Video Games Suck - Football Manager 2010

As good as Football Manager 2009, only even better!

Graphics:

We have a new skin for the game and it's looking good. Not only did Sports Interactive change the way the game looks, they also changed how the game is organized. FM fans will take some time to get accustomed to the new skin, but it's worth it, because it's better than what we had in the previous years.

The 3d match engine generally looks and feels the same as FM 2009, only that now we have stands in the stadiums too.

Sound:

SI hasn't made the jump to menu music yet, but it's OK. Since we're used to this for a long time in the FM games, it kind of gives the game a sense of identity. Although, we wouldn't mind if they just copy EA Games with their FIFA Manager and also introduce menu music to the game.

Gameplay:

You already know that I'm going to say that this game excels at the gameplay part. And it does. We again have a huge player database and the ability to play in multiple countries. We again have 3D matches and we again have lots of fun transferring players and creating tactics for our club.

BUT we also have improvements. The first improvement I observed was an improved transfer market. I'm playing with CFR Cluj (Romania) and IRL the club transfers a lot of foreign players, and some of them become some of the best players in the Liga I competition, so they are good players that the club manages to transfer. But In the previous versions of FM, my CFR Cluj team had problems transferring foreign players, because they we're reluctant to move to a Romanian club. But now I can sign players like Vicente, Stephen Appiah, Ricardo Oliveira or Rafael Sobis. And yes, it's realistic enough. For example, Appiah (out of contract at that time) was rumoured to sign for CFR Cluj IRL.

The second improvement that I noticed was on the tactical compartment. We now have a great tactics creator with which you can create your own tactics in eight guided steps. It's now easy and enjoyable to create tactics and this adds a great boost to the game. Unfortunately (at least in my case), it's difficult to create GOOD tactics. I again have to rely on downloaded tactics because I suffer greatly on the tactics parts of the game. But still, the game is realistic and it's so realistic that it's as difficult to succeed in it as it is in the real world.

Our assistant manager help us even more in FM 2010. You can now ask him for player instructions before a game and he can also give us important information & tips in the form of "Backroom Advice" as you can see in the following screenshot:

Another very interesting addition to the game is player biographies. Just like in a wikipedia article, player information is presented: clubs played, seasons played for clubs, awards won, apps and goals, etc. This is the biography of new CFR Cluj signing Boudewjin Zenden:

Conclusion:

Should you buy Football Manager or Championship Manager? The answer to this question is that I'd say you should buy both. While Football Manager is as good as ever, with a few new useful additions, Championship Manager is a greatly improved game and gets close to the level of FM. But yes, Football Manager is still the better game, only that this time the difference between the two is a little smaller.

Beautiful Game Studios' Championship Manager 2010 came as a wake up call for Sports Interactive that they DO indeed have some competition for their Football Manager game. This ended up in an improved Football Manager version that is greater than ever before.

9/10

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