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Football Manager 2015 - Review
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Football Manager 2015 - ReviewPosted:

OhDiegoCosta
  • Video King
Status: Offline
Joined: Dec 22, 201112Year Member
Posts: 4,366
Reputation Power: 357
Status: Offline
Joined: Dec 22, 201112Year Member
Posts: 4,366
Reputation Power: 357
Football Manager 2015 Review
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Release Date: November 7th, 2014
Developer: Sports Interactive
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux
Genre: Simulation
Players: 1
Rating: 8.8



Synopsis
Enter the world of football management, where your actions can be the difference between mediocrity and monumental achievement. Balance the interests of the fans, the players and the board as you graft your way to success. Develop a world-class CV or provide sustainability for your local club. Think you can be the next Ferguson or Mourinho?



Story:
The initial setup involves adding leagues of which your database is focalised. The normal procedure is to pick the leagues in which you manage and wish to manage. Assuming your PC holds up (4* performance or better), you can then add more leagues for scouting. South American leagues are the most popular for scouting as the likes of Argentina and Brazil regularly produce top talents. Bigger leagues are more lucrative as the rewards are higher profile and the finances more generous. New players would be best off starting in England, Spain or France. As you develop your skills, the more obscure nations may tempt you. Database size is the next step. The bigger the database, the more players at your disposal. The largest databases have a large variety of players but there are compromises in loading speed. Leagues can be edited but changes take place at the beginning of the next footballing season. Once your leagues are assigned, you can pick a club (or start unemployed). There are a variety of approaches at this stage. Some pick their favourite club, some opt for the oil-rich clubs; the most daring opt for obscure lower league clubs (I've spent many an hour managing in the Icelandic lower divisions).

Once you pick a club, you create your manager profile. This includes personal details such as date of birth, nationality and favourite formation. The system is quite detailed and even includes my tiny hometown in Wales. Nationality becomes useful for managing in foreign leagues and managing national teams (i.e. If you want to manage Italy, selecting Italian as your nationality will make the game considerably easier). At this stage, you can also assign a custom manager face and password protect yourself. There's also the option to link social media accounts so you can brag about your achievements. Linking your Youtube account is useful for extracting goal replay videos when you score an awesome goal. The final setup stage involves finding your managerial mean between two vices, tracksuit and tactical management. Tracksuit management allows you to assign points in certain footballing attributes such that you can coach players in certain areas of the game. You can set your level of coaching badges, the highest of which allow the highest number of allocated attribute points. Tactical management allows for an increased voice in team talks and board meetings. Your past-playing experience can be set here (ranging from sunday league to international footballer). The higher experience options allow for a higher base football knowledge, increased reputation and more points to allocate on mental attributes. Both coaching badge level and past experience can be set automatically if you wish, adjusting to fit the stature of the team you first manage.

Beyond that, the story is entirely up to you. You're introduced to the stakeholders at the club, set expectations and can say your first words to the board, your players, your staff and your fans. You can revolutionise your club from the get-go with new players and staff or stick with the current setup to gain some stability but whatever you pick, you've got to prove you're worth the wage you're being paid. If you do a bad job, your contract will be terminated and you'll fall down the pecking order.



Gameplay:
The general feel is an immersive feeling. The game is unrivalled in detail and the way in which your actions impact the 'storyline' shows just why Football Manager holds a monopoly over the football simulation genre. There isn't much difference between this instalment and Football Manager 2014; nor was there need for it. SI have got themselves a winning formula with here and will undoubtably continue to produce wonderful revisions. It takes hours to get anything done and you need to devote your full attention to achieve success. This can prove quite demanding but is certainly a positive to the game. If a person wants a casual simulator, FIFA and PES do the job fine. Football Manager is on another level and requires a more methodical approach. The game rewards the analytical mind as those who perceive patterns in tactics and behaviours and tailor their actions to ensure a high probability of success. There's still the odd hiccup along the way but you get the genuine feeling that you're improving as a manager. You learn from past experiences and can sense problems before they even arise, a true footballing 'sixth sense'. As the game can be notoriously difficult, achievements come with true pride. Those who wear suits for cup-finals can be somewhat excused because trophies are the result of substantial effort/luck. Whereas most mainstream games offer only minor senses of achievement as you reach the next level/prestige, Football Manager 2015 can provide more happiness than you'd expect.

The match engine is brilliant. A few days before writing this review, I took an international U21 side to the European finals. The team coasted their way through every stage with my tactic proving perfect (or so I thought). My final opponents had scraped their way through to the final and certainly didn't deserve the trophy. In all my complacency, I started the match unaware that they'd started a new forward for his debut. This man was incredibly quick and made the difference. My tactical system was not built to deal with pace and I ended up losing 3-0. After an hour of analysis, I noticed that my tactics didn't account for quick forwards and that I deserved my loss. The AI was intuitive in adapting to the situation and outsmarted me. This is where the game beats its rivals. Some games (*cough* FIFA career mode *cough*) match teams up by player ability and spew out a result in accordance to that. Football Manager made a deeper analysis and realised that in a real fixture, my team probably would have lost. There are some unexplainable results but these strengthen the game as a simulator. Sometimes your 80-million pound striker misses an open goal or that awful opposition goalkeeper has a world-class game. These things happen in real life just as they do Football Manager and so the match engine does a wonderful job of reflecting actual matches.

Scouting is decent as always. Accuracy and depth correlates with club stature and the limited data available reflects real life scenarios. Nations have different built-in ranks which dictate how good newly generated footballers from that nation become. Historically football rich countries (such as Spain) are far more likely to produce top talent than Bolivia and this keeps the game in-tune with reality, even in the latter years where every real person has retired. The only way in which the system could be improved would be if scouts recommended the odd unorthodox player. The recommendations are often rather repetitive and so if a few unknown talents were suggested, an interesting luck vs knowledge debate may ensue. Ultimately, the scouting system does a good job. It can prove tedious with smaller clubs, although that's obviously akin to real life where finance restrictions hinder efficient scouting.

Transfers are annoyingly realistic. Clubs consciously perceive player potential and reflect that in negotiatory stages. Transfers can prove quite complex with a variety of clauses such as sell-on fees and player exchanges. Clubs assess offers realistically and won't accept even the best offers unless they can replace the player. Beyond transfer offer acceptance comes contract negotiations, usually with a dreaded football agent. Agents are varied in personality type and look for the most advantageous situations for both players and themselves. They often let you begin with the first concrete offer. Some agents are very honest in what they want, some are ambiguous in the hope that their expectations may be exceeded. Negotiations may be long or slow depending on both the agent and the manager. Agents are responsive to club reputation and will refuse to talk to clubs lower than the level their player 'deserves'. The transfer system is complex and takes a long time to master. Activity here can make or break a club and the intuitive nature of the system allows for variation within gameplay.

Person-to-person interaction is a let down, I must admit. Press conferences are repetitive and easy to handle. Journalists rarely ask controversial questions and the response options are limited. The option to send your assistant manager eventually becomes default and beyond the occasional big game, can be forgotten about. Board request discussions are luck. Obviously factors like financial situation and manager reputation play a part but the limited response options hinder any opportunity for a struggling manager to persuade their board. Discussions with players are simply stupid. I've seen countless screenshots in which players take offence over trivial things and demand they leave. Football players are usually human beings with reasoning skills and so would never behave like they do in Football Manager. Some realism here would be greatly appreciated.

Online network games are unnecessary. The game is designed to be a single-player game and so online play just feels wrong. Football Manager plays with a slow-tempo and so the likes of FIFA and PES are more suited for casual online play. Most online saves last only a few weeks as there's a high level of commitment involved. I'd stick to the offline career mode, the areas in which Football Manager 2015 truly flourishes.



Graphics:
This newest instalment opts for a minimalistic graphical interface. Partially transparent windows are used to great impact, creating a clean and crisp setup. Colour shades are used to express strength (or lack of) and whole system is very easy to interpret. There are a lack of customisable colour options but the option to install skins quickly over-rules this. Several FM websites offer skins with a particular emphasis (the most common of which are: increased detail, colour theme, club theme and random).

For licensing reasons, a lot of badges/logos/faces are missing. This is a nuisance but there are downloadable packs online to tackle this issue. There are some truly remarkable huge zip files with thousands of images easily accessible online. It would be nicer if they came shipped with the game but as installing community packs is so easy, this does little to impact overall experience.

The 3D match engine has improved this year but is still in dire need of improvement. There are some new animations but fans don't look like people and the stadiums are poorly designed. The 2D engine is far more smooth (albeit unrealistic and simple) and will remain the popular option until the 3D engine is revolutionised. My standpoint has been the same for years; if SI create a 3D match engine that can compete with FIFA, they will have created the perfect football simulation game. Still, even with mediocre graphics, the game comes close to perfection.

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Controls:
The controls are very simple. You need a mouse for clicking prompts on screen. The keyboard letter keys are needed for typing in search criteria and the space bar can be used to pause game simulations (although the mouse can be used here also). The nature of the game is such that controls play a very very minor role. This is an intellectual game and is irrelevant of reactions and control coordination.



System requirements:
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Overview:
Considering the game can be bought for less than 20GBP, it's a must buy for any avid football fan. The combination of detail, realism and time-consumption makes this title worthwhile. Providing you're willing to put in the time and effort, you'll love it!



Rating:
Gameplay: 9.8/10
Graphics: 6.5/10
Controls: 10/10
Overall: 8.8
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