This is an area where EA's 'FIFA' franchise has always had the upper hand.įor the sake of brevity (perhaps too late), just know that this franchise is the best soccer game in terms of gameplay, and it would be a mistake to pass it up.

The biggest hurdle for the folks at Konami is to give the 'Winning Eleven' franchise the big missing puzzle piece: licensed teams and names. The management of your team takes time, but is worth every minute. You'll spend even more time addressing your squad's demeanor, as it'll constantly want more playing time or money. Points are awarded after each match that can be assigned to make your players better.

All the players on your team have around 30 attributes and 20 or so skill sets that can be managed and improved upon. It will seem as if they have opened up a portal into some hard-core role-playing game, which, in a way, is true. The franchise (called 'master league') mode can be overwhelming to gamers at first glance. The thrust of this mode is to teach gamers how soccer is played (hey, even soccer know-it-alls will glean something new here). The training mode is divided into four categories, and then is divided up even further. 'Winning Eleven 8's' strongest features, besides the actual soccer playing, are the training and franchise modes.

This year's installment holds nothing back in showing that continued minor tweaks here and there only improve its greatness.

Let's not kid ourselves or muck up the issue, for it's never been in question: The 'Winning Eleven' soccer franchise has always been the leader in terms of on-the-pitch gameplay. What's scarier is how perfect it can become once some outside issues are addressed. A look at 'Winning Eleven 8,' for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC.

Winning eleven 8 pc