Football Manager 2008

THE GOOD:

• International Management. Improved, updated system gives you more control over your country.
• Fresh, clean look from the new colour scheme and skin.
• FaceGen - the creation of regenerated players' faces.

THE BAD:

• Horrible, glitchy match engine(pre patch).
• Transfer market - asking prices too high and your selling prices too low.
• Media. Pre match questions are too repetitive and always spring predictable reactions.

SUMMARY:
Football Manager 2008. The newest in the long running CM/FM series, the fourth since the Eidos/Sports Interactive split. A quick recap of my thoughts on previous games: FM05 - a fantastic game, played it for hours on end, I think this game defined SI were superior to Eidos. FM06 - the greatest FM game. It topped FM05 and I think I had near as much...

THE GOOD:
~ Nice, clean looking new skin that's much easier on the eye.

~ Heap loads of new and improved features, including International management.

~ The shear addictiveness of this game. I can play it for hours on end.

THE BAD:
~ Pre-Patch Match engine had many bugs.

~ Transfer market needs to be changed, players asking prices are too high.

~ Still no full licensing, so downloaded graphics are needed.

SUMMARY:
My first thoughts on the game were a bit mixed. I was confused by the many different new features the game contained. But after I got the feel for the game, I started to like it more and more. I got the idea of the new features, and started to discover more about the game. There are many new aspects to the game. Internation management is one of the improved features of the game, you are now given more control over your nation, which makes the game feel more real than ever.

The...

THE GOOD:

• The feeling of managing your favourite club
• The new & improved skin
• The addictive gameplay

THE BAD:

• The match engine on the original version of the game
• The amount of money players are sold for
• Very time-consuming

SUMMARY:
Without a doubt SI have come back and once again produced by far the best management simulation going, but is it a step in the right direction? In my honest opinion, I think it is. The new game is much more advanced and detailed than ever before, letting you control every single aspect of the club ranging from financial control to scouting specific competitions or regions.

One thing that really let Football Manager down upon release was it's original match engine. The match engine was full of bugs and was hardly enjoyable to play as...

THE GOOD:

Good gameplay

Nice new skin to give it a little change

Wider range of players to scout for

THE BAD:

Very addictive

The original patch was terrible

Media questions are a very repetitive thing

SUMMARY:
I have to say, when I first bought the game I was very disappointed. There were a lot of bugs in the game with the most obvious being that your players to do close down and this allowing to let the opposition have a pop at goal.

When the first patch came out I was pleased as it had cleared all apparent bugs that I could see. I actually managed to get a good game going and playing regularly. However, I found it very difficult because in this game you have to think a lot more about the tactics you play against different opponents and also individual tactics for players. This patch was however on a whole very good.

When the January patch came out this made Football Manager...

THE GOOD:

SI updated the match engine, which makes the game a lot harder, people have to put more effort in the tactical part of the game now.

There are dozens of good add-ons.

THE BAD:

Basically this is not a new game, but merely FM2007 with a lot of add-ons.

Some of the improvements that are made are actually annoying in the long runs.

When the game was released it was just one big bug-fest and people who actually bought it on the day of release had to wait quite a while before they could play a bug-free game.

SUMMARY:
SI have been most successful in the past years when it comes to Football Manager. Every game has been an improvement and kept people glued to the screen for literally days. It still is that way although I heard people complaining that they had a hard time getting into it. Personally I think that "not getting into it" is a consequence of the improved match engine. The game has become to...

This game is a must buy for any football fanatic! Even if you're not the biggest fan of football this game could still be worth a look if you like management sims due to the in depth and total control you have over everything.

The game works very much like every other game in the series. You start out as a rookie manager with no experience, either at a club or nation of your choice, or unemployed. Your goal is to lead that team to win as many competitions as possible!
You will have a variety of tools at your disposal to maximise your chances of success. These are your tactics, your training, your finances, your transfer and wage budgets, your staff and your players!
You have to get the most out of your players by setting training schedules that focus on improving their weakest areas or improving and honing their strongest areas.

You can choose from a pretty much unlimited set of tactics to use. The formation is up to you, and there's a variety of...

THE GOOD:

as addictive as ever

new fresh look

greatly detailed with thousands of players to sign, clubs to join and staff to steal

confidence section is a great addition

THE BAD:

international management- there was meant to be a complete overhaul but adding your assistant recommending games to watch and a separate happiness indicator for internationals is not what i call an overhaul.

bugs. the game can be unplayable at times. defenders don't close down, vidic can't out jump defoe and the amount of chances missed is unbelievable.

the media. it is supposed to be expanded but there is little more in the way of things to say to the press.

as addictive as ever

SUMMARY:
On the day it came out we were all rushing off to game or waiting impatiently for the postman to deliver it. But was it worth? I'd have to say yes, but it's a close call.

the new skin is much better...

THE GOOD:

• A sleek, white new skin gives the game a fresh, cleaner look.
• Inceridibly detailed with thousands of players and clubs at your disposal.
• Easier to use with smoother, quicker gameplay.

THE BAD:

• Highly addictive.
• The pre-match media questions can sometimes get quite repetitive.

SUMMARY:
In the latest installment of the best manager simulation game on the market a variety of new features have been introduced to make the game even more realistic and detailed than previous installments. Some of these features include-

• Confidence- You can now find out about what the board and fans alike think of your performance as manager, this will go right down to their opinions on individual signings and match performances. They will also let...