WLS '99 was a fairly mediocre football game. The graphics were pretty good, the control system was okay, but distinctly average and sometimes confusing and the overall feel was too manufactured.
But this time, Silicon Dreams have done the ground-work and can use the opportunity of a coveted UEFA Champions League license to get back in there and finish the job.
The players in UEFA are to be much more detailed and well animated, although Silicon Dreams claim to have put the graphics to one side so they can get some more work done on the control system. In UEFA's predecessors (WLS '98 and '99) there were too many assorted skills spanned over an elaborate and over-indulgent control system. This time you can achieve these special skills by the press of only one button, allowing a much more acceptable learning curve.
In the early version I played, the goalkeepers were far too errative and the referee is quite blatantly biased against human teams (either that or the tackling code is unfinished for human teams) but Silicon Dreams are promising a much more realistic representation of the 23rd man on the field as well as some killer goalkeeper artificial intelligence.
While the version I played was still in beta, the game looks to be shaping up well. With a bit more work put in here and there, this one could really shine. However, if Silicon Dreams fail to maximise their potential, it'll end up as WLS '99 with some new UEFA kits and a few more niggling bugs. I, for one, hope it doesn't.
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