Post WE7-I Impressions Here

jujuhound76 · Post by **jujuhound76** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:30 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2004-02-19 11:41, Slumberland wrote:
 I find my penetration up the middle is better using the long camera, but ... My God this game is hard.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 Is this your impressions or bad porn dialogue? <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">
 
 I´ve been trying to decide whether to upgrade from WE:6 and you guys have made it difficult to resist. I´m almost ready to buy it just for the search function in the transfers. It´s very hard to find a player for those of us less knowledgable about international soccer, and this is a much needed option. One question, have they upgraded the presentation for WE:7 at all? Are the menus and stat tracking a little easier to use?

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:32 pm

OH crap bphilip! I let you down.
 
 The gameshark2 is what allows you to play imports (using mod chip or knife trick) or any region DVDs, or enter codes for games to unlock things, get infinite ammo! It doesn´t allow you to move saves from PC to PS2 memory card. I´m so sorry I got the names mixed up!
 
 The "SHARKPORT" is what you need to transfer saves between PC and PS2 memory cards.
 
 SORRY! The store should probably take the gameshark back...
 
 Here is teh sharkport:
 
 http://www.newandusedvideogames.com/sharkport.html
 
 It says sharkport is obsolete, and it refers you to:
 
 http://store.yahoo.com/bre/play2xporfor.html

bphilipb · Post by **bphilipb** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:42 pm

Thanks guys (no worries James). I will be taking the gameshark back after work. Something didn´t feel right and I´m glad I checked. I just didn´t want to have to update everything like I did with WE6.

Cincinnati_Kid · Post by **Cincinnati_Kid** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:52 pm

i played half a dozen games on 2 stars last night and after watching sengel and there little goal scoring dance in the first game whip me 3-0
 
 i responded with 5 straight wins by 2 goals or more with equal or less than equal teams
 
 bumped up too 3 star and ouch....its a whole other beast on this level this year
 
 loving the game.........between this and MLB 2005 my ps2 will be getting alot of TLC this spring/summer
 
 now if only WTS can deliver a nice online soccer experience just too round out the gaming until ncaa 2005 hits i will be very happy

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 7:07 pm

I also moved to two stars, grudgingly. Playing as U.S. in an international tournament, I drubbed Chile 6-0, defeated Norway 2-0, and then Iran holds me scoreless to a 0-0 draw! How embarassing. On two stars!

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 7:27 pm

Cinci:
 No Xbox, what happened man.
 
 I have found a first negative for PES3 -
 Dribbling can be a bit easy. Granted you can´t do thw WE6 moves where you could go at 180 degree angles and lose your opposition.
 
 I´m playing on 4 stars and I find the game remarkably hard.
 
 Something that I really loved in my game last night. Eng v Turkey. I dominated the first half with 57-43 possession time. But the CPU got off more shots and my defense was really bad. I started Robinson? instead of James who had the dreaded down arrow. Also the dreaded arrow made me bench Beckham and my left winger.
 
 In the second half Turkey was persistant and then completely change the make-up of the second half. I ended up 47-53 in terms of possession. That has never happened in previous WE games.
 
 Anyway a few things about this game. In the second half I was playing pretty good D positionally. It was remarkable to see the CPU pass between the defenders to try and get it to a MF or F.
 
 Turkey had 4 real oppurtunites. They scored on one. They misses a penalty. They missed a close range shot off the bar and they got lucky when one of my clearences hit a forward in the hand, it went over my goalie for a goal. I have it saved it´s pretty funny.
 
 After the CPU made a bad tackle with one of my guys, Cambell was sent off leaving me with 10 men for the last 15 minutes. I only got off two shots in that time one was a desperate shot easily collected by the goalie and the other was off a cornor kick. Beckam returned late in the game even though he had a down arrow. He made a nice play to Heskey who headed it in for the goal. Heskey is a big guy and it shows in this game. He just muscled his way over two defenders. Oh ya this was with ten men so I got lucky.
 
 Owen´s foot is pretty lethal. This is the case with all good scorers in the game. It´s acutally hurting the way I play the game. I just love it so much to fire them long because it´s a great looking shot. I bombed one from about 5 yards outside the box. It was swerving in only to see the GK make a desperate yet fantastic save.
 
 Player´s stats at the end. If you guys don´t know they added a CM-like feature where you plays are graded in how they play. And it´s different from last year´s. In WE6:FE you would score two goals and have an assist and barely break the 6.5 mark on some games. I have Robert Loren from Newcastle, how had 6 shots on goals with two goals and he got an 8 for the game.
 
 Features like accumulated fatigure for tournaments is a great little feature. It´s too bad they don´t have the Champions league set up where you play home/away for two rounds then go to bracket play. Maybe next year.
 
 Master League - for those of you that know me, you know that I hate the feature. Well I don´t like it anymore. the new version is okay but there´s just not enough teams and you can buy your way to an unstoppable team in a few seasons. I will stick with tournaments and league play. There´s no transfers in league play which sucks donkey´s balls. But you can have club teams. Oh ya and you can have only 16 teams in league play so there´s goes any EPL fantasy league.
 
 WEN points sucks ass as well. But I figure to get all of the good stuff you probably just need to play for a week or two and bingo most of it´s unlocked.
 
 Overall I just don´t have time to play all these good games coming out. I´ve limited myself to two strategy games, two sports games (WE7:I) and MVP and I still have gamefly games coming. WTF am I going to do. On top of that, Jared I really want to contribute more to the site but man it´s tough especially when I throw in some FOF (good game). I´ve really only been gaming late at night and it´s just getting in the way of sleeping.
 
 So that long rant was really just another way of saying. WE7:I is really ***** incredible. I can´t imagine what´s going to happen when I import the asain version, maybe next month.

Cincinnati_Kid · Post by **Cincinnati_Kid** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 7:53 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2004-02-19 15:27, JRod wrote:
 Cinci:
 No Xbox, what happened man.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 it didnt go anywhere jrod
 
 its still right next to the tv i simply only have been playing espn football 2k4 online games with it lately and nothing else really
 
 after rapping up league/tourney games i not so sure i will have any reason too turn it back on for several months at best as the PS2 is stealing back my gaming time with these new releases that i have been waiting for
 
 thats all i meant <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">

TheMightyPuck · Post by **TheMightyPuck** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:17 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 I find my penetration up the middle is better using the long camera</BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 That is to be expected <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">
 
 edit: damn someone beat to to the joke by about 5 days <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_cool.gif"> [ This message was edited by: TheMightyPuck on 19-02-2004 16:19 ]

Post by **Jared** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:25 pm

Just to let everyone know, I just got WE7I, JAPANESE VERSION. Only played one game so far (US 2 - Mexico 1, 3 star, two goals by Donovan and then a beautiful strike by Mexico in the 87th to make it a game). There are DEFINITE AI differences. Though they seem to be subtle. Ball physics seem a bit lighter...dribbling isn´t as effective....you have to pass more to get around players. But I´ve only played one game. Only reason I stopped is because Chinese food just came and I´m starving. Will post more on this in a few hours.
 
 A few others notes:
 
 Cincy - Rumor has it that WTS 2005 will NOT have online play. Forgot where I heard it...so don´t be surprised if that´s true.
 
 BB - I´ll PM you now.

Post by **Jared** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:25 pm

Oh, and if anyone has any questions re: WE7I (JAPAN), let me know and I´ll do my best to answer them.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:42 am

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2004-02-19 18:25, Jared wrote:
 Oh, and if anyone has any questions re: WE7I (JAPAN), let me know and I´ll do my best to answer them.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 Are their significant changes from US to Jap version.

Post by **Jared** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:30 am

JRod,
 
 There are somewhat significant changes. Will lay them out, after about 5 games.
 
 First of all, in WE7I (US) and PES, I tried to build ML teams around speed and good dribblers. Not anymore. While that stuff is important, big powerful players that can head the ball are very very important.
 
 You can beat a player off the dribble, but it´s much more difficult. It seems like the boost you get from the speed dribble isn´t as strong as before, and/or the defender is more effective at tackling. Regardless, it´s tough to beat someone off the dribble unless you´ve got someone with good dribbling and acceleration.
 
 Marking is CRUCIAL on crosses. If you leave someone open for a header within 8-10 yards and they´re decent, it´s likely a goal. Big players have a big advantage. I took Japan against Australia and my speed advantage didn´t matter much. They´re big backs towered over my smaller defenders on set pieces and got quite a few headers. The pendulum has swung more toward bigger players....maybe too far...I have to play more to get a better feel on that.
 
 Through balls are different, in that they tend to be more to feet than before. I really don´t like it much at all....when players are on the wing, I really want to lead the player as much as possible, and it really doesn´t do as much of that as before. But again, I might be missing something since there might be newer controls.
 
 Offensive AI has improved. Your players will make better runs, and the computer offensive AI has gotten a LOT better at finding the open man. They also like to shoot from outside of the 18 a lot if they´ve got the shot, and sometimes they get it on frame (though I haven´t seen a 25+ bomb yet).
 
 Defenders are more aggressive. This makes the defense a little more swiss-cheesy, as defenders are more apt to leave their position and open up holes. Though that could be because I´ve been playing a lot with the US, and they don´t have a great D.
 
 Been playing with the US on 4 star and haven´t won yet. Played Sweden and lost 1-0 on a Lucic header (left him unmarked, he nailed it from about 8 yards out). Tied England 0-0 (they played very well, lots of good passing, lots of shots from outside the 18, and Beckham´s crosses were difficult to stop...I was lucky to come out with a tie). Lost to Nigeria 4-2. That was a pain...Nigeria broke through my D with a great thru ball to go up 1-0, then I came back with an unlikely strike by Mastroeni. Next minute, I score on a PK. Then Kanu scores on a near post shot that SHOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED (I hope they haven´t dumbed down the GKs...but Keller didn´t even move until the ball was halfway to him), another fwd scores on a beautiful shot inside the far post from about 20 yards, and then Kanu just runs over one of my defenders and heads one home. Might try playing with a team with big, powerful players later and see what happens.
 
 Advantage rule has improved, by the way. They wait a few seconds to see if you get advantage, and if not they call the foul.
 
 Lots of new Americans on the national team (Gibbs, Vanney, Lewis, some others) though some familiar faces are missing (no Friedel on the Nats? No Eddie Pope???). And some of the ratings are pretty poor (Convey and Mathis are severely underrated, although his jersey says "CLINT" on the back...nice touch).
 
 Will post more info as I play more.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:30 am

Guys I just wanted to chime in on we7(US). I´ve played a few games, and really like the new things quite a bit.
 
 First, more fouls. I love that. Fouls seem to happen almost accidentally sometimes which is cool, something I don´t remember from the last version, where it was easy to avoid fouling, and you had to try hard to draw one.
 
 The CPU´s one on one D is much improved. They don´t fall for the Preki Special cut-back move every time like they used to, and it´s been frustrating for me because I am so used to that move, but I am getting better. I can´t say I´ve really used the new right stick jiggle moves much, so we shall see if they are useful (I never found the old L1 step-over move to be much use last year; it seemed to set you up for an easy tackle more than anything else, but maybe I just never figured it out).
 
 One thing I really like is how on D your guy will square up automatically if you are NOT holding the turbo button. I don´t remember that from WE6, and I really like it. It makes it easier to play positionally and not over-commit to charging the ball all the time.
 
 Presentation-wise, I really dig the new post-match stats, the posession stats per 15min. intervals, and the list of shots and fouls. I also really like the new half-time and full-time replay routines, a HUGE improvement. And as to the ´mind-numbing´ techno, well, the post-game mind-numbing techno I happen to think is appropriately Euro, and it´s so damn peppy!
 
 Still miss a lot of the old ISS (major A developed Konami soccer) moves, such as the keeper´s ability to throw overhand, and far, and also get rid of it quickly after a corner, for example, or to drop the ball to his feet and dribble out. Also wish one had more control over the long ball; sometimes I get frustrated switching the ball because the ball will only go as wide as a player who is too near the middle, and the defender can get there too easily (it´s a bit of what I call the FIFA effect, where you can´t really play the ball to space, but rather to a player, allowing the D to easily get in the way; I notice this most in FIFA with the switching balls, which have always been appropriately effective in Konami, but never so in FIFA). Also sometimes I want to bang it over the top with the deep diagonal ball, and it will fire it too much in the middle, too close to a CF, who has defenders all around him. But, this is NOT a Major A game, so I should shut up about that.
 
 I am really digging the more random ball-action off the feet. Guys will shank it with their shins; if you turbo when receiving a pass, you may bang it sloppily off your knee, and so on. And the ball bounces along the turf realistically as well.
 
 In general I am finding the CPU tough to score on, but I scored 2 goals last night thanks to some really brainless CPU play. Both were dangerous balls in the box that were cleared toward the end line, and both times, inexplicably, the CPU defender hustled to the ball before it went out for the corner, and headed it back towards the spot!!!!!!! Needless to say, both times my guys were all over it and crammed it home, but I was highly surprised. This is a really dumb play for a D man to make, and the CPU did it twice in one game. And it was Argentina, too, not some completely terrible team. This is a slightly troubling sign, but it doesn´t really dampen my enthusiasm for this game.
 
 If this game were online, it would simply be the best. Here´s hoping that that comes along next year. This is one of the few games where I enjoy playng v. the CPU, since it´s so damn good, but nonetheless it´s so much better against a human opponent; it´s an entirely different exprience. So let´s hope that somehow Konami can do the Rivals thing, and allow multiple machines to connect, because 2 on 2 WE is unbeatable. Please MS, step up to the plate and grab this franchise, whatever it takes. Get with Konami, and make this game your premier Japanese and European online sports title, and I would bet you´d sell a hell of a lot of overseas Xboxes. And you´d make us all happy too!

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:44 am

you can change the control of long passes, I use type 2.(out of 4), maybe that will help.
 
 it is in the controller configuration area.
 
 I am surprised about the heading in front.....the CPU always heads it for a corner, but I have the PC version....are you playing on 2 stars?
 
 I play on 3.
 
 I have played well over a 100 games(at 20 min.) and it keeps getting better

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:11 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2004-02-20 07:44, pigpen81 wrote:
 you can change the control of long passes, I use type 2.(out of 4), maybe that will help.
 
 it is in the controller configuration area.
 
 I am surprised about the heading in front.....the CPU always heads it for a corner, but I have the PC version....are you playing on 2 stars?
 
 I play on 3.
 
 I have played well over a 100 games(at 20 min.) and it keeps getting better
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 Never noticed the ´conrol over long balls´ I´ll need to check it out.
 
 Always 3 star, until it gets too easy, which is never, yet. Yes, I was surprised, too, and more so the second time it hapened! After the game was over, and the highlights were running, I realized both goals I scored were garbage, but hey I´ll take it!

Post by **Jared** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:35 pm

[Note: Comments are for WE7I JAPANESE]
 
 Played a few more games before I went to bed last night...started an International League with the US, 4 star. Got my first two wins on 4 star, first being Argentina 2-1 (!) and then beating Jamaica 1-0. Argentina had a beautiful trap, then volley for their first goal. Donovan then beat an offsides trap, tried to chip the goalie, ball deflected back to him, and scored.
 
 (BTW, Donovan is a stud in WE7I (Jap). Gets pushed off the ball too much, but has great acceleration and has this knack for getting open. You can feel the difference with him and O´Brien on the US team. McBride is good in the air, but I´m having trouble getting him consistently good service.)
 
 2nd goal was interesting from an AI standpoint. Stewart fed the ball into McBride at the top right corner of the box. McBride started to dribble along the 18 with a man on him going towards the center of the field. Donovan´s marker then started to break off him to give support on McBride....I saw him, passed to Donovan, and he had JUST enough space to squeeze off a one-timer from about 15 yards out.
 
 I´m not sure if this would have happened in WE7:I (US). Players seemed a bit more apt to stay on their marker. Now defenders go for the ball more, which leaves players open IF (and only IF) you´ve got good vision. Regardless, bad defense gets punished more in the Japanese version.
 
 Oh, I´ve also noticed that stab tackles can really screw you up. In previous versions (e.g. WE7I (US)), you could recover easily from a stab tackle and not get hurt. But if you´re one-on-one with an attacker, go for a stab tackle, and miss, then the defender can jink past the tackle and get WIDE OPEN. Doesn´t happen all the time, but when it does you are screwed. I´m still trying to get used to it.
 
 It seems like Konami has made stab tackles more effective (almost like the tackling radius around a player has gotten larger). BUT if you miss a tackle, it really hurts. (IMHO, this is more like real life. If you´re marking someone, stab, and miss, you´re planted for a split second and they can BLOW past you in that amount of time. More realistic, but more difficult.)
 
 Also, why doesn´t Konami have larger international rosters? It would be great if you could pick your 18 man gameday roster from a pool of 40+ players. Then I won´t be pissed off about missing players like Friedel, Pope, Sanneh, Olsen, Wolff, Razov.
 
 That´s it for now. Won´t be doing any playing today (maybe tonight if I don´t go out). Will most more comments as I play more. And feel free to post any questions...I´ll try my best to answer them.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 1:58 pm

I am loving this game. Now that I have played about 10 games I don´t think I could go back to WE6:I and that is saying a lot because that game was great.
 
 I am very impressed with the new animations. I like playing with the wide camera angle and the improved animations and graphics make it seem like I am not missing as much graphically being further away from the action (either that or the "wide" camera angle isn´t as far zoomed out as last year). The individual game ratings and enhanced stats are nice. I also like the substitution layout with the graph with the six points. It makes it easier for a novice like me to compare the players without scrolling through a bunch of ratings.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:04 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 I also like the substitution layout with the graph with the six points. It makes it easier for a novice like me to compare the players without scrolling through a bunch of ratings.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 I´m with you on that. Also loving the wide camera. Coupled with a better understanding of how passing works this year, I´m starting to put together some fun sequences. Actually scoring a bit on 3-star now.
 
 All of a sudden I have a new bad habit of trying to clear balls out of the box and accidentally tackling guys instead, leading to a plethora of penalty shots. Gotta break that habit.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:52 pm

Guys, there is now an excellent option file for the US version available from the list here: <a href="http://www.thewolfpespc.com/Utilities.htm" target="_blank" target="_new">http://www.thewolfpespc.com/Utilities.htm</a>.
 
 This is a converted PESFan version hosted very kindly by Wolf.
 
 If you have an Action Replay/Sharkport, run don´t walk to grab this file. It has all the latest transfers, all teams and players with real names, accurate flags and better kits (the latter using the in-game editor as you´ll have to patch it to get sponsors and the like).

Post by **Jared** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 5:50 pm

I´ve got more impressions from WE7I (Jap). I´ll probably consolidate some of it and put it on the front page at some point in time.
 
 I expected that WE7I (Jap) would be significantly better than WE7I (US). And WE7I has fixed quite a few things (most noticeably, headers) and has made the game more physical and pass-oriented than speed and dribble oriented. All good things.
 
 But in changing things, they seem to have gone a little too far. First point is defensive aggressiveness. Let´s say that you´ve gotten past your defender and are going to goal on the wings. There´s a defender near the middle that is marking his own man. Previously, the defender in the middle would hold off on switching over to you for quite some time, leaving you a chance at a close but tight angle shot at goal. This could be exploited at times (in other situations) to get open shots at goals.
 
 This year is the opposite. Defenders are much more apt to leave their mark and come after the ball. This leads to a lot more open shots from the center of the pitch. Makes things easier if you know how to pass the ball around and have a striker with good shooting accuracy.
 
 I´ve had it happen where an offensive midfielder for Austria was 40 yards from goal (center of field) and Rio Ferdinand (CB) (who´s at around the 1<IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_cool.gif"> leaves his marker to come and attack the Austrian OMF. This leaves the Austrian striker wide open. Austrian OMF sends in a thru ball, the wing backs are too far away because they´re playing their position, not Ferdinand´s position, and Austria scores.
 
 Mistakes like this SHOULD happen. But this seems like something that I´d see more often when playing with poor teams. If Winning Eleven had say, 2nd division squads, it would be great to see this lack of defensive discipline when playing against Oxford United but more intelligent play when playing against Arsenal. But this seems to happen even with top national squads. Hopefully WE8 will do a good job in finding the middle ground between defenders being a little too passive or a little too aggressive.
 
 Secondly, I really don´t like the minor changes they´ve made to the through ball. First, the ball is rarely sent deep into space. Instead, it seems like the pass is sent ahead of the player, but most of the time it meets them right on their feet after a short run. I guess what I would like is more control over the through ball...the ability to lead the runner a lot or a little, left or right, etc. Don´t think that´ll happen soon though.
 
 But more importantly, I´ve noticed a few times where I´ve sent through balls where the receiver has slowed up to get it. Fine. But the defender (instead of going ahead an intercepting the slower through ball) will slow up as well or even STOP and wait for the forward to get the pass. I´ve only seen it 2 or 3 times, but it´s resulted in easy goals for me (since my forward is essentially unmarked when he receives the ball). I hope this is just a fluke...
 
 Last thing I´ve noticed is goalkeeper reaction time. Seems like the reaction time for GKs is a little slower than in WE7I (US) [though I have to do some direct comparisons to be sure]. GKs seem to react a few tenths of a second later on shots. What I haven´t figured out yet is if this is due to a tweak in GK reaction times or something to do with a larger effect when GKs are screened from seeing a shot. Will try and figure out more as I play.
 
 
 By the way, these comments aren´t saying that WE7I (Jap) is a bad game. There are lots of improvements. But they seem to have regressed a bit as well in some aspects.

Toper · Post by **Toper** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 6:41 pm

Jared,
 
 Thanks for the impressions. Just wondering if from what you´ve played sofar on WE7I(JPN) warrants enough of a purchase if one is already enjoying WE7I(US).
 
 Thanks,
 
 Toper

Post by **Jared** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 7:52 pm

Toper,
 
 Not sure yet. It´s gonna take a bit more playing to decide on that. Right now it´s a slight lean towards no. Here are the current pros and cons of WE7I (Jap)
 
 Pros:
 <UL>
 <LI>Slightly better ball physics
 <LI>Much improved headers. Can really clear the ball defensively and really hammer the ball on corners.
 <LI>Speedy dribblers not as uber-powerful.
 <LI>Passing and tactics more important.
 <LI>AI teammates on offense are smarter at finding space and getting open.
 <LI>Stab tackles not as powerful.
 <LI>Advantage play is GREAT...very realistic.
 <LI>Better rosters.
 </UL>
 
 CONS:
 
 <UL>
 <LI>GK reaction times seem slightly slower...more goals that should have went through don´t.
 <LI>Defenders are less disciplined, go to ball more and leave mark undefended. Leads to more wide open shots.
 <LI>Through ball is now worse...you have less control over it, doesn´t go to space as much as before.
 <LI>A few too many goals on headers.
 <LI>Rosters updated, but player ratings for non-superstars still need help (e.g. Mathis, Convey, Armas, etc.)
 </UL>
 
 I have to play the game more to say if it´s worth buying if you already have WE7I (US). If you´re in Japan though, get it. (Would be awesome if we had forum regulars in Japan...maybe one day.....)
 
 Interestingly though....if WE8 is a hybrid of the two, this will be an amazing game. I can see a hybrid of the two really making something great. Got a while to wait for that though (6 months and counting......).

mobiggins · Post by **mobiggins** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 8:05 pm

Jared,
 How do you play import games on your ps2?
 Is your PS2 modded, or what do you use?
 Also, could you give me a good link reference to a site that shows you how to burn a Japanese game so that you can just use the knife trick and Gameshark to play it?
 I´m not even speaking of WE here, I´m talking about drummania, which I just got, and I´m looking for my options to play it on my PS2. Thanks.

Post by **Jared** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 8:31 pm

Mo,
 
 Check your PMs.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 10:14 pm

Well I have to say that coming from WE6:FE to WE7:I is quite a step. I had to hold back from get WE7 and PES3 this year. Anyway you slice it I like one thing that I like about WE7:I is the difficulty.
 
 From some reason last yera WE6:I was extremely difficult for me where as I could win maybe 60% or more of the time in WE6 and WE6:FE.
 
 WE7:I I´m barely scrapping by on 4-star.
 
 My pro and cons of WE7:I but having not played the asian version I just going off what I like about WE7:I(US).
 
 Pros
 Difficulty in the areas that really make the difference. Clearing the ball and players getting the way really make it an imperative to play smart in the box.
 
 Possession time, the CPU will acutally hold the ball. This was one of my major complaints and it has been worked on.
 
 No more taking advantage of a game. Let me explain, in earlier versions there were videogame breaks that were available that made it more about finding the area where the AI was weak instead of playing soccer. Like I always chucked it long as year and then made all my plays like that. Even when I was clearing I could get a one on one that would lead to an offensive attack. Not this year.
 
 You have to set up attacks. I love this. I always hated having a very offensive game. It´s okay some of the time but not every game.
 
 Mistackles. I could pretty much tackle anyone with anybody in 6:FE. I have to watch myself in this game because it´s more about shutting down the attacker instead of going for the tackler.
 
 Long shots. It´s much better but there´s still room to go. I made my first shot from about 25-30 yards/meters last night. It was awesome. But the ball still rainbows too much. It would be nice to see more line drives.
 
 Cons
 Dribbling. I´m beginning to see where it can become too easy.
 
 Heading in the midfield is too weak. I don´t mind it in the boxes because that makes it more difficult. Plus the CPU nor the human has the advantage there. But in midfield it´s hard to make good headers to set up the offense.
 
 User controls for marking/heading. Not as responsive as earlier versions.
 
 Some players get a hot streak in games. It jsut seems that some players are going to play extremely well in one game and that if they touch the ball or start shooting that they become too effective and the AI does nothing to try and slow them down.
 
 That´s a few pro´s and con´s in areas I don´t think there has been much talk about.