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Official strategy guide publishers, Piggyback and Konami of Europe release the lavish Pro Evolution Soccer 5 guide – filled with tips and tricks on the new game direct from the developers.

Piggyback, one of Europe's leading official strategy guide publishers, has teamed up with Konami of Europe GmbH again, this time focusing their attention (and a good deal of playing time, no doubt!) on the Pro Evolution Soccer 5 game. The new guide – the only source of tips, tricks and know-how sourced direct from the development team – will be released to tie-in with the game.

The weighty 238-page tome, which is the only guide to be created in direct collaboration with the developers themselves, features all there is to know about Pro Evolution Soccer 5 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. This guide not only provides readers with a detailed breakdown of the game's near-limitless on-field subtleties but also explains – in minute yet easily digestible chunks – how to master all the play modes, secret moves, team and player data, leagues and cups necessary to propel its legions of dedicated fans to footballing nirvana.

Player Conditions

This official guide covers everything on team management with expert strategies on the best formations, how to take advantage of player conditions and how to choose and field the best selection. The ‘Coaching Manual’ section, for example, breaks down and explains everything players need to know behind game's mechanics such as shooting, one-twos, weighted through balls and passes, goalkeeping, penalties, tricks, attacking and defending, styles of play, and management – with depth impossible through any other means.

Lavishly produced and illustrated to the highest standards, readers of this, the ultimate companion guide to the world's greatest football game, can reap the rewards of a collaborative effort, developed over a six-month period and the result of hundreds of hours playtesting. If you're looking for a few lone tips, interspersed by successive pages of unnecessary 'filler' content, look elsewhere – in creating this official guide to Pro Evolution Soccer 5, Piggyback has raised the bar of game guide excellence yet again.

Hans-Joachim Amann, Head of European Product Management at Konami of Europe GmbH said: "There is great anticipation from the trade and public for the Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Game and Official Guide. Piggyback provides unsurpassable quality and consistency in creating Konami guides." Amann continued, "Our customers can be assured that the Pro Evolution Soccer 5 official guide will reflect the passionate and detailed gameplay experience, they have been waiting for".

With unlimited support from Konami, the Piggyback team gained unprecedented access to the development studios in Japan, resulting in a 222-page guide, which is published today for £10.99, offering a unique and comprehensive guide to all things Pro Evolution Soccer 5TM.

To celebrate the launch of this astonishing publication, the authors have hand-picked 10 top tips for scoring in the lounge or your bedroom – wherever your console or computer resides.

‘Top 10 Tips’

Shooting

If a player has his back to his opponent's goal, the precision and pace of shots is vastly reduced. As in real life, the difficulty of twisting to shoot from oblique angles – even at close range – means that the quality of contact will be lower, with the ball more likely to be scuffed harmlessly into a grateful keeper's hands. Players with the ‘Scoring’ special ability star are much, much better at turning to drill the ball into either corner, but only inside the penalty area. Unless you're deep inside your opponent's 18-yard box, a shot made while facing away from goal will be a waste of possession.

Free Kicks

For shots on goal, ‘Free Kick Accuracy’, ‘Shot Power’ and ‘Curling’ are essential abilities. For those that assume that ‘Curling’ is more of a luxury attribute that is good to have but not exactly vital, series producer Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka has what may be a surprising revelation for some. "Unless a player can curve the ball, he cannot make the ball drop," he explains. "Right footers can usually curve the ball to the left side, counter clockwise. Left footers do the opposite. An exception is, for example, Roberto Carlos – he can kick and curve both ways. This applies not only to Roberto Carlos, but also to other players who have the Roberto Carlos free kick type. Right footers and left footers can also shoot in the other direction, of course, albeit without or with very little curling. But the players with high ‘Curling’ ability are the only ones who can drop the ball after it has passed the wall."

Corners

Corners are a ready source of goals, especially if you have centre-forwards that are good in the air. Your kicker should be the player in your team with the highest ‘Free Kick Accuracy’, ‘Long Pass Accuracy’, ‘Long Pass Speed’ and ‘Curling’ stats, and will always kick with his dominant foot. This, naturally, has a bearing on the degree of curl you can apply to the ball. Right-footed players are generally better at curling the ball to the left; the opposite applies for left-footed players. You should bear this in mind before attempting an in-swinging or out-swinging corner.

Crossing

We suggest that you try to get into the habit of always crossing with L1 Button held and switch to the Type 4 ‘Long Pass Mode’ (or Type 5 if you prefer) as soon as possible. Sometimes, a long pass is a much better method of reaching a player in the penalty area, but it's a move that you won't be able to perform deep in your opponent's half with ‘Circle Button’ unless you deactivate automatic crossing. It's not an issue you should worry about if you are new to PES5, but it's definitely something you should consider as your skills improve.

Tackling

While we grudgingly acknowledge that it might still be useful for beginners during their first games, holding X Button to automatically pressure and tackle opponents is now very much a bad habit. It's far less effective for a variety of reasons. Its principle weakness in PES5 is that it will lead you to concede far too many fouls. The dogged AI "homing" code that once reliably harried and harassed opposing players is now ill-suited to PES5's overhauled tackling system.

Slide Tackles

When you perform a slide tackle, you commit a player not just to the actual challenge, but the variable delay that follows as he returns to a standing position (and, therefore, active control). The higher a player's ‘Defence’ ability is, the shorter this delay will be. An additional advantage conferred by a high ‘Defence’ rating is that the actual tackle will be faster, which reduces the possibility of a player moving before your man connects with the ball.

The most profoundly beneficial attribute that a player can have while performing such challenges, though, is the ‘Sliding Tackle’ special ability. With this star to his name, a player will be far more precise when sliding, hitting the ball on a higher number of occasions. This increased accuracy also reduces the likelihood of bookings and dismissals: although the referee may blow his whistle, the better technique of your player will often work in his favour, with the match official being less likely to reach for a card. A player with the ‘Sliding Tackle’ ability will even be able to make precise sliding challenges from behind an opponent, which is something that most other players simply cannot do.

Goalkeeper Control

When your defensive line is in an advanced position – either as a strategic choice, or when the opposing team makes a quick counter-attack – your goal custodian isn't merely a goalkeeper, as he can also act as a makeshift sweeper when the situation demands it. Knowing when to send him forward to intercept through-balls (especially those outside the 18-yard box) is a talent that can't be coached. It's a visceral reaction, a split-second reading of a situation that can only be improved through extensive play. It helps to know how fast your goalkeeper is, of course: the better his ‘Top Speed’ and ‘Acceleration’ stats, the more likely he is to reach the ball before an opponent does.

When an opposing player runs clear of your back line, instructing your keeper to rush out to meet him is a calculated gamble. There are many circumstances when, no matter the relative skill of your man between the posts, not using ‘Triangle Button’ would be positively foolish. In more risky circumstances, you need to take your goalkeeper's abilities into account: his speed, ‘Goalkeeping Ability’, ‘Response’ and, if late in the match, his current stamina level. The most beneficial attribute a keeper can have in such situations, though, is the ‘1-On-1 Stopper’ special ability. This greatly increases his chances of getting a part of his body to shots made at close range.

Player Abilities

To get the most out of your team, it's critical that you learn each player's strengths and weaknesses. If you only have a very cursory appreciation of each team member's attributes – say, that player X is fast, player Y is good in the air, and player Z can dribble the ball well – you put yourself at a huge disadvantage. Player abilities and the special ability stars play a massive part in every match – as the following explanation [one of dozens in the full guide] illustrates.

"If a normal player takes about ten animation phases, players with high ‘Agility’ might only take eight or six in order to cover the same move," reveals Seabass. "It's a matter of what he can do in a smaller amount of time. If the ‘Agility’ is higher, a player will be able to kick the ball faster than a normal player, who must take a step and then kick. The higher ‘Agility’ player can just kick the ball immediately. If a player's ‘Agility’ is very high but his ‘Dribble Accuracy’ is very low, that player would not be good at dribbling, but he would be very good in performing quick kicks. So: when he dribbles, both abilities really matter."

Master League: Team Management

In the Master League, PES5's stamina and fatigue systems will soon become a constant source of irritation unless you learn to appreciate the benefits of a sensible squad rotation policy. High stamina loss during matches leads to the growth of a "fatigue bar". The higher this becomes, the lower a player's initial stamina will be at the start of a match – and, therefore, the more likely that player is to be even more tired at the end of the next game. Injuries are an additional complication: greater fatigue levels make players more susceptible to various cuts, sprains, twists and breakages.

The only solution is full rest, giving the affected player an entire week off to recuperate. Depending on how tired a player is, his recovery may even take two weeks and, in extreme circumstances, even three. However, it's important that you remember that while fatigue is accumulated on a match-by-match basis, it is only reduced by the week. When there are more than two matches in a week, you will need to leave a player out of your squad for both fixtures to rest him – not simply the first.

Master League: Transfers

On difficulty levels between one and four stars, you can view a 'Negotiation Difficulty' rating by pressing right on the Directional Pad while examining transfer targets in the Search menus. This indicates how interested a player will be in moving to your club, as Master League producer Toshiyuki Terada explains. "If you have two stars, you should consider that you have a 50 per cent chance. If you have three stars, you are likely to get that player 90 per cent of the time, but there's a 10 per cent chance you might fail. If you have one star, this is not 0 per cent, but maybe 15-20 per cent, very low. And if you have no stars, it means it's under 15-20 per cent. However, it's never 0 per cent."

Louie Beatty, Managing Director of Piggyback, commented: "Pro Evolution Soccer is a religion and has the most dedicated fan base of any videogame franchise. Given the purist nature of this following, it is a great privilege for us to be working on this official guide. This is without a doubt the biggest football franchise in the business and the most anticipated title of Q4 2005".

Pro Evolution Soccer 5: Official Guide is out now, priced £10.99, from Konami of Europe. The game itself: Pro Evolution Soccer 5 is released simultaneously, for PC, Xbox and PS2.

‘Top 10 Tips’ (above) reproduced from the Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Official Guide, with permission.

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