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Completely Realistic: WE6I is the Best of the Best
Date of Review: Apr 19, 2003
The Bottom Line: If you want a complete and realistic soccer sim experience, and don't mind learning a bit for controls and incomplete international rosters, WE6I is the perfect game.
Most video game players in the United States are aware of Electronic Arts, and of their massive sports division, EA Sports. The titles that EA Sports turn out are perennially award winners, not to mention sales giants. Madden, Triple Play, NBA Live, and FIFA almost always top their sport in sales. Especially for FIFA, most gamers aren't even aware there are other titles in the the same field.
Enter Konami's Winning Eleven 6 International (the official name here in the United States).
WE6I has actually surpassed the FIFA series in sales around the world, and this is due to several reasons. Many gamers eventually notice while playing FIFA that it's possible to create unbeatable moves, or that it's fairly easy to score by just having the speediest player run past the opponent's defenders. The game engine there is flawed, making even the most 'difficult' AI laughable, and player-on-player contests an impossibly high scoring event. WE6I, on the other hand, is a far cry from that.
When one first turns on WE6I, there's a slight feeling of disappointment, as the menu graphics and opening movie graphics are non-descript and bland, as opposed to the lively colors that appear in EA's offering. Lucky for Konami, that the game isn't all about the menu.
The game modes are all there, ranging from exhibition games to international competitions and customized tournaments. However, WE6I also features a nice tutorial option that helps the player practice skills as well as the highlight of the game, Master League mode. Master League mode is a mode in which the player must guide a lowly team through the divisional ranks to the worldwide prominence, wheeling, dealing and playing along the way. It's this mode that enhances the replay value of the game greatly.
The gameplay itself is a highlight, since it offers realism that isn't seen anywhere else. Passing and team play are emphasized, and it's nearly impossible to have defenders or other players just run through the opponent's back four and dump it in for an easy goal. The difficulty levels range from easy (1) to very hard (5), and the highest difficulty can expect you to put in as much time to be successful as if you were to actually train to be a professional soccer player. Shooting is by default manual, which contributes heavily to this, but there are options to have computer-assisted shooting.
The game graphics are very fluid, but still a step behind EA's FIFA, yet very easy to play with and very fluid. The camera angles are good and never obstruct the action.
Equally as nice is the control scheme, which is intuitive and easy to use. There aren't excessive button combinations, but it still does take some getting use to, as shooting and passing are manual. The directional pad and left analog stick can be used towards this purpose, but the directional pad, while precise, is rather stiff and unresponsive, and the analog stick is exactly the opposite. Still, a bit of practice and the game will interface with the player completely.
The only other major problem with the game is that some teams and players aren't licensed (such as Holland). This doesn't pose much of a problem in terms of gameplay, but a knock against total realism it is.
All in all, Konami's Winning Eleven 6 International shows that it's worthy of holding the international soccer sim throne, and it should be only a matter of time before US soccer fans realize and force EA to modify their games in order to compete with Winning Eleven 6 International.
