Review: Championship Manager 2008 - PC

by Steven Williamson on 7 November 2007, 09:20

Tags: Championship Manager 2008, Eidos (TYO:9684), PC, Mac, Sports

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In the dressing room

There’s also a distinctive improvement to match previews, which is now a useful aid in helping you to assess your team’s performance, often singling out who has been playing well and who has been playing poorly. It’s not particularly in-depth, but useful if you haven't got the inclination to use Pro-Zone.

There are dozens of small tweaks in Championship Manager 2008, such as improved feedback on training (although it’s still hard to tell exactly if your players have improved in certain skills) and there’s player of the month awards and youth player reports, but the most noticeable and welcome addition is the new player tendencies.

There are 32 tendencies to choose from, for example, ‘tends to hold position’, ‘tends to release ball’ or ‘tends to try long shots. You can allocate three of these tendencies to each of your players, giving them their own playing style and character on the pitch. The players still follows the same training routines that you allocate for them, but the trainer will also train them in this tendency. On the pitch it’s often difficult to see if your player is actually following the tendency that you’ve allocated, but if you’re willing to invest the time in the Pro-Zone tool, it’s fairly easy to find out.

It is pleasing to see how Beautiful Game Studios have stepped up their game again this year, with the most noticeable changes being the superb Pro-Zone tool and the improved match engine. There are still a few bugs in the game, the most noticeable being that the keeper occasionally runs out his box for no apparent reason, there's also a few freak results and the occasional bout of defiance from your team, but I’m assured the developers are working hard to bring a patch out as soon as possible.

As it stands, Championship Manager 2008 is the most accessible football simulation available, is the best game of the series to date, but still doesn't quite make the grade. While Football Manager still sits proudly at the top of the Premier League of football sims, Championship Manager is pushing hard and should be content in picking up that coveted Champion’s League spot this year. Next year, who knows?

Pros
Pro-Zone tool allows in-depth analysis
Improved match engine
Customisable player tendencies

Cons
Training is not in-depth enough - not sure if it affects players
You still get some unrealistic results.
Players don’t always seem to follow tactics given.

The Championship Manager series is improving every year and '08 is the best yet.

HEXUS Awards

Championship Manager 2008 - PC


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