soccer

I've played EA's FIFA series for several years now, but heard some good things about Winning Eleven. I received it last week and have already shelved my EA-FIFA collection to give away.

There's simply no comparison between the two when it comes to gameplay and modes available. WE's graphics are superb. EA's game commentary beats WE's because of the phrase variety, but with more commentary variety all aspects of sound will be equal or better than EA's.

The place where this game simply destroys EA's products is the gameplay. All I can say is, start reading about football tactics because you're going to need them to win, and no manual could be large enough to cover all the possibilities. 1) You're in control of the players all the time, something that EA games are horrible at, and 2) you can't glue the ball to your striker's feet, sprint past the defence, and blow a ball past the keeper. Not a chance here! Pass or die, set up well for shots, and think think think.

All-around superb football simulation!

I have played just about every soccer game out there made for a PC and this is by far the best. Gameplay is awesome, doesn't matter what team or what players, it's just fun to play this game. I agree with some people that at times, especially at the beginning, it can be hard to shoot, but with time it gets better. Passing and through balls are very nice. Player names are not very accurate (Japanese translations probably) but you can edit everything in this game, player name, face, uniform, shoes, name pronounciation and even name on the jersey. You can also create your own players and teams. When you win tournaments and cups you get points to open new features and even classic teams.
If you want a real soccer game, this is it. Forget EA Fifa titles. This game is the closest it comes to real soccer.

I gotta tell ya, I loved this game when I first played it. If you are thinking what to get FIFA or WE7, choose the second. It's fun for a really long time.

I played this game from 2 star difficulty to 4 star. It was fun. But now it's just frustrating. I own 4 star... I have 60% ball posession, 20 to 3 shots on target. And I lose 1-3.

It's VERY annoying. I get a striker in front of the keeper, alone, 10 meters from the goal. I tap the shoot button, the striker digs the ball and sends it high to the sky... ok... I try again, I get my 90-accuracy, 90-shot power striker 15 meters from the goal. I shoot. He shoots with his strong foot, but like 5 meters wide. -_- Ok. I try more. Every time my strikers mess up. Once, I lose the ball. The striker runs, shoots from 40 meters out, gets perfect top corner past my world-class goalie. I check his stats - 50 shot accuracy, 40 shot power.

Um, what???

This game may be more realistic, it may have way more stats and tactic options that FIFA, yes it has all that, but it also has something that totally ruins it.

It switches players for you. A lot. And when you want a certain player to go for the ball and try to switch automatically, he rarely gets switched to.

Imagine this: one striker, one defender, one goalie. You control the defender. You're running along with the defender, in a second you'll tackle him. At that instant, the game switches players, because the defender who was supposed to mark that particular forward came within reach. The defender you were using simply runs away - it's not his job to mark the guy. The forward jogs, fools the keeper as if he was a third grader and taps the ball into the empty net.

Sound realistic enough?

Or, you intercept a pass in opponent's box, but let the ball go too far. Theoretically, you have posession, because you touched the ball last. But the ball's too far away, so the controller switches to some defender on the other side of the pitch. And what do the rest of the players do? What any player should do when your partner got a ball near the box - make a run. So instead of having my players chase the ball, all 5 or 6 of them run like idiots towards the goal while the opponent defender simply clears it way out.

Defenders going up is another awesome thing. I've got my best defender, my central fullback, sent off. Next thing I see when I get a corner is BOTH of the remaining defenders in the opponent's box. Guess what happens next? Opponent clears the ball, my defensive mid watches their striker take the ball, run, do the same fake on the keeper and shoot the ball in.

Or take the "awesome" way the players go for the ball. If the opponent touched the ball the last and it's going over the endline, and NOBODY is going to get it, it seems imperative that your player runs (without your being able to control him) to get the ball, tries to trap it right before it crosses the line, and voila, you got a corner instead of a goal-kick. And then on that same corner, your keeper barely stops a header and it goes right back to the opponent striker... Oh no, why would you run? Five of my players, both within a slide-tackle reach from the player, stare as he puts the ball in.

Note that this happens to the comp 100 times less than it does to you.

No, I know, WE7 has many awesome options. You can do so much that you can't do in FIFA 2004. You can't score with a defender from 50 yards out 9 out of 10 shots you make, for example. But if this game is realistic, my uncle is Bill Gates.

Great potential. But the controlling of the players needs to be improved a LOT.