UrbanWire

Konami's latest edition of their Winning Eleven series – World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 – will put any other soccer game (even those that people claim were good) to shame. In fact, the game is so excellent that even make their previous 6 editions look bad.

With 21 stadiums and 100 teams to choose from, soccer addicts will kick themselves if they don’t get their hands on this game. You can either pit your soccer skills against each of the up to 8 players or play together against the toughest level set by the producers.

When I first inserted the disk into my Sony Playstation 2 (yes I brag), I expected a soccer game that was like any other, only updated and looked forward to a few minor changes

After the animated introduction, I thought to myself, “They always make the opening movie really good but when it gets to the game play, it should be about the same.” Little did I know that I would be proven wrong after my first match.

Being an avid Arsenal fan, I choose to go up against Manchester United in Highbury, the home ground of Arsenal. In order not to make things too tough for myself, I toggled the difficulty level to 2 out of 5 stars.
By the time the final whistle went off, I was trashed 4-0, and had collected 2 red and 4 yellow cards.

You might conclude from that that I’m really bad at virtual soccer games but the fact is that I’m a faithful follower of the WE (Winning Eleven) series and I wasn’t expecting to get beaten so badly on my first try. Really caught on by the graphics, realism of the game, music and the other mini training sessions, (and being a really sore loser) I challenged the game again.

This time I wasn’t thinking about why I lost the match, I was more baffled over how amazingly real the game is. They customised the players’ (or at least the famous ones) movements to how they actually play in real life so that it looks as if you’re controlling an actual soccer match on television. For example, before Roberto Carlos takes a free kick, he will position himself a distance behind the ball. As for David Beckham, his follow through after every kick is just as lifelike. And if the player uses Germany in a match, half of the time they will score with their heads like they usually do. However, it’s not all flattering, as this feature also captures the weaknesses of the players, so in Winning Eleven, although Steve McManaman can dribble the ball with great flair, he can’t do much else.

One of the more interesting additions to the game will definitely be the option to foul with a hand ball. While they can’t handle the ball but they can accidentally touch the ball and give the opposing team a free kick. The sad thing is, hand balls are given at random by the referee, so the chances of you getting a free kick from a foul hand ball can be quite rare. The realism also extends to the way the game is played. There isn’t any point to be a show-off. It will be more advisable to play as a team so that your chances of winning are better.

It’s kind of frustrating how difficult the game is even when set to such a low difficulty level. The opposing team pushes your team more so that the game play will rise to another level and make you forget about those games they call Fifa.

Those like me, who can’t seem to win the game, can edit and create players to their liking. Don’t like Zidane’s bald patch? Then give him some curls, locks, or whatever hairstyle you fancy; I am sure he’ll like it as well.

Alternatively, you can make yourself a perfect player and play for whichever team you desire. The only catch is that you need to earn a certain amount of money, a monstrous 10000 yen, for that option to be available. A lot of secret and tricks are waiting to be discovered in the game. For more information, visit Gamespot Gamespot.com for tips and tricks. But you’ll be thankful Konami made it such a way that you will be hooked on Winning Eleven for a long time.