Football Manager 2012 review
I tweeted just before I began to write this review how I’d much rather be playing Football Manager than writing about it. And that’s the thing about this year’s game; you don’t want to do anything other than play Football Manager. It’s a feeling I’ve not had for some time now with the FM series when I think back. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed the past couple of games from Sports Interactive, they’ve just not gripped me like they used to. I put it down to no longer being a student and not having the spare time that I used to, with me now working full time and having to do grown up things like decorate a house rather than miss a full day of uni lectures. But that’s still the case as I play Football Manager 2012 right now, and it was still the case 2 weeks ago with FM11 sitting on my desk having not been played in months. So when you’re sat at work thinking tactics and how to improve the leaky defence you have, you know you’re onto a winner of a game.
OK so that might be going just a bit far (just in case my boss is reading this), but I know I haven’t wanted to play anything other than Football Manager lately. But what do I put this new found enthusiasm for a series I did and do still love down to? Well as I navigate around the game there’s nothing that stands out as being brand new, which may sound strange but I think that’s a good thing this year. What Sports Interactive have done for FM12 after a couple of years of discontent with launch day bugs being very apparent for a lot of players, is fine tune and improve what they already had to make the best Football Manager game to be released for many a year.
I actually read the last few sentences I wrote and laughed, because I do recall having a slight grumble at the lack of new content in previous Football Manager games, stating SI should release a new game every other year to keep the game fresh and exciting, with a whole host of new features can come along at once instead of in dribs and drabs each year. The difference this year from others is that you can see the work and thought that has gone into this year’s game to make it the best SI can.
So if there’s nothing new that jumps out at you, why buy this year’s game other than for the reason it has up to date leagues, teams and players? Because you won’t be disappointed if you do. Because you’ll be dragged into your own fantasy world where you are the manager of a football club, struggling to meet the expectations and beliefs of fans and chairman. Because the additions from previous years have been improved and are now offer and do what they should have first time round.
The team talk and player interaction system has been refined, with different tones now available to use. This means you can now interact with players at a much deeper level, with their different personalities dictating how they respond to not just a comment that you make, but the tone that you use as well. It brings another dimension to the world of football management, with your man management skills now even more important than ever before.
Contract negotiations have seen a similar sort of tuning and improvement, with the ability to lock certain terms now available which will stop the ping ponging of wage or contract length that was very much apparent in last year’s game. Be warned though, if a player or agent thinks you are being unreasonable in your demand by, for example, locking the wage available too low or too early on in negotiations, then expect a rather quick exit from the player and his representative if they feel the demand is far too unreasonable. If you’ve locked the wage down to an amount they feel is too low, then why would they stay for further talks?
Scouting reports also follow the fine tuning/more depth theme in Football Manager 2012 and you can now get more detail on your opponents if you have a scout assigned to you next opposition. The team report no longer comes in words stating x player is a danger man who can score goals for fun. No, you are now instead presented with an actual report with the scout rating the first, second and third best players in each position out of five stars, while also giving detailed information on how the attributes of the different areas of the team stack up, as well as giving both tactic and goal analysis. No longer will your scout tell you in black and white that your opponents will struggle against your 4-4-2 formation, you have to read and analyse the report and decide that for yourself.
At some point in your managerial career things will get tough and in past Football Manager games, you’d at some point be able to call a team meeting to discuss the players grievances and concerns. That’s not the case anymore, with an option to call a team meeting always shown in the team screen now, but whether one can be called all depends on whether there is an actual reason. The beginning of a season is a good reason, as you can outline your thoughts and expectations, again using the tone option which will also sometimes offer different dialogue depending on what tone is used. You’ll be able to see how your players react to what you have said and you’ll have the option to ask the team or your captain to speak if they so wish, or ignore them all and continue on your merry rant. But call too many team meetings in a short space of time won’t go down well with the team.
One area of the game that hasn’t seen a great deal of improvement is the match preparation area and it’s the games biggest weakness. I am of course ignoring the sounds and graphics as let’s be honest, who is really put off from playing Football Manager because of poor graphics? The main options in the match preparation area remain the same and it’s a shame that more options weren’t developed. I keep mentioning depth, but the match preparation is one area that severely lacks any.
Football Manager 2012 may not have the stand out brand spanking new feature past Football Manager games have, such as the introduction of the 3D match engine, or those evil agents corrupting our players and making contract negotiations that much harder. But what Sports Interactive have developed is a deep, highly polished game that fans of the series will love and enjoy. And just like the professional football managers do, you will eat, breath and sleep the world of football management once again thanks to this year’s title.
