Football Manager 2014 (PC) Review

The days of jumping into a quick game of Championship Manager and messing around with tactics, player positions, formations, transfers, and so on, started to fade away fast with the introduction of Football Manager back when SEGA bought Sports Interactive and the old series name rights stuck with the now Square Enix-owned Eidos Interactive. In came more depth to the gameplay, to the point where, even though the loyal followers stood by each new release, certain sectors would soon come away shaking their heads in confusion and frustration about not being able to get things up and running swiftly enough, or even finding that their PCs were not up to the task of dealing with the mammoth databases that span a plethora of countries and leagues from around the globe.

Thankfully, in response to feedback, the UK development outfit brought in a 'Classic' mode for those wanting to continue playing on PCs, and released a superb stripped down iOS edition - like the amazing Football Manager Handheld 2014 Cubed3 reviewed recently. Listening to the fans is an important element that not as many teams as expected do.

However, do not be fooled into thinking that the 'Classic' mode of Football Manager 2014 is too watered down, though, since there is still the choice of selecting several leagues at once, taking control of training players, man-managing tiny aspects of the club dealings and speaking with the Board to request things like stadium expansions or a transfer budget boost. Unfortunately, though, in that and the fully-fleshed out modes, there seems to be some detachment between the actions of the player and the in-game consequences. Everything starts to feel far too randomised as the seasons go on, be it unlikely transfers, tactics making no difference, player stats belying actual form, and various other elements that sadly detract from the engagement factor.

Another major drawback comes when watching matches using the 3D engine. Whereas when just watching the commentary flit onto the screen, like with the classic games, it is fantastic how the imagination conjures up an image of such a tense, exhilarating match, but it all changes when watching the action played out in full.

Sadly, what happens is that flaws in the game engine appear, with all manner of odd glitches occurring, along with actions that would make absolutely no sense in real life at all. Hidden behind the flash card commentary the game is sheer perfection for long periods of time, yet changing to the more advance visuals spoils everything SO much to the point of not wanting to play anymore. It may sound crazy, but it is indeed very true. It was not long before the Classic Mode was booted up in favour of the complexity of the default game, and all settings were stripped back to make it look as close to the 1990s/early 2000s versions that won over so many gaming hearts.

As mentioned earlier, though, even then there is not only a lingering feeling of randomness tarring the otherwise enjoyable experience, but also frustration creeping in over time as a result. Playing with a low level striker will often bear better results than some of the 'technically' superior players out there, and yet because the in-game media choose to clearly just look at the player attributes, negative comments will keep popping up despite No Name Striker bagging 40+ in a season, whereas Super Wonder Guy gets a meagre 10 and nary a bad word is said against him. Now, of course, it needs to be remembered that there are form fluctuations in even the best of players in real life, but there are times in Football Manager 2014 when certain aspects simply do not wash too well with football fanatics… and yet it still has a certain addictiveness. Such conflicting opinions!

Scoring Football Manager 2014 is very difficult then, since it has that amazingly addictive game still within, yet there are so many other aspects added that reduce the fun factor considerably. Unfortunately, when finding that there are times when tactics employed simply do not work, and everything comes down to random 'dice roll' situations, the game starts to grow tiresome very quickly. That feeling of elation when luck falls the other way and a string of narrow victories see numerous trophies fill the once dusty cabinet, though, simply cannot be beaten and is what ultimately saves Football Manager 2014 from the guillotine. There are warning signs that something needs to be done for future revisions, and perhaps one option would be to split the Classic Mode out into a completely separate release, giving those that want a simpler version that runs on any PC without causing it to overheat exactly what they desire.