Winning Eleven 6

Winning Eleven has been one of the most popular soccer franchises worldwide, but it has not made it stateside. Developed by Konami, Winning Eleven 6 International is the version that has finally reached North America. With great visuals and great gameplay, the series is hoped to stay in America.

Not being a fan of the sport, and not owning a soccer game since World Cup on NES, I was hoping to get back into it. Winning Eleven 6 has great gameplay on all levels. Soccer fans will appreciate the realism in each movement of the ball and player, while gamers seeking arcade action will find the controls easy to learn. The controls are relatively simple if you just want to play the game but you can use some of the more complicated ones once you get deeper into the game. The basic controls are passing and shooting, and it is very possible to win a game with only these two buttons. Once you get into the game you will realize there are ways to hit the ball deep, hard pass, high pass, and so many other things that will satisfy the true soccer fans’ needs.

Moving the on-screen player is easy and realistic. When you turbo you will kick the ball further ahead so it is harder to make sharp turns, but go slow and you can have complete control of the ball, able to fake left and right and perform cool moves.

Moving the defensive player is a little bit more complicated, however, because the computer will decide which one to let you control, usually the one closest to the ball. This can get annoying if you are catching up to the ball carrier and he comes close to a computer controlled player, then you will switch characters and the quick change will leave you controlling the wrong guy and going in the wrong direction. Once you can learn to compensate for that, however, playing defense becomes fun. Once you start slide tackling and other defensive maneuvers, it becomes even more realistic and enjoyable.

The sound is good and bad. The announcing is great, and very believable. The announcers can even tell when the referees have made a bad call, and will get mad. The crowd noises, however, is pretty bland. They will either be silent, boo, or cheer, and they seem to do it at the wrong times. When either team scores, they will cheer, which doesn’t make sense since one must be the home team and they shouldn’t be cheering for the wrong team.

The graphics are amazing. The player movements are fluid beyond compare, and every time they make a sharp turn you can almost see the muscle sin their legs tensing up. The intro scene is also good considering it is a sports games. Instead of just showing shots of real games like in most sports games, they actually spent time to create a highly detailed computer generated movie.

Overall, despite some flaws, this is the best soccer game out on any next generation system. the gameplay is amazing and the graphics are great and the only thing that needs fixing is the crowd noises, definitely not something that should decide your purchase. Even if you have not ever played a soccer video game, this is probably the best time to get in on the action. Likewise, if you are a true soccer fan you will definitely appreciate this game.

9.2/10

-Rory