World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 Review (no fat)

Game Description

For many years, the world of virtual soccer games has been a rather one-sided match. Most players were literally talking about a kind of "FIFA and Others" range of games, making much of the competition quite hopeless. Things began to change a few years ago, and, at this moment, we are talking about a serious competition. A competition in which, with its incredible realism and great diversity, Konami's World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 is standing ahead of the crowd.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9: The Match

When comparing World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 with the previous versions, there are a lot of things which seem to be superficially unchanged. The graphics have not changed significantly, and neither has the first impression you will get when playing it. It's quite hard to say exactly what is so interesting after the first ten minutes.

The gameplay, while not changed significantly, has improved quite a lot. The first thing you will notice is that it is now easier to spice up your game with some quick sidesteps and turns, as you'll need just your left analogue stick. More interesting tricks are available for your players, but the risk of turning the game into a personal showoff is quite low. This is because the AI does an excellent job in closing you down, and passing will be an essential skill now

In fact, the AI is one of the strong points of this game. It is not just the opponent's AI that will make matches so interesting, but also your team's AI. When controlling a player, you will see how his team mates try to reach better positions, how they will help you if you are surrounded by opponents or make themselves available for clever passes.

Compared to previous versions, it will be harder for you to defend. This is not just because the other team is smarter now. Holding the "pressure" button is more likely to produce an amateurish foul. On the other hand, it's easier to use sliding tackles now, so your players won't look like hungry cannibals.

All these features give the matches in Winning Eleven 9 an excellent diversity. You will hardly see two similar goals in a match, and, if you used a clever scheme to score a goal, don't expect it to work just as easy the second time.

Various events come to complement the atmosphere. For example, you will see how your players celebrate a goal, but suddenly stop as they see the linesman raising the flag. It will be quite irritating sometimes, but it's just too realistic to consider it a bad thing.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 Roundabouts and swings

Winning Eleven 9 features several game modes, ensuring an interesting and long-lasting appeal. The modes includes master league, quick match, custom league, cup competitions, training and a new addition: the online play option.

The online play is highlighted as the most important addition to the ninth version of an already top game. Although we cannot minimize its importance, the options given to the player are not too comprehensive. Some features you would expect from an online gaming mode are missing (you won't find scoreboards for example), but, on the plus side, the matches are lag-free and there are very few things that will make the gameplay suffer.

The other important mode is the Master League mode. Master Leagues is essentially a career mode, where you take control of a team and manage it for seasons and seasons. Compared to other career efforts, this proves to be one of the most correctly balanced and designed. Not only will you have to pick the right players, but you will also have to keep an eye on their health and on the club's finances. Players age in time, and their attributes change, not always in a positive manner. However, the management side of the game is just deep enough to spice up the atmosphere, and doesn't supersede the matches.

One downside, not just in career mode, is that many teams lack the licenses, meaning that you'll often find fictive players. If you choose to start the career mode with real players, the wage bill will be quite high, possibly overwhelming, but it will be much easier to win. However, in many cases, you won't have this chance: real players are not something you'll find everywhere in this game.

On the artistic side, the graphics are not exactly top-notch. Compared to the competition, they are somewhere in the middle, good enough so that you won't run away in horror, but don't expect anything incredible. The graphics team simply did their average job, nothing more, nothing less. However, the sound team should be made to work overtime after this effort.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 Summing up

Konami has, once again, brought us an excellent game. World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 is quick to learn, but hard to master, and the AI will challenge you for many hours. It won't be boring, as the chances you'll play two seemingly identical matches are very low.

This is probably one of the best sides of the game: it doesn't have any cliché. You will need some creativity in every game, and you'll find something interesting in every match. This is probably what makes it stand ahead of the competition, it's Winner Eleven's Mojo. And, if you're tired of the AI, you can always play online, which is just as enjoyable.

There are some downsides, like the lack of licenses, an underdeveloped online gaming option and a rather poor sound, but these are unlikely to make the gameplay too unpleasant.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 Price

You can buy Konami's World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 for $37.99USD on any platform (it supports PS2, Xbox and PSP). If you ask me, it's worth it.