FOOTBALL MANAGER 2016 review

PC

Armchair football managers step this way…

It may be every footy-mad boys dream to win the FA Cup when they grow up, but when they reach that age where that dream is no longer possible (ie. it dawns on them they are actually rubbish at football), they turn their attention to football management games. Physically they may be out of sorts, but they are self-confessed experts when it comes to the beautiful game, and are convinced they have what it takes to bring any club up out from the doldrums and transform them into title contenders. Of course, 99 times out of 100 this type of thinking is complete codswallop, but it never hurts to dream… As any England manager will tell you, every Tom, Dick and Harry has an opinion when it comes to the national team.

Enter stage right Football Manager 2016, the latest addition to the series of quite possibly the most comprehensive PC sim ever. And I don’t say that lightly. The level of detail in this game is train-spotteringly astounding. You want stats? We’ve got them by the bucketload.

If you are looking for a game that will sap hours of your life away playing, ostracise your girlfriend, family and friends alike, whilst developing strange, obsessive compulsive disorders about memorising all of the stats for mid-table goalkeepers from Poland… then this is the game for you. Sure your social life will take a battering, but just think of all the months of glory ahead of you as you take non-league AFC Dartford all the way to the giddy heights of the Premier League.

Veterans of previous Football Manager games will feel almost instantly at home upon first playing this year’s latest version of THE premier football management simulator. Brought to us by the folks at Sports Interactive and published by SEGA, this can be thought more as an update of previous versions that a complete reboot of the series.

Graphically things have been spruced up a bit, and the in-game 3D match is now better looking than ever. Gone are the awkwardly animated players and clumsy pitches of yesteryear, replaced with much more detailed stadiums and players to view as you play through each match.

The game engine as a whole seems to be quicker than in previous versions, and the bizarre goal scoring glitches of 2015 have thankfully been eradicated. The whole game seems to have had a spring clean, with a newer, revamped feel to it.

All in all this is essentially the same game as before but tweaked and refreshed substantially enough to warrant purchasing again. The amount of information crammed inside the disk is incredible, and if you are a frustrated fan wondering how you would do in the manager’s seat, then there really is no excuse to not play it. Just don’t blame us when your social life is left in tatters while you spend every second of your free time trying to win that elusive Champions League…

4/5

Mark Pilkington