While last year's Winning Eleven 6 International was almost faultless and both the action and game play is some of the most fluid of any soccer game to date. Even so, Konami has still managed to make some rather significant changes to its already tried-and-tested format.
Both skilled and novice players alike can now perform shimmies, spins, nifty back-heels, can tussle for the ball without having to resort to foul play and can control the goal keeper with more precision then ever before.
The only thing that lets Winning Eleven 7 International down is its clumsy interfaces. Here Konami scores a rather shoddy own goal.
Point of Attack 2
International Distrubutor: HPS Simulations
Platform: PC only
Release: Already available
Designed in conjunction with the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, HPS Simulations' latest tactical level wargame, Point of Attack 2 is one the most comprehensive modern combat games currently available on the market.
Depicting combat at the platoon and individual level, the game accurately depicts every intricacy of modern weapons systems.
The game leads the player though a minefield of databases and allows them to position units, call in artillery and air strikes, make use of electronic and chemical weapons and even counter the opposition with psychological warfare.
Packaged with a tutorial and seven full scenarios, which include hypothetical conventional engagements in Germany, Korea and the Middle East (and a couple of scenarios that deal with an al-Qaeda terrorist attack on the US), Point of Attack 2 also comes with an easy-to-use scenario editing tool.
While the detail given to weapons systems and command structures is graphic to the point of nausea, gamers more in tune with 3D games will find Point of Attack 2's interfaces rather dull.
The game employs 2D NATO symbols to represent the units and these are highly detailed. There are also 2D maps on which the action unfolds and Windows-styled screens to describe the locations in terms of terrain, line of sight, concealment and other such information crucial to the outcome of any battle.
With its lengthy learning curve and graphically poor interfaces, Point of Attack 2 is certainly not for everyone. For those who want to know what it takes to coordinate an invasion of Iraq, however, this is a pretty good place to begin.
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