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The look and feel of the game are extremely well developed with virtually no known “bugs” to slow down the game. The graphics are as intense as any sports game can give a gamer. Though the players are small, each player reacts and moves as a real person would on a soccer field. The cut away scenes are also impressive in how real the celebrations and big saves can be. The intelligence of the game is unprecedented as players line up where they should be and passes always seem to flow as in a real soccer game. I was extremely impressed with the visual aspect of this soccer game. It helped the gamer become immersed with the match they were playing and had a feel you were actually watching a real game.

Winning Eleven 8 was a technical game that took full advantage of the many buttons and controls of an Xbox controller. All buttons were used to make the action of the soccer players as real as possible. The A, B, X, and Y buttons are used on both offense and defense to shoot, make short and long passes and to help pressure the offense with slide tackles (that is a soccer term for stealing the ball), goalie charges and up-close and personal pressure where you might even be able to smell the type of gum the video soccer player is chewing. Using the thumbpad to control the player’s movement and triggers to change players or increase a player’s speed made the game easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. Any skill level of player can learn to play this type of game.

The game is set-up like many other sports games on the market right now. Gamers can choose the many different types of modes they want to play in. Whether it is an exhibition, league game, head-to-head match up to the World Cup, a game is out there ready to play. The possibilities are endless, especially the fact that the gamer can take a club (each team is a club) through many different levels to reach the ultimate championship goal. The game can grow as the gamer grows, giving it an endless possibility of game time. With the signing of new players and money to be spent or not earned, the gamer has control over owning a real club. Another nice aspect of the game is the five different skill levels a gamer can choose from. This will continue to make the game replayability endless. This game keeps up with the many sport games on the market that give the armchair owner a piece of the action.

Though I have played and thoroughly enjoyed soccer games in the past, this is the first soccer video game I have played on the Xbox system. And since the game had a huge European influence in it, I believed I needed to go to someone who understood soccer on the other side of the Atlantic better than I did. I asked fellow video game playing partner and soccer coach who has past soccer playing experience at the college and pro level in the United States. He has also had the fortune of coaching players who play at the national level as well as international level to give me a hand in evaluating this game. I felt I needed more of an opinion and explanation on the set-up of the game since club soccer does not run like our minor league baseball system. (I am just trying to give you as the reader the most complex coverage I can get)

He believed the A.I of the game was some of the best he has ever played with. He enjoyed the fact that the computer controlled players played the positions they were assigned and moved in the fashion a real soccer team would in a game. They held their lines extremely well and moved into position as real-life players would. Jim (the soccer guru) also was impressed with the graphics of the game. Players and the ball moved between each other very consistently and had a real-life timing about it. He was also able to explain to me the set-up of the league play. Jim was awed by the fact that the club team you manage can be relegated just as in European play. Oh, don’t know what relegated is? Yeah, either did I, but it basically means you have a club team and you start out in a league that is appropriate to your team’s skill level. If a team does not produce (loses too many games) it can be moved down to a lower skill level league. The plus side of this is if your team does extremely well, (wins a league championship) it can move to a more premiere league and make more money.

Of course Jim did see some disadvantages in the game as well. Besides growing up and playing more popular soccer games available in the U.S, he did have trouble adapting to the controls of this game. As many of you know, this is not uncommon and something not to keep you away from a good game. He also did not like the fact that the play screen was smaller than what he was used to and found himself playing to the player map at the bottom of the screen more than the actually screen. This takes a little away from game, since the graphics are so incredible, you would want to pay attention to them a little more. Though the skills sections were nice tutorials, they did not have enough punch to them to warrant filing through each skill level. As a fan of soccer (as well as many other sports) he did like the challenge of the game, the graphics of the game as well as the overall game play. Jim also explained that he could really get into building a club team and try to take it to its highest level possible.

As an average gamer I did enjoy Winning Eleven 8. My only frustration is my own ignorance to how the European soccer system works and this game is set up for that. Don’t expect to find an MSL team in here, these are all club teams from Europe, so it might take an average player a little longer to get used to the season mode. If you are a huge fan of soccer and understand the management side of soccer, buy the game. If you don’t, rent it first to get a feel of how the season modes work. I had fun playing the game and learning the different parts of the game and some of its intricacies. The graphics are outstanding and the feel of the game extremely real. I will admit, I have always enjoyed video soccer games because as in the real game, when you do score it’s an exciting surprise that will make you jump out of your seat. But if you are a fan of high scoring affairs, you might want to pass and find some sort of arcade soccer version to play.