Official Winning Eleven 8 Impressions - No Chatting!

[jag87]

I booted it up this morning and I was immediatly impressed with the interface. It did however bring connotations of ISS and Arcade counterparts.

My first match was Barcelona V Lecce. The tunnel movements are much more lively than PES3/WE7i. We can see the players talking to each other before a game. The referee also checks his watch prior to kick off. A nice touch there.

The Gameplay is a step up. The game requires alot more intelect when playing hard opposition. My first game I played I drew but won on penalties. It was a hard game. Shots were blocked, hit the cross bar etc. It was a real blood rush. First time shots were effective depending up on the kicker. The ability to press "select" switches the type of free kick to a lay off on the left and then on the right. You can toggle through the options via select. There is also a quick substitute mode which brings me to the next point. When you ring in the changes, there is a cut scene where you see the exchange. However, if you exchange the captain for another player, the player the captain comes on for has the arm band. It would be better to see the player hand the band over. - If a foul is commited, it rossles and jossles the players. It almost saw Silvestre and Bellamy come to blows in a Man Utd V Newcastle encounter. - I also witnessed how hard it was to score from a corner or a header. The AI has been notched up and you are marked alot more.
Free Kicks are very hard to score. Where you may have required 75% power bar, you only need 45-55%. Otherwise it will baloon over the bar.
The licenses are good but the rosters are out of date as stated. Hopefully option files should sort this out soon.

One major drawback is that when there is a corner, the game really slows down. This is the only thing that stops the game being a success. I might try it on another TV which is 60hz to see if it helps.

I'll play more later on and more to this premature review - Jag87

 

[diggi]

Got mine this morning bud.. read my impressions:

" Well guys, I got my copy this morning, and played 3 matches so far.. so here are my impressions:

For me it was very hard finding things out, getting navigated through the game, it`s hard coz` it`s in damn Japanese.

So my first match was Real Mad vs Milan and here we go..

From what I`ve realised so far, there is alot of new animations.. I really liked this animation that I haven`t seen in any previous WE versions. When the player runs with the ball at his highest speed the ball will bounce back in the air, and then he will hit the ball back to the ground (to his feet) by his forehead, very cool. The ball is indeed heavier (which is good thing IMO) BUT it feels like it`s over-pumped it`s so stiff, maybe why it`s more bouncy (it makes sence in real world lol)..

Gameplay is slower to me than WE7IJ but it can get faster slower depending on how you play..

We all have to admit that there is some ideas in WE8 from FIFA 2004, like goal keeper animations and for some "ODD" reason it feels like FIFA with WE gameplay lol..

There is slowdown which needs to be removed in WE8IJ it messes up the game completely. It`s worse than stutter bug found in PES3/WE7. You get slowdown during corner kicks, and when you execute the corner kick you will still sufer from slowdown for a couple of seconds. I think I even get slowdowns during free kicks. KONAMI FIX THIS NOW !

Now, the shots are much weaker now, I don`t know if that`s good or bad thing tho. They were perfect in WE7IJ, now it feels like the player doesn`t have enough strenght to reach the goal or maybe it depends on what kind of player you`re using.

Back to freekicks.. I usually don`t get alot of freekicks when I was playing WE7IJ, but my second WE8 game I scored a nice curving (YES THERE IS A CURVED SHOT) with Pirlo, and T.Howard`s expression was nice, it was like " How in the hell did he score that goal" it was awesome and then when I socred the goal the oponents were looking at me (PIRLO) weirdly..

Freekicks again, why is when you execute a freekick, the ball is not fast ?? even if the power bar gets filled up entirely, the ball won`t be fast it will just go high in the air..? is there something that the ball can be really fast at times like in WE7IJ. ?

Also sometimes when you get deep in the game, it honestly feels like playing FIFA 2004 (with WE gameplay) I don`t know why I`m getting these visions..or imaginations..lol

My conclusion:

I still have to play alot of games to see where WE8 really is. WE8 is updated with lots of animations with some tricks but overall improvement it doesn`t murder WE7IJ. Or it could be that I`m used on playing my WE7IJ patched vers. "

 

[larsson]

Erm, is it just me or doesn´t the sentence "It´s like FIFA with WE gameplay" make any sense ? If it has WE gameplay it has obviously nothing to do with FIFA
Shots are definately weaker than in WE7:I, but I scored a nice one from 25 m with Gerrard, and I score long-range goals really rarely.

 

[matty_uk]

Erm, is it just me or doesn´t the sentence "It´s like FIFA with WE gameplay" make any sense ? If it has WE gameplay it has obviously nothing to do with FIFA
Shots are definately weaker than in WE7:I, but I scored a nice one from 25 m with Gerrard, and I score long-range goals really rarely.

think he means all the glitz of fifa presentation etc. with WE gameplay

 

[larsson]

yeah, but wouldn´t that be positive ? Whereas his statement sounds a bit disappointing. Nevermind

 

[diggi]

What I meant to say was playing WE8 for the first time, you get that feeling that you`re playing FIFA with WE gameplay.. some animations in WE8 are seen in FIFA 2004.

 

[Itachi-san]

heres a little review from me.

graphics - the overall graphics are outstanding, a big improvement from WE7i. the stadium atmosphere is really real. the players all look like their counterpart, except some players but its ok, it could be edited. the animation is truer than ever. see players fight is really rewarding. when a ref pats a player on his butt is also humurous and realistic.

audio - the games music is really exciting and entertaining. the menus' music is quite charming, the commentary is class. and the chants of crowds are amazing in every way. the audience literally boost your mentality up for goals and teamwork.

control - the new system is just class, the control of each player is unique and different. you now can roam around more than older version of the game. the ball is quite heavier and slower but its more realistic than ever.

overall presentation - the game is just a big improvement over years of game. people said that it was just another tweak of WE7i, but its not. the whole game is tweaked. every aspect is changed to fit the gamer in every way. the new animations and cut scenes are a big step into a revolution. the game itself is breath taking. all football lovers should buy this game if they really want football action in their living room.

this is just a short review from me. i'll write a more indepth review after i play a few more matches.

 

[flipfinger]

First first impressions: "Oh God, what have they done, it's been ruined!"
Third match: "Oh my God, this is great"

I think the shot strength is actually improved - it is governed by how hard you hit :square: (power) as well as how long you keep it pressed (height) - I think, anyway! This is like in ISS series. Please don't be offended if I'm stating the obvious!

Anyway, overall I think this is a great improvement but only after a good few games. The games are more free flowing, I can't describe it but games don't get so linear as PES3...

 

[pdseuro]

Received a copy of WE8 last night. Played for 3 hours before call off the day. But I want to share from my personal point of view on the game:
- I don't feel much improvement in the quality of the game (but I believe it is still the best soccer computer game in the world)
- It is slightly better than WE7
- The interface is better.
- Penalty is so predictable
- FK with dummy is stupid.
- Still cannot score that often from free kick
- Beat the computer on the 1st try using 3 star difficulty i.e it is so much easier under 3 star category to beat the AI.
- Passing is somehow quite funny.

Overall I give 8/10. I rated Fifa 2004 5/10.

Great news, a member from our German board pes3.de, who is half-Japanese, is now in Tokyo and played a 5 min match of WE8 today

I´ll try to translate his impressions, it´s not much, but he can tell us something about the gameplay and other stuff he noticed. Keep in mind that this guy hasn´t played WE7:I. I´ll keep his point of view in this translation, so it´s not me who has played it


The crowds look a bit better than in WE7, also the player models are slightly improved graphically. Graphics in general also sharper, however no big improvements there. I can say nothing about the atmosphere in the stadium because the sound was turned off.
I played very defensively, so nothing happened in the first 30 mins, except a few "discussions" between players after harder fouls, that´s what we´ve seen quite often on the screenshots, then I tried to play like in PES3, used the wingers, crossed and had some headers, but it wasn´t as effective as in PES3. Despite of different informations the dashing is very similar to PES3.
In the second half I noticed 2 wrong decisions by the ref, first the advantage rule spoiled a big chance for me, then I got a red card after a tackling from the side.
I scored the only goal in the 88th minute after a corner, the keeper missed to catch the cross, however it was a mistake by my opponent, who came out with the keeper manually.
In general I can say, less fouls after tackles than in PES3, it´s harder to dribble around defenders compared to PES3, however, once a fast player runs past a defender it´s always impossible to catch him, unless you foul him, and even that is quite difficult. Animations are better, especially when you run and change the direction it looks more realistic. Passes seemed to be a bit faster than in PES3.


That´s all info guys, I don´t have more, he could play only a 5 min match, so please don´t ask about the ML system, the shop or which teams are in. It´s simply impossible to answer that at the moment. I dunno if he even will get the chance to play a second time before he comes home.
I´m going to close this thread, because this is for impressions only, and since no one from here has this game it´s not necessary to leave it open, but if you played the game too please contact one of the Admins, they will post your Impressions in this thread.
I´ll re-open it a few days before the official release. If you want to discuss about this do it in the other thread.

 

[diggi]

Do you guys think short passes are way TOO FAST ?? I mean I slightly touch X and the ball flies 100kilometers ph. I tried using different cameras, but it`s still the same. Crosses and long passes are fine, but short ones are DAMN too freakin fast, maybe I still need more time figuring out this game.

I played on star 5 and for some reason it`s realy easy getting the ball from CPU, sometimes CPU makes very stupid decisions. For example, I was playing againts ITALY, and Nesta passed the ball back to Buffon, and he wasn`t even paying attention to the ball, and the ball just rolled in the net.. lol..

It`s not easy scoring goals, but it`s very easy getting the ball back once it`s taken from you also, it`s VERY easy to go through some defenders, since there`s that new speed thing, the player just flies, especialy if you play with Shevchenko or Henry, but overall all players can run really fast... My 2nd game I scored a FK with Pirlo, a nice one..

 

[kaiserf]

Just got my copy of WE8 today. I've been playing WE7 series since PES2, but most recently I've been playing WE7:I (USA version), which is just PES3 I suppose. So obviously this is a huge leap for me. I don't know what WE7I:J looks like so please forgive me if a make some obvious comments.


I also think the short passing seems a bit juiced. the players really seem to be able to knock it around in the middle of the park, often resulting in dubious 'short' passes from your central defenders to your forwards. Through balls (aerial & regular) are fantastic compared to WE7I USA, it seems a lot easier to string a series of runs together because of this. In general my players have showed extraordinary technique - and I've been Cameroon so take it for what you think its worth.

 

[diggi]

Is it me or people aren`t happy with WE8 ?? read stuff on another boards aswell, and it isn`t getting alot of attention..

 

[Cyrax]

Is it me or people aren`t happy with WE8 ?? read stuff on another boards aswell, and it isn`t getting alot of attention..

Don't you see it. Everybody is playing it right now, almost nobody is online....

 

[dannyboy20]

The problem is, many people are trying to play it like previous version. Don't! This game is different, the passing, long balls, shooting, crossing, heading are all different.

At first I loved the game because it felt very different. But then I started to get irritated (like people are saying they are) because I couldnt play how I wanted to, it was all a bit chaotic. But after loads of practice I'm loving the game, you have sooo much more freedom now and you can do what you want.

Headers - They have to be times properly. Use R2 to get in front of your man (you need to use R2 more than ever).

Crossing - You can put the ball where you want, in 9 different area's of the box.

Passing - Improved loads. Not just the normal pass but the Chipped Pass also has the new feature where you hold it for longer the further it will go.

Shooting - Still haven't mastered it properly, except for this goal http://www.danny18.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/we8goal2.mpg

 

[wixon]

After playing WE8 I have come to the conclusion that there isn't much wrong with this game at all. It is amazing. Much improved over WE7:IJ and PES3. Almost everything that was wrong with those previous titles has been corrected in WE8. The passing, crossing, headers, advantage rule, shooting, penalties, free kicks, graphics and animations have all beeen improved. Add to this three licenced leagues,a shed load of club teams and overall better presentation and you end up with the best football game ever. There is a little bit of slow down on some corner kicks and there does seem to be alot of passes with the outside of the foot but these are all very minor problems which won't affect your enjoyment of the game. I was going to write a mammoth review but I thought I'd just be echoing everyone else's views in this thread. If you are able to play imported/copied games then you must buy this game. Everyone else should look forward to playing the best footy game ever in October.

 

[gam3r]

ok i have about 3 mins to make a few notes on the game. ill put these into bullet points since i dont have alot of time on my hands.



-pleasantly suprised by the new interface and layout of the menu's
-AI seems much better now, the cpu actually attacks you on 5 star
-Feels like a real football match
-Much slower and precise gameplay then we7i
-passing is something that you have to learn...picking out great passes is difficult at first but you get used to it.
-you now have to time the through ball perfectly otherwise the cpu will gain possesion easily and its not easy to score with the through ball
-crossing improved
-great new animations and graphics apart from times when the players look like plastic dolls
-hard to get the hang of but this is in all we/pes games
-the most disapointing point of the game is the fps slowdown especially for wide angle 9 players like me.
-free kicks easier to score on

Overall impression

Generally konami have done well this time apart from the fps of the game near the pen area, but the gameplay has generally improved with a vast amount of skills availible. I also find shooting way easier from far out, which is good because the ball doesnt feel like a ballon anymore
all i can say is in a few weeks people will love this game and will be hooked. cya

 

[GFK]

Just got my copy, played 2 games. First one was Real Madrid - Feyenoord on 5 * and i wont do it again it was fucking difficult!! Could create one chance so it ended in 1-1. Second match was Arsenal - AZ ALKMAAR....mmm I guess my hometeam has been underestimated cause I won with Arsenal 4-1. But that was on 3*

Well I cant say very much yet, but the graphics have definaltely been improved. It all looks wayyy to good!! Its like watching a real football game.

The gameplay... very difficult to say after only 2 matches and some trainings. But its for sure dribbiling has been improved a lot too, you have much more freedom. And its more difficult too cause you can lose the ball quickly. Like the well famous R1 + R2 move it was very effective in WE7I but if you want to do it in WE8 you have to be sure that you got enough space to that thingie. Cause otherwise you will lose it very quickly. Lot more animations for dribbling added too, like i was running with Lungjberg on the wings, suddenly I stopped with R2 and directly after that i continued running and i couldnt believed the animation it was not like in WE7 or WE7I the player stopped the ball completly and then had to come back on speed all again. It was one good animation without losing speed! Very very cool, I enjoyed dribbling on the wing.

The passing and shooting also changed drastically. X passes are way effectiver just like the /\ passes the both got an invicible powerbalk. If you press X for a second the ball will go to the player who is nearest if yuo held it longer the ball will go to a player who is further away. Same with /\ if you hold it longer the ball will go deeper. And if you press L1 + /\ the ball will go higher if you held it longer. So passes are also good.

Shooting is difficult for me to master, it seems like the ball is heavier which is good. So shooting also need practice. But the shooting looks way slicker, cause it goes faster shotsw well not exactly but it looks more like the shooting you see in reallife. You gotta play it to understand what i mean.

Keepers seems to response way quicker and also have some new animations. Although i still saw some goals the keeper acts like Barthez. But also saw some better saves by the keeper.

Thats it for so far. O yes the Edit mode is bigger then ever before. You can change everything by a player. Like shoulders, chest, legs, goal celebrations etc etc. So thats a good improvement too.

Now i am gonna play again, review will follow.

Ciao!!

 

[diggi]

I just don`t understand when people say passing is good. Well it is good and accurate but again: short passes are way TOO FAST and unrealistic. Long ones are fine, but short ones, really out of control. Yes, you have alot of freedom, and I don`t know If I`m very good at this game or, but I have no problem getting the ball from the CPU when I lose it and this is on star 5. So once I lose the ball, I can get it back right away. Also, I`ve noticed something. I don`t remember which stadium it was, but almost the entire game had slowdowns and even slight stuttering. I had to end the game and select another stadium. I really don`t see how gameplay has become slow, to me it`s really fast and why, it`s because of the short passes. In 5 seconds you can reach your oponents goal just by short passing.

However, dannyboy could be right. Alot of people are used on playing previous versions with familiar techniques, WE8 feels like a new game. I only don`t know how many more matches I will have to play to convince myself that WE8 is indeed better than WE7IJ not to mention with WEFantasy X-Patch.

 

[BazHilder]

Finally got it working, so far I've just played 2 games - both ended 0-0 and I won bith on pens. Playing on 3* and very few goal chances so far.

I'm loving all the little things that have changed e.g. Tells you time added on, tells you refs info before game, new player animations, captain's armband editor, SPONSOR EDITOR!!! - although I can't make the O2 big enough on the arsenal shirt.

So far so good anyway, this is looking like an amazing game.

p.s. I find the 'slowdown' at corners to be really minimal and not really much to worry about at all.

 

[GFK]

Fuck this game is great, just made a brilliant hard shot with Ronaldinho after a wonderfull pass by Xavi from the back of the field, the shot goes very hard next to the goal. And the keeper goes on his knees and made a slide, as happy as he was that the ball was off the target!!

In this piece of football were all new animations, ah after playing more and more games I am gonna like this game more and more. The passing is superb you can finally give a perfect long through ball with O.
Best Winning Eleven game EVER!! Expect high score for WE in my review.

Now just wanna let you know if you dont have We8, get it!! Or die waiting, wait...... ''Get rich or die tryin!''

Fuck gotta play WE8 again, CYA!