Note: This game could not be played for several years because the servers went offline. There are a lot of reviews saying that the game doesn't work etc. The game is now back online, so you can ignore them.
I am somewhat wary of recommending this game, because truth be told, if you aren't already playing it, I don't think you'll enjoy it. The game suffers from a form of p2w in that you can purchase the option to play with faster players, which is a distinctly unfair advantage over other players. Add to this the fact that the game is full of players who have been playing for 20 years, and they ALL have fast players and often only pass to one another in training, you probably will spend your time getting immensely frustrated and quitting. It's why the game wasn't available for several years - this vicious cycle of having a payment model that appeals to tryhards and alienates new players means that there isn't a large enough player base to find players of a similar level, which discourages new players. This in turn dries up the revenue streams and makes the game more and more dependent on a small hardcore base of players. It's not a thriving community, and I don't think it will ever become one. My feeling is that at some point the game will once again suffer financial woes and die, because these lessons haven't been learnt by the new owners.
While I have enjoyed my time playing this game - hence the positive review - I have actually uninstalled it and have no intention of playing unless the p2w model is revamped to make the game [b]fun to play[/b]. At the moment, I don't actually think it is.
Below is my original review from several years ago. There have been some small changes since then, but they are pretty minor.
This is by no means the perfect game. There are flaws and there are a few bugs. There are sometimes trolls online (but it's got a lot better!), both intentionally trolling and unintentionally (if you don't know what offside is, read up on it [b]before[/b] playing!) But what it does have going for it is sheer fun factor.
If you remember Sensible Soccer, WoSO is in a similar vein, from the pixel graphics to sharing more than a little in common with Sensible World of Soccer's name. But as the telling difference in the name reveals, WoSO is an online game. You control just one player, with the other players on your team controlled by other humans (yay) or the AI (boo). And it's this multiplayer element that is at the heart of WoS's fun factor. As in real life football, playing as a team is essential; good positioning is worth a lot and a team playing as a unit can still beat a team full of better players who are all playing for themselves. It can be really satisfying when your team puts together a string of neat passes culminating in a goal, or when you've spent 90 minutes defending resolutely only to nick a 1-0 victory in the dying moments on the counter.
Controls are relatively simple; movement is via mouse (run to the cursor a la diablo), gamepad or keyboard (not a good option IMO). I'm using a controller where you have 3 buttons that I'd call "shoot" "lob" and "pass". The controls are [b]not[/b] well explained, although there is a tutorial that gives you the basics. Basically "lob" is a high ball, "pass" is a low ball and "shoot" increases in height with power. Hold down the button to power up. You can also control the height of the ball by either moving the mouse cursor nearer or further from your player, or moving your joystick in a similar fashion. "lob" performs a slide tackle when defending. Headers are finicky at first, but basically involve either the "pass" or "shoot" buttons ("lob" will make you slide instead).
There are no fouls - strategically taking out opponents is part of the game and underlines the arcade feel of the game. Offsides are implemented, so no goal hanging allowed. Other than that there are 3 player models (small/normal/large) you can choose from if you pay for a VIP account. The small players are however vastly overpowered (they are quicker than everyone else) and I personally find it gets boring quickly if one team has several fast players and the other doesn't; you can essentially run the entire length of the pitch with the ball without being caught, which removes any element of tactics from the game. I think there needs to be a better model for financing the servers than one that makes the game less fun (IMO of course) for everyone.
Other downsides include:
[list]
[*] No ability to kick players in training. AFK players can play everyone onside and make teams unbalanced. The same player may be AFK for over half an hour and isn't kicked. Seeing as most players will get their first games in training, this is a shame.
[*] As with any online game, there are trolls. But most players are very friendly. If you have the bad luck of joining a server full of 13 year olds, best to switch to another server. As per usual, things get better later at night when the kids are in bed.
[*] No real auto-balancing of training matches. While the game assigns new players who join the server to the team with less players, an auto-balancing feature would be nice - at the very least at the start of each match, if not each half. Unbalanced matches are no fun. A lot of players will however change teams to balance things out.
[*] A few weird bugs/idiosyncrasies lead to WTF moments every now and then. Nothing to ruin the game though.
[*] The league and team systems aren't great. Currently the league is suspended following the relaunch, but in the past the leagues were full of dead teams and playing matches between teams is a pain, especially as it's uncommon for 6 players in the same team to be online at the same time. I much prefer 6v6 (the maximum), so I spend almost all my time playing training matches. I find 1v1 and 2v2 matches fun for a few minutes, but not for a whole match.
[*] There are a number of exploits in the game. Some are obvious exploits, some are at the very least gamey. You don't have to take advantage of them of course.
[/list]
Seeing as WoSO is free, there's no reason not to try it our if you like football games - especially if you were a Sensi fan back in the day. This isn't a game for the people who buy FIFA or PES for the skill moves and motion capture graphics. WoSO is much more tactical - yet also more arcadey- than those 2, by virtue of its simple nature. If you do try it out, definitely play the tutorial and practice knocking the ball about a bit. Play a couple of matches on an empty server both with and without bots to practice passing and shooting. It only takes a short while to master the basic controls. It'll take you a long time to master the game though.
