- The single most pressing change would have to be the overall feel of SCORING A GOAL. As a lot of you have already mentioned to death, we want to WORK HARD for a goal and FEEL ECSTATIC when our hard work FINALLY pays off. A whimper of a cheer whenever we score is the most disgusting aspect that exists in all WE series and that has got to change if they want to continue earning our money. We want to feel the PASSION of football represented in the game. We want to see this:
http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=10QWHASSA6T8Y1QDGQ25MQKD4C
Just imagine for a second as if the clip above were a WE9 one, complete with the shooting bar at the bottom of the screen, and you've just scored through Totti. This is exactly what I need Konami to include in their games - the emotion of football. Of course, not every goal needs to be like that, but when I score the only goal in a Cup Final in the 89th minute, I expect ERUPTION and an unreserved expression of sheer joy, represented through the celebration aminations and audio approval. Sort it out, Konami.
- I don't give a tiny rat's ass about asthetics improvements because I think Konami is already pushing the limits of graphics for the PS2 very hard (and well) and I don't want their attention to be diverted towards making a beautiful game at the expense of a realistic one. We can all go play fifa if we want to see beautiful computer pictures.
- Presentation needs to be REVAMPED. I want the commentators' voices to overlap slightly when they're speaking because that's what happens in a live match, because both of them are equally excited about what happening and just wants to squeeze out random and unrehearsed comments into the microphone. I want a completely CHANGED style to mimick the TV presentation way in which when a player scores, the camera shakes
just a little, the camera stays rooted for a couple of seconds at the goalmouth while you see his teammates running towards the same direction near the bottom of your screen (ie a lot of things happening around you but you can't see it! Brilliant..), it then cuts to a section of the (computer aminated) crowd going absolutely crazy.. THEN zooms into the celebrations where it has already been happening for a good 30 seconds.
- When I'm playing at home and just scored off a corner, the background
curva visibly RISES together with the rest of the players' arms (when non-scoring players react to their team's goals they normally raise an arm or jump) in celebration of a goal. I want to see stewards and ball-boys standing beside the advertising hordings at one side of the pitch jump for joy at the same time; the overall feel that the stadium has just ERUPTED has to be present. It's not just about sliding the volume bar of the crowd cheer up a notch, Konami. It's about subtle details.
- Remove all the stupid dribbling moves. I want this game to be dominated by people who have a footballing brain, not by people who have mastered the art of button combinations or timing.
- All my grouses from WE8 seem to have already been addressed in WE8LE. My paet peeves were 1. How it was so easy to turn defenders by first running up, then suddenly running down. Space was created instantly and it's almost fool proof. I could do this up-down move 10 times in a row in an opponent's penalty box with the opposing defender getting faked out everytime; it's soooo arcade-y. 2. How it was ridiculously easy to chip the keeper. When I was playing the PC version of WE8i with online opponents, I was thrashed double-digit figures by human opponents who simply put a really fast forward in the middle of my defence (typically Henry), slot him a through ball and let him lob it over my keeper, even when I was putting 10 men behind the ball. It's a 2-button move and they managed to score the exact same way 10 times each half. No real skills were involved - just very smart people who managed to capitalise on the flaws of the game. 3. Dribbling is dead easy on we8 and a fast player always equates to a good player in the game. Not true in real life, Konami.
- I hope through balls can be much more difficult to pull off. Spaces should be all but covered up in WE8 so that only 1 in probably 20 through balls gives you a one-on-one situation with the keeper; the other 19 times the defenders should be able to cut it out or clear. The risk of pressing the through ball button must be increased because it represents a difficult (and almost always possesion-losing) pass in real life and should be reflected as such in the game.
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