Only for those deeply into the beautiful game

WE7 (Winning Eleven 7) is not a game designed for those who don't follow or play football enthusiastically. If that sounds harsh, well it is no more harsh than WE7's highest difficulty setting (which may well see some giving up before they’ve gotten anywhere near mastering the game). Those who do not view football in any kind of depth above 22 men kicking a ball around a field will not get nearly as much from this game as the developers intended. Conversely, those who love football and are newcomers to the game should rest assured that it shouldn't take too long to get to grips with the basics of it, as the lower difficulty settings allow a fairly gentle introduction to the game.

The Winning Eleven series has built a strong reputation for encapsulating the very essence of football into a playable gaming form. Not only have Konami been widely credited for recreating the subtleties of football - its attacking, passing and defensive subtleties - but also for recreating the feel of the different teams, be its Real Madrid’s fast paced passing flair or Italy’s stout defensive organisation.

WE7 has significantly progressed the series further towards 'playing' as a real game of football plays. As in previous games, matches on the highest difficulty setting (as in real-life football) are seldom massively high-scoring events. Players should expect the odd bore-draw here and there and numerous tight games that are decided by a sublime piece of skill or a lucky deflection. Needless to say, there are few games on the market on any format that have moments that can truly compare with the sheer ecstasy of scoring a stunning goal at the end of a beautifully conceived move in WE7.

The game offers something significantly different from the previous iterations in the series. The ‘jump’ between this game and the previous game in the series, Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution (WE6 FE) is bigger than any of the jumps before that. The AI of the players has been significantly improved over WE6 FE. Players will now close you down and hustle your team more, are better at making runs (though still far from perfect), making themselves available for the pass, and are more defensively aware. The computer is tougher and therefore much more fun to play against for those who felt they had mastered playing against the AI in WE6: FE, but as ever, the game is truly at its marvellous best when played with others, be it in a cooperative way, or playing against someone.

There are more tricks and flicks at the disposal of the player, including the ‘double drag-back' (or the 'Zidane' as some have termed it). This is performed by doing a 360 degree turn of the right dual-shock stick. How well it is executed depends on both the player's timing, and also the stats of the particular footballer performing the trick. One of the best and most useful new tricks, is the players being able to control the ball (when it is in the air) by flicking it over their shoulders, ready to control it again. This is simply performed by pressing the d-pad in the opposite direction the player is facing at the appropriate moment.

The beauty of the variety of tricks in the game, is that they are mainly for higher level players (though it must be said not all great players choose to use them often), who have built a solid playing foundation of more conventional play. Just as in real-life football, there is little point playing fancy flicks and drag-backs without building up a good playing style first. Even some of the better players will struggle for a while to integrate the variety of tricks at the players disposal properly and effectively.

Some of the other changes are not easy to describe. The game simply ‘plays better’ and requires the player to use more intelligence, foresight and vision to make beautiful moves. One-touch football and tight passing triangles are not just needed to look good, but become a necessity in order to unlock the defences of opposing teams. Short passing feels faster, slicker and more accurate as well.

One big change of significance is the advantage rule, which is one of the most welcome additions to the game. Referees will now play an 'advantage' (which is indicated by a yellow advantage symbol in the top right-hand of the screen) if a player is fouled, but the ball still goes to another player from the same team. This rule adds so much because it is now tougher to cynically foul attacking players to ones advantage (one of the previous game's major flaws). It however must be said that this rule has yet to be implemented perfectly, as the referee sometimes plays advantages, that don’t turn out to be advantages (for example the ball goes to a team-mate that can be easily tackled or is defensively exposed). Also the referee won’t pull the ball back for a foul should the situation not turn out to give the team of the fouled player an advantage.

Not all the additions are welcome either. The new ‘handball’ rule may add an element of real-life football to WE7, but the awarding of handball is a completely arbitrary and random decision, and can be annoying at times. Here is solid proof, that Konami should be careful not to add every element of real-life football for the sake of realism and at the expense of gameplay.

WE7 has been well-expanded upon in not only gameplay, but also in structure as well. For example, the new Shop mode allows players to spend points (earned by winning matches) on extra players, teams, high speed modes, custom challenge options, or different stadiums. Master League has also been expanded and improved with a Champions League-style competition, 4 divisions, a greatly improved training system (with an emphasis on training up younger players) and an expanded transfer system. The transfer system now has a new search engine feature, which is useful for trying to locate players to fill a specific need for your team, as you'll be able to search by position, specific skills and desired salary.

The game also features a far more in-depth master league mode, with the added bonus of a search engine feature. This feature will come in handy when trying to locate players to fill a specific need for your team, as you'll be able to search by position, specific skills, and desired salary.

Aesthetically, the players faces have been improved upon, with some players looking scarily close to their real-life counterparts and others looking nothing like their's (step forward Steve McManaman). Animation has also been vastly improved upon, with lots of new in-game animations as well as the most of the old animations having been tweaked. It should be noted though, that players running with the ball at an angle continue to look very strange (unless they are running with an opposition player fighting for the ball at the same time).

What makes WE7 truly stand out above all other football games is that players can play with varying styles, as teams in real-life football do. Those who wish to play like Real Madrid can do so, but only once they have the basics of the game down and, crucially, the footballing vision and imagination. Other players, who preach the virtues of defensive solidity, can apply their knowledge to their playing style. WE7 really is the game for football fans simply because, it will reward those players with a good footballing brain rather than just good dexterity. No higher praise than this can be given to the game.