Review Football Manager 2014

It is the imminent release of the new version of Football Manager, and the news certainly no shortage of the improved graphics engine, changes tactics, transfers and contracts more realistic, more complex interactions with players, staff and the press, the new system of news, and much more.

Review Football Manager 2014 – Introduction

It often happens that our head is in to review this simulation game. In most cases, this licenses sporty inspiration. Although we recently had the opportunity to try out a very original simulator agriculture.

For this review, we move on a title born when this writer was not yet born. We’re talking about Football Manager. And no doubt a piece of gaming history and the 2014 edition of this game comes with a track record of respect.

Over time and with the birth of the personal computer and the exponential growth of computing power, the game has gained more and more fans of the genre and has become one of the laws of football management simulators most popular in the world. A historical reference is a must for another game on which many of us have spent dozens of hours: born in 1992 PC Calcio until 2006 that the last chapter of his PC Soccer 2007 was the ultimate competitor FM.

Football Manager won the day and is now the undisputed master of the genre. On the web, there are hundreds of ” browser game ” dedicated to football-management simulation, the most famous and appreciated Hattrick, which is still proving a big hit today. None of these games cannot reach the completeness of a stand-alone simulator.

Complete this short trip back in time we go ” back to the future ” and see what it has to offer Football Manager 2014. It was inserted in the 2013 ” Classic Mode ” highly appreciated by all the players. This will be the first choice to make, slim version or full version?

Compared to the mode ” Football Manager “, the ” Classic ” looks leaner and faster while in the career, we will have to keep an eye on every single aspect, in the ” partly skimmed ” it gives the player a few more automation.

The result is a game always well detailed but with slightly more vocation Arcades, characterized by a rhythm game more sustained. We wanted to test both versions to be able to touch the differences between them. We started playing full mode. Our choice fell on a team of German second division, the Cologne. Media team standings with ambitions of promotion.

Throughout the creation of the game, the game offers us a very detailed guide. Every choice we need to do before you start playing it is explained in a comprehensive but concise. Once you have chosen the team and filled out our profile by Manager, we are catapulted into the main interface.

Licenses, Interfaces and Performance

At first glance, the large amount of information that are proposed to us leaves us bewildered. But begin to comb through all the menus, we find that the areas are well-defined and that any information refers to its semantic area. This makes it more intuitive interaction with the game.

As always, I strongly recommend to newcomers to the saga a reading of the main tutorial. No fear, the lessons are easy to read and lace. Within the game, there are some guides that will provide us with the proper tools to play your best. Without the use of these, you can still use the simulator fully only after a few hours of play.

It will be easier than that your first game ends up being just an experiment. There are many sampled for a total of 51 nations. The major championships are played up to the lower ranks. For example, were created teams entered the professional leagues, to the C2 series (now Lega Pro). Even football fans who do not have the good fortune to support a team of the most important series will then face their career leading the team to their hometown.

The concept of the graphical interface is modern and clean. Following is the current ” minimal ” that characterizes the last few years and is very well maintained. The screen changes depending on the team we have chosen inspired by the colors of the uniform main social. We note that some teams do not use the official logos and names.

Lack that we do not see in the formations seen that roses are almost totally faithful to the original. A criticism of this game at launch, it was precisely the lack of official licenses. The game interface is divided into seven panels, and the content of them can be customized by the player (choosing from 14 panels summary) so you can always keep an eye on the statistics of their own society that we are concerned at the time.

 At the top, there are two menu bar. The first (Tab) will give us the ability to switch between the news, search, go to our office or access the area dedicated to the transfer market. The top menu instead contains areas dedicated to the team and the league, in addition to the menu of Football Manager and the time of the game.

The early stages of the game are characterized by the pre-season. It easy to shrug off this part of our career, but in reality, unless we address this with the right abundance tranche of the season (especially if it is the first season that we play) we will be very difficult to manage in the official matches. The management of the team is very complex. And do not say this in a negative sense, indeed, a simulator of quality should not do otherwise.

Manage training, psychology of the team, staff and society will be the most important part of the game. We will then run from the press, always ready to make us uncomfortable questions, to which we must respond in the correct way (worth creating discontent in society, dressing room or staff).

The management of finances and contracts with players, it is also very important. If we risk neglect to peck a call by the leadership or let us blow out from under his nose a few players on a free transfer. Or worse yet to be shown the door.

Football Manager 2014 is not realistic only in the management of the team. Even the surrounding world in which we are immersed is well reproduced. The dialectic of journalists, interviews with the staff and management using appropriate terminology and jargon is varied.

Once you have made your choices, just hopefully, it takes the field. By default there will be shown with 3D animation only the highlights. For those who want to follow the team to the bottom, you can see the game in its entirety.

The animation of the actions is of good quality. Certainly, we cannot expect the graphics quality of a game-like FIFA or PES, but the game is nice to see. Besides, would not make sense to waste too many resources in this part.

During the simulation, the game will have complete freedom of action. We may amend the form, perform the replacement or give a different philosophy of play to the team. The staff will give us some tips that we can decide to accept and put into practice ” on the fly ” directly from today’s clash with one click.

And course, you can delegate this part of their staff and see only the end result losing much of the fun in our opinion. In the ” Classic Mode ” are streamlined management and the game is faster. If you are fans of the genre but not quite ” maniac ” probably is the most fun. Element to be reckoned with in this game mode is the ability to use the ” cross save ” with the PS Vita.

You can then face a series of challenges pre-set that will make us deal with situations at the limit of manageability. To give some examples: we have to support a game with an injury crisis or playing with a team made up of only the young.

What’s new?

Seen in this way the 2014 version of FM seems to only upgrade to the new season. In this version have been made some major improvements. The 3D graphics engine has been improved to make it more faithful to reality and fluid. The impacts of the players with the ground have been improved. We updated the kits and models, which are now more varied.

The tactical system has been revised and improved with the addition of many roles and the development of AI players and coaches of their opponents. Even the section on contracts and transfers has been improved and is now much more realistic. They are loaded with new option’s contracts and perfected the system ” live ” that will make trading faster and more exciting.

The relationship with the leadership is much more useful to the management of the team. The negotiations with the property will be able to do in order to revise upwards the budget at the beginning of the season based on the needs or the results of the team. The biggest news we found to be linked to the renewal of the News / Messages. It been inserted categorization of topics (style labels of G-Mail) that makes it much faster to read the messages.

In addition, we interact with the staff and the team directly via the mailbox giving orders using the buttons inside the message read. The ” Classic Mode ” has been enhanced, and now you can choose more than three playable nations. It been inserted a guided mode for the management of unlockable games and features some new elements.

As the game integrated into Steam, then, gamers will be able to use the ” Steam WorkShop ” to share their challenge’s objects or game screens. Last but not least, this version of the game is compatible with Linux operating systems and give you the option of using the ” cloud ” for their own bailouts. In this way, we can play our career even from multiple computers without having to go around with our rescue.

Conclusions

In conclusion Football Manager 2014 is a simulator of excellent workmanship. Nothing is missing and nothing seems to have been left to chance. All elements of management were treated and it is evident that we are faced with a game that now boasts more than thirty years of evolution.

Compared to previous years, there have been complaints about official licenses that are slightly decreased. This does not make for anything less realistic the game itself. The goal is to simulate it the best managerial experience. The lack of any official logo and name some of the team is not 100% faithful not to affect the quality of the experience.

The output of the simulations of the matches has improved and is pleasant to follow their team in the field. From the point of view of performance, we found no significant issues. We played it on a laptop for office use (not too powerful) than on a dedicated machine for gaming and in both cases, everything went smoothly.

From the point of view of the AI ​​the game it seemed efficient. Both opponents that our team consistently responds to the situations of the game and the season. The staff intervenes with his suggestions in a competent manner and not discordant note in the statements of the media.

We note that the game is far from easy to play. The learning curve is quite steep and without the complicated, tutorials will certainly play right now at best. But we do not expect from a simulator never easy, but rather challenge and longevity. Two elements that are certainly not lacking in Football Manager 2014.

Having said all this, so we can be fully satisfied with this title, and we cannot give you a more positive overall. Fans of the genre will not be left disappointed and certainly also the curious may find it fun to test himself at the helm of a football team.

Product prices and availability are subject to change. Any price and availablility information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of any products.