Here's a mini-review by ClassicD over at evo-web, i'll post my impressions in about an hour:
GAMEPLAY:
The game is more in favour of passing now than dribbling, it is slightly more like PES/WE5FE in it's dribbling turning circle, but you can still dribble nicely. Passes are far crisper, through passing is also improved a lot.
Player response time is much improved, no longer do you have to wait on passes, or be dragged by the CPU to a pre-determined pathway, you have much more control.
Crossing is better.
Headers are much improved, you can now finally perform a clearing header instead of the head-tennis in WE7, and attacking headers can have much more venom in them as well.
Saw a wonderful animation for a volley shot, hit it as it dropped nearly vertical from a side-on position, reminded me of Zidane's goal in CL final Hampden.
Non-Gameplay:
Seems to load faster between screens.
One new stadium, Ennio Tardini (Parma).
New faces and hairstyles, seen Cristiano Ronaldo and new Beckham hair.
7 boots:
3 generic boots
Adidas World Cup
Adidas Supernova Gold
Adidas F50
Adidas Predator Lunar
Overall opinion is that there are a lot of little tweaks, but the gameplay remains very close to WE7. The shift from dribbling to passing is much welcomed, as is the more manual player control when your selected player does not have the ball.
A nice game.