Previews// World Soccer Winning Eleven (DS)
No Master League - just Fidel Castro up front?
We’ll stop there. There are a few other minor niggles we could mention (lack of options, no four-player facility) but it’s about time we gave you some words of consolation. Seriously, all is not lost.
Firstly, at its core Winning Eleven DS is based on some sound gameplay design. It’s the same stuff which has made ISS and Pro Evo so popular for the past fifteen years. It’s still a joy to play. And thanks to the DS hardware, there are a couple of features that really enhance the experience.
While the action is all displayed up top on the main screen, the touchscreen doubles as an always-on guide to your players’ condition and, nicely, as an easy way to dictate how your team approaches the game: there are five degrees of attacking/defending that you can flick through at any time in order to encourage/discourage your team. It’s certainly more effective than shouting “Get back!” or “C’mon, lads!” at the screen.
Secondly, there’s online multiplayer to get excited about. The Japanese version lets us search for other players here in Japan or, in the name of international relations, for players anywhere else in the world. This suggests that all versions of Winning Eleven DS will be compatible and identical, irrespective of territory.
It’s possible to search for players of a similar skill level – which presumably is based on past online performances – and there are also facilities for using friend codes to play against your chums. In testing, we didn’t experience any significant lag (well, nothing that doesn’t happen offline anyway) but then, connections are quick in Japan. Even so, the tech behind Winning Eleven DS is pretty simple so there shouldn’t be too much cause for lag in Blighty.
A few other reasons for cheer: there are only three difficulty levels, but the toughest of these is a good challenge even for veterans; there don’t seem to be any hotspots (places where, if you shoot, goals are guaranteed) at least not on the highest difficulty setting; and there’s a comprehensive editor included, so the statistically-minded will be kept busy. And that’s about your lot.
From what we’ve played of it, Winning Eleven DS is a bit of a mixed bag. It needs more time yet for us to decide whether to stick with it or return to Pro Evo on the PSP, but it certainly has something to offer. There may be some improvements made in time for WE DS’ UK release, of course, so we’ll let you know how it turns out.
Firstly, at its core Winning Eleven DS is based on some sound gameplay design. It’s the same stuff which has made ISS and Pro Evo so popular for the past fifteen years. It’s still a joy to play. And thanks to the DS hardware, there are a couple of features that really enhance the experience.
Secondly, there’s online multiplayer to get excited about. The Japanese version lets us search for other players here in Japan or, in the name of international relations, for players anywhere else in the world. This suggests that all versions of Winning Eleven DS will be compatible and identical, irrespective of territory.
It’s possible to search for players of a similar skill level – which presumably is based on past online performances – and there are also facilities for using friend codes to play against your chums. In testing, we didn’t experience any significant lag (well, nothing that doesn’t happen offline anyway) but then, connections are quick in Japan. Even so, the tech behind Winning Eleven DS is pretty simple so there shouldn’t be too much cause for lag in Blighty.
A few other reasons for cheer: there are only three difficulty levels, but the toughest of these is a good challenge even for veterans; there don’t seem to be any hotspots (places where, if you shoot, goals are guaranteed) at least not on the highest difficulty setting; and there’s a comprehensive editor included, so the statistically-minded will be kept busy. And that’s about your lot.
From what we’ve played of it, Winning Eleven DS is a bit of a mixed bag. It needs more time yet for us to decide whether to stick with it or return to Pro Evo on the PSP, but it certainly has something to offer. There may be some improvements made in time for WE DS’ UK release, of course, so we’ll let you know how it turns out.