Just as FIFA 99 was released, its first major competition surfaced. The makers of the Tomb Raider series put out Michael Owen's World League Soccer 99 based on the game World League Soccer that was released last year. This time around, they have attained license from the English Premier League, and most noticeably, Michael Owen, England's upcoming superstar. The 18 yr. old striker gained so much popularity since his World Cup debut last year that it's no surprise a game would be based on him sooner or later. To be frank however, this is not much of a competitor to FIFA. The sequel to World League Soccer is essentially the same game as its predecessor. The improvements made, other than obtaining the license, are higher resolution graphics (all the way to 1280x1024), additional moves, and speed optimization. Although in the end, the improvements added into this game do not justify a sequel.

Bearing the same graphics as World League Soccer, the only addition to Michael Owen's World League Soccer 99 is the higher resolution. The graphics consist of very detailed models that are even less polygonal than FIFA 99. The animation however is not even comparable to FIFA 99. The players move in a very awkward manner with the most noticeable being the turning; when the players turn, their feet do not have any movement making it seem as if they were floating on top of the pitch. The crossing and the shooting also seems very unrealistic when compared with FIFA 99. There is also a stupidly big difference in the player sizes. Some of the players are so big; they make small players like, Gianfranco Zola, Marc Overmars, and even "the man himself" Michael Owen look like 3' midgets. The difference in height is a welcomed addition (like the addition made in FIFA 99), but the size difference in this game makes it almost laughable. The arenas are also somewhat improved but the black spots in the corners of the arena are not gone. It was interesting to see that the crowd consists of animated 3D people.

The sound is also a carry-over from World League Soccer. The play by play is done by Peter Brackley and Ray Wilkins. The atmosphere displayed in Michael Owen's World League Soccer 99 is almost as good as FIFA 99, although the play by play falls short. FIFA 99 had more variety and authenticity. The other problem I had with this game is that they acquired the license to the English Premier League, but left the others as before. So basically, if you are playing outside the English Premier League, you are stuck with players such as A. Del Piro and G. Batistuita (rather than A. Del Piero and G Batistuta), unless you do some mad editing of 200+ players.

So the game looks ok, and the sound is good but how does it play? Well, to put it in 5 words, identical to World League Soccer. The good points as well as the flaws were carried over directly from World League Soccer. The players still shoot where they are facing (i.e. Actua Soccer). This takes away greatly from amazing looking plays (found in FIFA 99). The tackling is also lackluster. The computer randomly chooses who wins the tackle. If you are tackled, sometimes you will jump over the opponent, spin over them, etc. and run through, while the other 80% of the time, you will get tackled. The goalie AI has some improvements however. They don't stand to the opposite side of the net 10% of the time anymore. All in all though the game is far too similar to World League Soccer. While EA Sports did a bad job in implementing multiplayer to FIFA 99, Eidos did not even try to include any multiplayer option. I just hope next time Eidos releases a sequel, it is not just a recycled game (i.e. Tomb Raider I/II/III). In conclusion, this "new" game from Eidos is simply a recycled title and just does not compare to FIFA games. Unless you are obsessively into "Owenmania", and have to have everything that Michael Owen endorses, you are better off by picking up FIFA 99, or even World Cup 98 and FIFA 98:RTWC for that matter.

Graphics: 15 / 20
Sound: 12 / 15
Gameplay: 20 / 30
Fun Factor: 13 / 20
Authenticity: 1 / 5
Overall Impression: 6 / 10