What was Konami thinking? Instead of just sticking to one name – Winning Eleven or Pro Evolution Soccer, they decided to be more logical and just put both names on the front of the game. Remember, when purchasing the game at your local store, ask for “Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007.” Phew, what a mouthful.
WEPES 2007 was released for the PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Each game has it’s own little quirks, but it’s obvious that the game’s heritage lasts with the PlayStation 2, as this version seems to have the most depth and well thought out modes.
The game’s 40 page manual is extremely helpful in figuring out what to do in the game..many of the player moves are documented here – you’ll be sorely mistaken if you think this is just a button mashing soccer game. There are seven pages in the manual just dedicated to how to control players on the pitch!
All of the usual and standard modes are here, including the famed Master League. Unfortunately there really isn’t much new here from last year. The good news is that the Master League is already pretty good, but it’s always too bad that nothing new has been added—if only more aspects of Championship Manager could be brought into WEPES I would be very happy! Other modes available are quick match, league (play one of five European leagues and one international league), knockout Cup mode, training, and international challenge.
As most everyone knows EA Sports has most of the official licenses, so Konami must obtain licenses on the team level if possible. So this means that the “Premiership” isn’t called the “Premiership” and that while Manchester United is official, other teams are not.
Thankfully in this version of the game, unlike it’s Xbox 360 counterpart, everything under the sun is customizable (players, kits, logos, etc). So get your GameShark device and download some of the amazing work that people have done and that way you’ll have everything close to official as you can get!
The graphics are in dire need of an upgrade as they haven’t really changed much from last year’s version of the game. The replays look like you’re watching a TV with quite a bit of static. Nothing looks great – the fans, the players, not even the soccer nets or the grass…it looks like a big green glob and isn’t impressive at all.
