PC & Mac
Published by SEGA
Developed by Sports Interactive
It's that time of the year again when the
latest version of one of the most addictive PC games of all time arrives
causing frustration, sheer delight and a severe lack of sleep for
football fans everywhere. The challenge of taking the managerial reigns
of a team of your choice, from over fifty nations, from despair to
silverware is just too irresistible for many and, as you would probably
expect given the track record of Sports Interactive, this year's version
is just as addictive as ever. The game comes with hundreds of
adjustments and improvements and in addition this year there are three
extra game modes being thrown in for good measure.
Let's begin by taking a look at those three
new game modes: Football Manager Classic, Challenge and Versus. Anyone
who has played Sports Interactive's football management games over the
last decade or so will readily admit that the level of complexity has
soared. A decade ago you could get through a season in a day or two
without going on holiday in the game and leaving it running overnight.
Getting through a season in a recent Football Manager game can take
weeks (again assuming you're actually watching the matches and not
simply going on holiday in the game) and for some that can be just too
time consuming. Football Manager Classic is a mode that offers a 'lite'
Football Manager experience allowing you to quickly move from match to
match without too much to do in between. You'll still buy players, pick
the sides and have full tactical control during matches but there are no
team talks or media conferences to engage in (although you are asked the
odd question from the local press). Training has been trimmed down to
practically nothing, in fact there's no individual player training in
this mode, which in some respects is a little disappointing. You'll also
notice that you don't have to watch the match if you don't want to. You
have the option to jump to an instant result. I'm not sure how I feel
about that as I've always detested that feature in other football
management games and to see Sports Interactive include it seems all
wrong but then again the essence of the Football Manager Classic mode is
speed and being able to plough your way through season after season in a
high-speed fashion. Being able to get instant results is a feature that
does more than any other to get you through the season in a timely
fashion so I suppose its inclusion shouldn't be criticised.
One limitation of the mode however is that
you can only have three active nations which may be a little
disappointing for some. The mode also uses a different interface, an
interface shared by all three of these new modes, which is significantly
different from the interface in the main game. Some may not find the
different interfaces a problem but having spent a lot of time over the
last week or so switching between the main mode and these new additions
I've found the differences a little jarring. Surely it would have been
simpler to have kept the same interface and simply remove the elements
that were no longer applicable in these new modes. Another thing I've
noticed is that whilst I certainly wouldn't mind an occasional return to
the simplicity of the days of the Championship Manger 2 and Championship
Manager 3 series I've found myself wishing for a little more depth when
playing the Football Manager Classic mode. That said, you do get through
the seasons much more quickly and as a result it's a mode that will
definitely satisfy some players. Essentially it's a mode I'll certainly
dip into from time to time but for the most part I'd rather focus on the
main game.
Controversially Sports Interactive have taken
the decision to include a collection of what could be termed as
'unlockable assists' in the Football Manager Classic mode. Altogether
there are twelve of these which amongst other things can remove all of
the transfer windows, give your club a new stadium, remove loan
restrictions, make you immune from being sacked, do away with the need
for work permits and make all of the players in the game interested in
joining your team. All of these can be purchased and over half of them
can be earned through playing the Football Manager Classic mode. You can
even purchase extra money for your club if you're feeling desperate
enough. None of these features I'm pleased to say can be used in the
main game which has thankfully been kept 'assist' free.
Challenge mode gives you the opportunity to
tackle one of four scenarios each with their own length and difficulty
ratings. In The Savior Cometh you're half way through a season and
fighting a relegation battle. Essentially you have half of the season to
get your team to safety. Injury Crisis sees you having to deal with a
long injury list and yet you still have to meet your board's
expectations despite this serious problem. The Invincibles puts you in
charge of team that is unbeaten in the league and it's your goal to
finish the season undefeated. Finally in You can't win anything with
kids you are blessed with a clutch of talented youthful players and it's
your target to use them as the core of your team and bring in some
silverware. What I really like about these challenges is that you're
free to pick which side you want to control to participate in the
challenge. Obviously picking the better sides means you are lessening
the challenge somewhat but the option to manage who you want practically
means these challenges have limitless replay value. The game also offers
online leaderboards (which take all of the variables into account to
ensure fairness in the overall rating system) to make the challenges
just that little bit more competitive.
More challenges are to be made available
although they will have to be purchased. If there's a complaint I have
to make about the Challenge mode, which generally I find very enjoyable,
it's that it uses the Football Manager Classic game engine so you're not
getting the full depth that you would have in the main game. It's not
much of a problem but it would have been more satisfying to have had
full control over your team in these challenges. Of course using the
Football Manager Classic game engine does allow you to complete the
challenges much more quickly however, which I daresay many will
appreciate.
Versus mode allows you to create your own
competitions and invite your friends to take part in them with you. You
can create a Knockout Cup for 2-32 players, a League for 2-6 teams where
you'll play each other twice and a Head-to-Head League where two players
will play each other five times. You can either use a team you've
exported from your single-player game or simply pick from any of the
club sides present in the game.
Football Manager 2013 isn't just about new
modes of course. The core game has a wealth of additions and refinements
that help to make this a better game than Football Manager 2012. In
actual fact there are around nine hundred improvements in the game
ranging from minor tweaks, that some might not notice at first, to
fairly significant additions that really add more realism and depth to
the game. Naturally, it's impossible to cover everything in this review.
Youth teams can now have their own facilities
and training grounds. New non-player roles have been introduced into the
game. You can now have a director of football. Should you choose to
employ one, you can delegate some of tasks to them such as scouting,
transfer negotiations, staff recruitment and youth development. To truly
develop your squad you'll want a head of youth development and other
youth team staff who can help you assemble a squad filled with talented
youngsters during the course of a long-term game. The role of chief
scout has also been added to the game to help you co-ordinate your
scouting network and make it operate more efficiently.
Training has been simplified and essentially
combined with general match preparation. You get to choose what aspect
of training to focus on each week and its intensity. You'll also get to
decide on whether to focus more on general or match training. Up to 50%
of your training can be dedicated to match preparation. You still have
full control over individual player training if you wish however. You
can now tell your coaches to go and get their coaching badges in order
to improve their technique providing your club finances allow it. If you
want to you can now send your team to pre-season and winter break
training camps choosing what players to send to the camp.
More situation specific team talks allow you
to say more appropriate things to your players before, during and after
matches. The tone system that was implemented for the team talks in
Football Manager 2012 is now present when you are talking to the media.
This essentially allows you to flavour your comments to the media and
put across your general mood. Whilst this is a nice touch it still would
be appreciated if we could have more variation in the things being said
however, as there are times when it can feel as though you're using the
same responses again and again.
Those who appreciate realism will be pleased
to learn that the financial modelling of clubs is more realistic and
that each country's tax rate is now taken into account. You're also told
how much a player will receive after tax in contract negotiations. Of
course if you're managing in a country with a higher tax rate you'll
need to pay the player more to give them the required take-home pay. The
economic recession has been taken into consideration and you'll
generally find most clubs in Europe are more financially constrained
than in previous games. You can now obtain projections of your future
finances to alert you to possible financial difficulties in the years
ahead which is extremely useful if you're in charge of a team that's
just been relegated.
The 3D match engine has undergone some
improvements this year. Not only have the graphics been improved but the
player animations also look more realistic. There are more camera angles
too and essentially the matches look significantly better than in
previous versions. That said, you can tell that the 3D match engine
still needs work. There are times when both outfield players and
goalkeepers seem to move unnaturally sidewards or backwards to receive
the ball which is a little disconcerting to watch. Whilst the animations
are clearly an improvement they are by no means perfect and still need
work. On the whole however it's clear that improvements have been made
and when you consider that no football game, management simulation or
not, has completely managed to replicate the true look and feel of a
football match, even after many years and versions, it's fair to say
that Sports Interactive are making progress at quite an impressive rate.
I don't think that there has ever been a
problem with any of Sports Interactive's titles in respect to their
accessibility for deaf gamers and Football Manager 2013 is no exception.
All of the information in the game is shown visually through the use of
numbers, text and mostly self-explanatory icons. All of the game's
concepts are explained in an impressive collection of tutorials which
will ease newcomers into the world of Football Manager. These tutorials
are all in text and can be recalled at any time. I would like to see an
option to increase the size of the text in the game, particularly on
higher resolution displays where some of the screens, particularly those
accessible during the course of a match, use quite small text and have a
lot of redundant space. In terms of accessibility however, there are no
complaints.
Reviewing a behemoth of a game such as Football Manager 2013 with its sheer breadth and depth is never easy and no review of such a game can claim to be comprehensive given the time constraints involved. That said, when returning to a series that you're familiar with, and fond of, you tend to look at the various aspects of the game that you feel could have done with improving to see if real progress has been made. Given how good Football Manager 2012 was I wasn't expecting Football Manager 2013 to be much of an improvement but an improvement it certainly is and that's without taking the new modes into account. There are more than enough refinements and tweaks here to make me never want to play Football Manager 2012 again which is some compliment given how much I like last year's game. Yes the match engine still needs work but progress clearly has been made. The new modes definitely put a new twist on the series and are worthwhile distractions but I suspect many longstanding fans of Football Manager will want to plough most of their time into the main game rather than the Football Manager Classic mode which feels too trimmed down for my tastes. The Challenge mode definitely has more value although I wish they employed the full game engine and not the cut down one from the Football Manager Classic mode. Even without taking the new modes into consideration Football Manager 2013 is the best football management game to date. The many tweaks and refinements help to make this a truly memorable game that will soak up most of your spare time between now and the release of next year's sequel.
