Closing in on Football Manager?
Football sims ought to come with a warning; big bold letters across the packaging such as ‘Could lead to divorce’ may do the trick because, despite the primitive graphics and text commentary, they’re so bloody addictive! I often lose the power to speak or communicate with anyone due to the intense concentration needed in allocating training schedules or searching for that elusive striker on the transfer market. So much so that I vowed to my girlfriend many years ago that I would stick to playing the likes of Pro Evo and FIFA rather than spend half a day or longer on a sim displaying social skills that would be more akin to a deaf mute. (No offence intended!)
Football sims require persistence, a lot of time, a logical mind and a willingness to learn; Championship Manager 2007 is no different. If you want to succeed as a manager you can’t just jump into games willy nilly, you’ll need to plan meticulously and pay attention to detail.
Click for larger imageSince the creators of the Championship Manager series split with publishers Eidos and signed a deal with Sega to produce the Football Manager franchise, they’ve been playing catch-up. Last year Football Manager 2007 got it spot on and packed in over 100 new features, such as increased media interaction, an improved scouting system and feeder clubs giving gamers the complete football management experience. In comparison and despite a few new additions to the series, Champ Manager 2006 was still poor in comparison.
Since 2004, Eidos has been working hard with Beautiful game studios to bring the game up to the same high standards of Football Manager and based on the preview code that we’ve been playing through they’re certainly heading in the right direction with a whole host of improvements across the board.
Click for larger imageLet’s face it, using a joy-pad to navigate the multitude of options and menus at your fingertips is never going to be a walk in the park and it still isn’t perfect in Championship Manager 2007, but the developers have taken strides to bring the interface to a level that’s at least manageable without being convoluted and over –complicated. In any football sim it’s important to be able to access information quickly and Champ Manager 07 now allows you to do that with little effort. Each option is just a few clicks away and you can slide back and forward through the smart menus through the use of the left and right shoulder buttons and triggers. There’s an added help option which can be accessed at any time by clicking on the right thumb-stick – I could have done with that years ago – and a far smarter and intuitive interface than past iterations.