Metacritic Games

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 (Playstation 2)

Winning Eleven 9 features full team rosters and official kits for all clubs playing in the Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga and Dutch Eredivisie leagues, and also some of the world's biggest clubs from famous European leagues. New additions include English champions Chelsea and runners-up Arsenal, while the 'Old Firm' Scottish clubs of Rangers and Celtic will also be included. Norwegian Champions Rosenburg will also be joined by Portuguese giants FC Porto, Turkey's Galatasaray SK, Denmark's FC Kopenhagen, Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev, and Djurgarden from Sweden. With the online option, players from around the country can go head-to-head, using Master League teams if they choose. Online players can even qualify and play in tournaments they put together themselves. Winning Eleven's already-deep Master League mode has been tweaked, primarily when it comes to player conditioning. A new training system adds more depth while player development has more variation than ever before, giving virtual managers more ways to build their team for success. A series of all-new features includes additional formations to be employed on the pitch - such as "Wing Back" and "Second Striker." Additionally, those who have mastered the previous versions' harsh weather including rain and scorching heat, will have an all-new obstacle from Mother Nature to overcome: snow. In the freezing cold, players can actually see their breath as they fight conditions down the frozen field. Rounding out the new features in Winning Eleven 9 is the Memorial Match, which allows gamers to save results from non-AI "VS." matches. Cumulative match records and winning points can be logged for up to 20 people. [Konami]

Konami
Sports, Soccer
Players: 8
E (Everyone)
Developer: Konami Tokyo
Released February 7, 2006

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

89 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Operation Sports
When you check back in January 2007 to see where all of those year-end awards are going, be sure to check the mantle at Konami. They'll have my vote.
95 Worth Playing
An extremely well-crafted game that exemplifies how a proper reality-to-videogame transition should be handled. It does things right, and that should be commended.
94 Gamer 2.0
Hardcore fans will enjoy this game immensely, but casual fans will likely find WE9 too difficult. Even though the game is not for everyone, it is still the best soccer game to date.
93 eToychest
Winning Eleven is truly the perfect mix of sim and arcade gameplay.
91 Game Chronicles
Winning Eleven 9 still manages to surpass the other soccer offerings out there, but its lead is slowly slipping.
91 Game Revolution
Though the tweaks are mostly small, they're just enough to keep this star a header above the rest.
91 Gaming Age
There is no comparison; World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 is the best soccer game to date.
91 GameSpot
Winning Eleven 9 plays an incredibly realistic game of soccer and is the first game in the series to support online play.
90 Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
To summarize the edge that Winning Eleven has over FIFA in a single word, it would have be "control." Whereas EA Sports' game has pretty much always suffered from an uneasy sense of detachment, Konami's has always focused on letting you place the ball exactly where you need it.
90 Cheat Code Central
Without a doubt this is one of the best looking soccer games on the market. The players move fluidly and realistically. Regardless of the camera angles, which are never jarring, you always maintain a proper perspective of the field.
90 GameSpy
Winning Eleven 9 isn't the perfect soccer game, but it's pretty damn close.
90 GamePro
Winning Eleven's online mode and new pro league teams are an added plus--but at this point fans of FIFA won't likely break ranks, especially when the improvements are becoming more minute and subtle.
90 GamerFeed
And it's a huge testament to the quality of the game for me to say that, as prior to this I had never willingly spent more than five minutes with a soccer game.
90 Next Level Gaming
A game that has no rival in the Soccer world. It's better than FIFA, and it's even better than FIFA Soccer for the Xbox 360.
90 Maxim Online
Konami's annual soccer franchise, which has scored in the past for its slick controls, wads of teams, and shin-splintin' graphics, returns to the field to affirm its ball-kicking dominance.
90 DarkStation
The ninth iteration improves upon its already peerless predecessor with tighter passing controls and much welcome online play.
90 GameZone
There’s no doubt that it has a steep learning curve, and will force gamers to become real soccer fans before they know it, but once you get caught in Winning Eleven’s twisted web of addictiveness there’s no turning back.
88 GamingTrend
When you take into account the staggering amount of ways you can customize literally anything and everything in the game then you’re left with very little to complain about outside of the outdated graphics.
88 PSX Extreme
An outstanding game, but outside of the new online play it doesn’t feel a whole heck of a lot different than last year’s game.
88 IGN
A gem of a soccer title, but it feels like "Winning Eleven 8 Online"...WE9 is still the undisputed champ of videogame soccer. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll scream "GOAL" until you go blue in the face. It's that fun.
85 Game Informer
Still a very well-honed title that never fails to get my blood going, but I think a jump to next-gen for the series could be just the boost that this franchise needs. [Feb 2006, p.103]
85 PSM Magazine
Those familiar with the series will feel right at home; the same solid feel, deep controls, and excellent animations have returned, the later bolstered by some impressive new motion capture.[Mar 2006, p.79]
85 Stuff
The series' trademark superb gameplay is, as usual, on point. And this year, you can actually take your football team online.
85 Gaming Target
If you've never touched a Winning Eleven game before, this is the place to start.
85 GamerNode
And while the end of last year saw them lose a bit of ground against the formidable release of FIFA 06, which also did very well, they've now returned with their arms full, offering an array of new moves, tricks, and formations, additionally licensed teams, and a highly anticipated feature that supports online competitive gameplay.
83 GameShark
The ranking system is a novel idea and gives plenty of incentive to practice. Non-online gamers may have a tough time shelling out for an ‘update,’ however with new licensed leagues and club teams.
80 G4 TV
At this point simply adding online play would have been enough, but doing it well and keeping the game’s tone intact are reason for high praise.
80 Electronic Gaming Monthly
You know a soccer title is doing it right when a match can end in a scoreless tie and you've had as much fun as when you've lit up the scoreboard.

CLOSE THIS WINDOW

©2008 CNET Networks Inc. All rights reserved.