for being the most
useful games site on the web.
Thanks to GameWinners for the information on how to unlock the five classic
teams.
