|
|
Football Manager 2005 Review
Score: 
By: Andrew Castenmiller
Date: Saturday, 11 December, 2004
|
Football Manager 2005 |
| Game Type: Management |
| Developer: Sports Interactive |
| Publisher: SEGA |
| Platform: PC |
|
Sports Interactive were the creators of Championship Manager. They founded the series that so many have become addicted to since 1992. Sports Interactive have now began developing a new series, with the first called Football Manager 2005. But what every past CM fan needs to know is that FM 2005 is basically the next Championship Manager, just with a different name.
Championship Manager 5 on the other hand is a different game, with different developers but has the prestigious “Championship Manager?name, one which football management fans have come to know and love. However CM fans shouldn’t wait around for CM5, because the game which CM fans came to know and love is retained in FM 2005, but with some very welcome additions and improvements. If you loved the previous versions of CM then you shouldn’t bother reading on, because if you haven’t already you should get this game right now.
Match Engine ?9/10
The 2D top-down match engine that was introduced in CM4 was about as big as changes get in Sports Interactive’s games. Most CM gamers seemed reasonably pleased with the change, but it never had the polish that the tried and tested text mode had. This is Sports Interactive’s third attempt meaning the match engine is better than ever.
I found that previous 2D match engines created by Sports Interactive lacked some variety. But the same can’t be said about this one. The AI is superb and what I think really makes this years match engine great is personal characteristics. No longer will Thierry Henry play purely as a central striker. Even if you specify you want him to play central, he’ll also drift to the left wing just like he does in real life. Ronaldinho will try all sorts of tricks, Van Nistelrooy will come deep to lay-off passes to his team-mates and Roberto Carlos will hit powerful long shots with the outside of his foot. Just about all of the top players have these characteristics which takes the match engine to another level of realism.
There’s not much more to say about the match engine because it just does what it should. There is nothing flashy about it, but with a bit of imagination on your part it’s as realistic as football simulations come.
Tactics ?10/10
What also makes this match engine very good is the changes you make to the tactics are reflected in the match engine. And unlike some other games these are not just basic tactics, but very in depth. There’s not a single tactical option that seems to be left out. You can set your formation at will, specify player runs, set set-pieces and specify all sorts of player and team instructions. On top of that Sports Interactive have returned the option to use a “playmaker?as well as introducing whether you want to use a “target man?or not.
Football Manager 2005 is one of the few games where I constantly chop and change my tactics. It really does become a tactical battle. I was conceding far too many goals but after adjusting my tactics to suit I kept three clean sheets in a row. Then when I thought it was going smoothly I was shocked to be beaten 4-0 by the near-bottom team. Tactics will really keep you thinking and its difficult to find the right tactic which gives the perfect balance, and that’s how it should be.
Player Database ?10/10
The player and staff database in Sports Interactive’s games has always been light years ahead of the competition. Not that its competitors are bad in this area, but FM 2005 excels. Each player is rated on a countless number of mental, physical and technical attributes. As well of that they have hidden attributes such as potential, reputation and behavioural attributes. Then there are the special characteristics I mentioned earlier and you have one complete database.
Of course I don’t agree with every rating given to every player but I never do in any football game. We all have our own opinions about how players should be rated. But I find FM 2005 to be fairly accurate. For example I know that Pascal Cygan of Arsenal is slow and FM 2005 says that too, whereas other games rate him too high in this area. It doesn’t go down the “he’s in a top team so must have all round top ratings?path like some games do. Each league has a number of researchers and even clubs have their own specialised reasearchers. The level of commitment by these researchers is superb and helps to make the data very accurate and comprehensive. If CM5 has more accurate data than this then I will be very surprised.
|
|
|
| 
|
| Rum anyone? |
| Started by: Andrejs |
| Last post by: Andrejs |
| SG Players' Lounge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
