Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 Review - Xbox 360

As the number of professional sports game choices dwindle in the era of exclusive licenses, Konami's lone sports franchise has been the only real alternative to EA's FIFA soccer series. While FIFA has enjoyed enormous success and popularity here in the States, Winning Eleven has carved out a niche for soccer addicts across the globe with its emphasis on realism over flashy graphics and arcade-like controls. For its Xbox 360 debut, it would seem the one sticking point in the series, the presentation, would finally be addressed with the platform's added horsepower. Alas, it isn't quite the overhaul longtime fans may have hoped for. Not even close.

Behind the Screens

Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 isn't welcoming to those looking for their first soccer title. The developers have seemingly done their best to make the game as inaccessible as possible, starting with an interface that's about as intuitive as a trigonometry equation. Each subsequent step after the title screen is a confusing mess, with the game adopting a Windows-like display with multiple pop-ups, drop-down menus, and cryptic icons in lieu of informative text. Before players can jump into a match, they'll have to advance through a labyrinthine series of setup screens, option lists, and customization features that those new to the sport will find more intimidating than a Zinedine Zidane head-butt.

Shooting Stars

That intimidation factor will likely continue after the kickoff, with players given an unprecedented level of control, at least in a soccer game. Players can slow dribble, stop the ball, jump over the ball, shield the ball, sidestep, perform step-overs, initiate five types of kick feints, and perform such advanced techniques as the Matthews trick, named after the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews, who could elude defenders almost at will. Of course, players aren't expected to master all of the controls in one session, and not one of the moves requires the finger agility of Eric Clapton to pull off with success. The more you'll play, the more you'll begin to appreciate the amount of flexibility you have while on the pitch.

At Least the Stadiums Look Nice…

Winning Eleven's visuals are the best in the series to date, but it's hardly a game to show off the system's capabilities. It's essentially a cleaned up version of the PS2 game, with sharper textures and more fluid animation. There are still some ugly spots, however. Rain looks more like television interference than actual weather, with white lines streaking straight down in front of the camera instead of splashing the field. The players themselves look like plastic with chiseled hairstyles, so close-up views are more frightening than exciting. The animation is silky smooth in some places and spotty in others, with dribbling and slide-tackles looking extremely fluid, while actions such as sidestepping and turning are noticeably choppy.

Less Isn't More

While the basic presentation is underwhelming, what will irritate hardcore fans the most, however, is the dearth of options when compared to the "less powerful" PS2 version. Reminiscent of EA's initial sports offerings on Xbox 360, Konami seemed to cut a few corners when readying Winning Eleven. There are only eight stadiums, for instance, less play modes, and the editing functions are severely crippled, which is a bad thing when you have a considerable amount of fictitious team names based on real-life counterparts. Also getting red-carded are the ability to create teams and custom players, edit logos, purchase unlockable content in "stores," and even the option to record replays -- you can save them on a dinky PS2 memory card, but you can't on a roomy Xbox 360 hard drive?

Master of its Domain

The game modes are also unchanged from previous installments, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The main "master league" mode in particular is an addictive, challenging, and ultimately a highly satisfying experience that involves leading a scrappy team in Division 2 through an unlimited number of seasons while managing the transfer market, dealing with aging athletes, and earning experience to develop your squad. Players can also select a match (single game), league (season), cup (tournament), training session, or go online for head-to-head ranked matches.

Goal Planning

Those who felt that FIFA matches on Xbox 360 required the same strategic "skill" as playing Deal or No Deal will find Winning Eleven to be a whole new game, one that will eat new players alive even on the default "regular" setting. Yet as you get more experience with the controls and learn the strengths and weaknesses of your club, some problems begin to emerge. Teammates will be aggressive one moment, then suddenly revert to a leisurely jog as if they had a momentary bout of amnesia. Goalkeepers are also a bit slow to react, which means scoring is more prevalent than in previous Winning Eleven games. Fortunately, the gameplay on the higher difficulty levels will give the brain as much a workout as the thumbs, requiring more tactical decisions in formations, position coverage, and in marking rival players.

Winning isn't Everything

As the first Winning Eleven game to appear on Xbox 360, Pro Evolution 2007 follows the unfortunate trend of other sports titles debuting on next-gen systems: stripped down features and recycled content with improved visuals. For those losing sleep over which version to get, the PlayStation 2 game is the more complete package. While there are many things to like about the Xbox 360 version, a few lock-up bugs, laggy and limited online play, and some head-scratching omissions from previous games means all but the most ardent footy fans should wait until the next installment before moving onto greener pastures -- and pitches.

Article by: Scott Alan Marriott
Video produced by: Paul Bonnano