12 June 2003
World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution — WE6FE for short — is the best video game available for playing football. No fuss, no fripperies, and no f——ing FIFA .
Konami have developed the series under a confusing array of names (ISS, ISSPE, PES) but mostly for the PSX and PS2. WE6FE was the first available for Nintendo’s GameCube console; I own a Cube, but not a PS2 So considering I’d missed out on PES and PES2 for the PS2 (it’s even worse if I type them in full), buying a Freeloader, extra memory card, and the game itself from Japan wasn’t too much of a hardship.
When I play this on my own, it’s not on a TV, but through my video card, a Radeon 7200. This is handy, because I can edit player names (more on this in the future, perhaps), with the correct versions in front of me, and save paper.
Edit names? Well, Konami only have the FIFPro license, which doesn’t give them the rights to, say, the Brazilian squad. But the real problem is that they’re all in one of the Japanese alphabets (Kanji, I think).
The game itself is magnificent. You can play a long-ball game, attractive passing football, or embark on mazy runs with your full-backs. It doesn’t restrict you too much in open play, and it just gets everything right. Passing, tackling, shooting, and crossing, which is something close to my heart. Crossing is natural in WE6FE, instinctive, but heading those crosses in is something else altogether. Players have to be positioned well, and the jump has to be timed even better to make a good contact.
In case you’re wondering, I tend to play what would be described in Champ Man as attacking, direct, pressing, offside trap. This entails the odd cynical foul here or there, but that’s just a habit I’ve picked up from watching too much real football over the years. There’s no excuse for it in a game that matters less than a kick-about in the park.
Of special not is the commentary. In the English versions it has been uniformly awful. When you first hear it, it’s funny because it’s bad, but after about two games, it’s just bad. Banal, clichéd, poorly-acted, and more. I’ve no idea at all if the WE6FE commentary is the same, because I don’t speak Japanese. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s brilliant. John Kabira (from the Legend of Stojkovic DVD ) gets excited, pronounces names in an amusing manner (for instance, Beasley becomes Beardsley, as said in a Geordie accent), and, if you score a winner in the last minute, sings.
That’s right, he sings. I’ve thought about recording these songs before, but haven’t got round to it. You’ll just have to experience it for yourself, and I can assure you, there’s nothing quite like beating a friend in a hard-fought match and having Kabira sing. After that, you don’t need to taunt or dance around the room. You just keep them away from the mute button. In fact, that’s the best reason to buy the game.