lachesis
Member
after finishing off locating all my players to my league's customized teams, I went ahead and played a couple friendly matches against my friend in my league.
First thing to notice is how heavy the players reacted - and how the ball physics is now more realistic. Ball trapping is harder than ever, but it does feel different from LE quite a bit. It's hard to say, but what Konami did to tweak the existing engine really did a wonder of capturing "unexpected" quality of a soccer ball. This time, you never know where the ball is going to go.
For one thing - short passing is hard. Even though most of my players do have pretty good short-passing ability, but the direction to send it really does matter and there are often mistakes depending on how far the receiver might be. All in all, it result frequent pass-cut from the opposite side players, creating some intense and sometimes frustrating moments in mid-field.
Initial few games, we had difficulty sending the ball to the strikers, and our strikers didn't do much of good job of finding a good position - thanks to the improved defender AI - now it's almost impossible to send a through-pass in the middle. Well, not intirely impossible as I had done a couple of times - but there's much less chance of being 1 on 1 against the goalie when compared to "through-pass-happy" 8LE. When succeded, I didn't have much luck scoring as I had a couple of defenders right by my striker. Perhaps I need a bit more practice - as I only playd 5 games total - 4 against my friend, and 1 against computer.
Dribble also feels quite different, and it's easy to lose the possetion of the ball by improved defenders. Side stepping is now possible w/o R2 button - unlike some people who complained about it - I didn't find much bother some. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to.
Long balls, crosses and all - it's more competitive and not as unfair as LE - however you have to be at the right position (you will have to move your player) to make a good header, and for some reason, I found this better than LE. It's still "tricky" to make a good contact with your head - but it's not as frustrating as LE, and for some reason - I felt like I know what I'm doing when trying to move my player for the header.
While I haven't done it myself, but I hear a lot of people saying that free-kick in this game is quite easy - that it gives a decent chance of making a goal whoever have a decent enough (say 85+) freekick ability. Anyhow, best free-kick ability now belongs to Juninho from Brazil. (FK 99, Curve 98 I think) - now better than Mihailovic and Beckham. Talking of dead-ball situation, Corners are much more deadly now - that I could make a better contact with the ball with my player's head, although goalie does seem to be more ready for headers.
Defending wise, it's easier to defend and easier to take the possetion away from attackers. Importance of speed/accelation/body balance has been toned down quite a bit. While they are still important, and not ruling out I've only played few games - but the right positioning is quite important. (a good thing for players like Inzaghi or Raul, who would excel at being at the right place at the right moment)
And lastly - importance of mid-ranged shoot and loose ball as well as dead-ball situation is probably the key to make decent goals, not 1-1 chances nor unlikely headers. I've scored with R.Carlos running in at a lose-ball just out side of penalty area (a bit off the center), shot with R2 control - and BOOM. The goalie couldn't even move. The ones with higher shooting power and decent accuracy with mid-range shoot special ability (such as Adriano, Nedved, Ballack, Gerrard, Lampard, and R. Carlos) are to watch out for, I believe. It's the war in the mid-field, and you will see alot more goals from oncoming mid-fielders or even full-backs, just as much as you would see a striker making a goal - and I do welcome the change and challenge.
In conclusion, it's a worthy update in the ongoing series, and it did not fail my expectation of being "fresh". New motions do add a lot more smooth action into the game. I don't think it's anything revolutionary - but I'm holding my breath for eventual PS3 version of WE10 or what not in a couple of years. Until then, this old WE7 engine will have to do, as most of the basic structure of moder WE, does seem to be all derive from WE7, and I guess this is pretty much maxed out as for now. Best soccer game? Yes, definitely... and it's a damn good one and even manages to feel rather "fresh", but leaves the bitter taste in my mouth, as there isn't anything revolutionary. I hope WE10 would be available sooner on the X360... as to wait for PS3 version of WE10 would mean probably a good 2 year wait...
lachesis
First thing to notice is how heavy the players reacted - and how the ball physics is now more realistic. Ball trapping is harder than ever, but it does feel different from LE quite a bit. It's hard to say, but what Konami did to tweak the existing engine really did a wonder of capturing "unexpected" quality of a soccer ball. This time, you never know where the ball is going to go.
For one thing - short passing is hard. Even though most of my players do have pretty good short-passing ability, but the direction to send it really does matter and there are often mistakes depending on how far the receiver might be. All in all, it result frequent pass-cut from the opposite side players, creating some intense and sometimes frustrating moments in mid-field.
Initial few games, we had difficulty sending the ball to the strikers, and our strikers didn't do much of good job of finding a good position - thanks to the improved defender AI - now it's almost impossible to send a through-pass in the middle. Well, not intirely impossible as I had done a couple of times - but there's much less chance of being 1 on 1 against the goalie when compared to "through-pass-happy" 8LE. When succeded, I didn't have much luck scoring as I had a couple of defenders right by my striker. Perhaps I need a bit more practice - as I only playd 5 games total - 4 against my friend, and 1 against computer.
Dribble also feels quite different, and it's easy to lose the possetion of the ball by improved defenders. Side stepping is now possible w/o R2 button - unlike some people who complained about it - I didn't find much bother some. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to.
Long balls, crosses and all - it's more competitive and not as unfair as LE - however you have to be at the right position (you will have to move your player) to make a good header, and for some reason, I found this better than LE. It's still "tricky" to make a good contact with your head - but it's not as frustrating as LE, and for some reason - I felt like I know what I'm doing when trying to move my player for the header.
While I haven't done it myself, but I hear a lot of people saying that free-kick in this game is quite easy - that it gives a decent chance of making a goal whoever have a decent enough (say 85+) freekick ability. Anyhow, best free-kick ability now belongs to Juninho from Brazil. (FK 99, Curve 98 I think) - now better than Mihailovic and Beckham. Talking of dead-ball situation, Corners are much more deadly now - that I could make a better contact with the ball with my player's head, although goalie does seem to be more ready for headers.
Defending wise, it's easier to defend and easier to take the possetion away from attackers. Importance of speed/accelation/body balance has been toned down quite a bit. While they are still important, and not ruling out I've only played few games - but the right positioning is quite important. (a good thing for players like Inzaghi or Raul, who would excel at being at the right place at the right moment)
And lastly - importance of mid-ranged shoot and loose ball as well as dead-ball situation is probably the key to make decent goals, not 1-1 chances nor unlikely headers. I've scored with R.Carlos running in at a lose-ball just out side of penalty area (a bit off the center), shot with R2 control - and BOOM. The goalie couldn't even move. The ones with higher shooting power and decent accuracy with mid-range shoot special ability (such as Adriano, Nedved, Ballack, Gerrard, Lampard, and R. Carlos) are to watch out for, I believe. It's the war in the mid-field, and you will see alot more goals from oncoming mid-fielders or even full-backs, just as much as you would see a striker making a goal - and I do welcome the change and challenge.
In conclusion, it's a worthy update in the ongoing series, and it did not fail my expectation of being "fresh". New motions do add a lot more smooth action into the game. I don't think it's anything revolutionary - but I'm holding my breath for eventual PS3 version of WE10 or what not in a couple of years. Until then, this old WE7 engine will have to do, as most of the basic structure of moder WE, does seem to be all derive from WE7, and I guess this is pretty much maxed out as for now. Best soccer game? Yes, definitely... and it's a damn good one and even manages to feel rather "fresh", but leaves the bitter taste in my mouth, as there isn't anything revolutionary. I hope WE10 would be available sooner on the X360... as to wait for PS3 version of WE10 would mean probably a good 2 year wait...
lachesis
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