I have played all of the North American W.E. games since WE 6 and I have to say that I am impressed with the consistent improvements that Konami has done with this series. Below is my review based off the PS2 version:The Winning Eleven games have all had one thing in common: tremendous and realistic gameplay. Not only does WE 8 continue this tradition, but the game also adds on welcomed new features that compensate for the lack of online play and club licenses that is synonymous with the FIFA series:- On the pitch refereeWhen fouls are committed, you'll witness a referee run up to the play to either warn the player or toss out a yellow card. What makes this neat is that you have the option to select which referee will be the decision maker for your game. One ref that is not made available is Pierluigi Collina, who is heralded as being the best ref in the sport. That's a bit of a bummer but doesn't really do much to affect the game- Free kicks now involve two kickersYep, that's right. By using the select button (on the PS2), you have the option of using two kickers from the spot. This now only adds to realism, but strategy as well since you have more than one person at getting around the wall during free kicks.- Advanced movesIn previous versions of W.E. you had to be real adept in using the buttons to get around your opponent. Although you still need to be pretty skillful in maneuvering your man, you can use the R2 button to perform stutter steps and more fakes to get.