Winning Eleven 9 - Xbox

"Havin' a dig!"

With World Cup 2006 behind us and soccer fans settling in for another season of English Premier or Serie A or German Liga. Whatever your pleasure, soccer gamers have not much farther to look than Konamis offering of Winning Eleven 9.

I was hard pressed to find a football (soccer) game that I could just pick up and play while getting used to the feel and learning the official rules of football. I was a big big fan of FIFA 94, but todays FIFA games are for the hardcore, who know all about the ins and outs of football and may appreciate the overall value of the games.

I just want to kick the ball into the goal.

Winning Eleven 9 delivers. The control of the players is great, the graphics are smooth and the sound is impressive. The commentators offer their tid-bits of commentary and players can adjust the amount in which they deliver dialogue. For something fresh, I switched to Italian audio and it reminded me of sitting down for lunch at my nonnas!

Things I like; Authentic players, player edit, uniform edit, create-a-player, authentic leagues, stadiums, options galore, great commentating, training modes, smooth graphics, savable replays, its online, great to pick up and play with a friend.

Things I didn't like; Only so many editing options, crowd excitement not as enthusiastic (a dull roar at best for an O.T. winning tournament goal.), can't replay W.E.8 replays, can't adjust foul sensitivity (expect alot of foul calling), I don't have XBox live.