Football Manager 2010 UK Review@IGN

frankchen1911

We dust off the chalkboard and deliver our verdict on the king of footy management sims.
by Orlando Parfitt, IGN UK

UK, October 27, 2009 - The air is turning cold, England fans are already anticipating World Cup victory and Alex Ferguson's moaning at referees. Yep, the football season is well underway, which can mean only one thing - the latest version of Football Manager will soon be hitting the terraces.

Unlike last year, when the Manchester United of football management sims arrived replete with a new and heavily hyped 3D match engine, the pre-release chatter around FM has been much quieter this time around. There's been no major new addition or stand-out feature that's been trumpeted by Sports Interactive's PR machine, just the promise of 'the best FM yet'. The question is, is it really?

We've spent the last few weeks playing the life out of Football Manager and our considered opinion is that - and this is a sentence we never thought we'd write - FM2010 is a sexy little minx of a football manager game. See, we like to think of the FM series as a long-term girlfriend (indeed, we undoubtedly spend more time with the game than we do our real missus) - we've spent many years with it and love it for its depth and personality, but sometimes it'd be nice if it just made a bit more effort. But FM10 is like your better half after she's been on a makeover TV show - when FM10 emerges from behind the curtain to reveal itself for the first time, you'll be taken aback by its new-found beauty, yet it's still the game you know and love.

Football Manager 10's charms aren't immediately apparent though, and for the first few hours it's difficult to actually see what's new. Early on it's obvious the detail and realism - hallmarks of the franchise - are far ahead of the competition as ever, so much so having FM installed is like having a virtual version of the football universe existing on your computer. Indeed, the army of scouts SI employs to dig up information and stats on virtually every team, player and coach in the world ensures that this is as close an approximation of the world of football as is physically possible. Such things are bread and butter for FM. However, beyond the basics, the plethora of smaller additions and upgrades bolted on for this year's instalment initially feel like perfunctory decorations on an over-familiar chassis.

The most trumpeted of these is the "complete navigational overhaul", which we admit took us a while to get our head around. The navigation sidebar - a standard FM feature for years and a reliable anchor for when you're lost among reams of stats - has been ditched in favour of a tab system that's been integrated into all the most important areas of the game, from tactics to player scouting, to the match screens.

Initially the switch-up is rather confusing but after a couple of hours we started to fall in love with the interface. It's more logical, grouping all the most important tabs closer together, plus has the affect of freeing up the whole left-hand side of the screen, making the overall look feel cleaner, less cluttered and accessible to newcomers to the series.

Ah yes, SI's age-old dilemma of opening out the world of FM to a new, more 'mainstream' audience. No matter how hard it tries, the series has consistently been a byzantine, complex and utterly confusing experience for those who have never played it before and are unprepared to devote hours familiarising themselves with FM's intricacies. Cosmetic improvements like those mentioned above certainly help, but we think that the brand new Tactics Creator may actually be by far the most significant step forward in this regard.

Previously, altering your tactics - beyond choosing a formation - was a complicated and vague affair that often left managers in doubt as to what affect - if any - their chalkboard machinations were having on team performance. Now however it is far easier to tinker with both your team's overall style of play, and what role each of your players will fulfil. Starting with the latter, previously if for exmaple you were managing Manchester United and you wanted Owen Hargreaves to play as a 'deep lying holding midfielder' (back in the days when he was fit), you would have to separately issue instructions on his passing, tackling, movement off and on the ball, and so on.

In FM 2010 you can simply select an option on your main tactics screen that makes him operate in this role. Then, if you replace him with Michael Carrick half-way through the match, you can quickly switch him to 'deep lying playmaker'. It's a far more sophisticated way of controlling your players that immediately bears fruit in matches, and is simultaneously far simpler to execute.

Similarly when controlling your team as a whole, two new major metrics have been added to your tactical arsenal. You can set an 'overall philosophy' for your team, such as counter attacking, controlled, overload (all out attack) - and also decide how fluid or rigid you want your formation and tactics to be (and which probably explains why IGN's ultra attacking, very fluid Milan team kept on conceding so many goals.)

Even more useful for managers however is the ability to bellow instructions from the touchline. There are all manner of exasperated demands to choose from, with our Milanese charges regularly hearing the likes of 'keep possession', 'play narrow' and 'shoot on sight'. Unfortunately 'defend better' wasn't one of the options. Again, it takes tactical tinkering away from the hardcore users messing for hours in the bowels of the game, and into the match screen that everyone uses.

The final feature that emphasises SI's sterling efforts in this regard is the improvements made in gauging how your team is doing, both during and after matches. Last year the introduction of the Assistant Manager's new found ability to natter in your ear during games was a big break-through in understanding what was going right or wrong for you team. Now the new 'Match Analysis' tool - in a very easy and accessible way - lets you see how many shots, passes, tackles and so on both your team and opposition are making. It's information that one could have dug up in previous FM iterations, but never before has such a wealth of important detail been so easy to view and utilise, and so logically presented.

Perhaps the word that best sums up FM2010 then is 'polished'. Many familiar elements have been sharpened and streamlined, with the overall package feeling significantly sexier, slinkier and slicker than before. Even those aspects that have only had a brush-up, such as the 3D match engine or interactions with the media, feel fresher this time around.

However, those two aspects in particular also highlight the limitations of FM2010. The great folly from the previous instalment - the ill-executed 3D match engine - has not had the radical surgery necessary to become something that's worth bothering with, let alone the great step forward in the FM universe that it has the potential to be. Media interaction, despite the addition of press conferences for new signings and better-written responses, is still fundamentally a series of five-point multiple choice Q and A sessions that quickly becomes an irritant you palm off to your assistant manager.

Closing Comments
In short FM2010 isn’t an evolutionary step in the series. Instead it’s merely an incredibly well produced update. SI has lovingly polished the FM bodywork, added some spoilers, alloys and a couple of PS3s in the passenger seats, but underneath it’s the same engine. Luckily under the hood everything is in full working order; for detail and realism FM2010 is - as usual - in a league of its own. It’s the stat-heavy beast beloved by millions of PC Gamers, but prettier, more accessible and with some ingenious new tweaks. FM2010 is not however a Fernando Torres-style game-changer that takes the series to the next level.


8.0         Presentation
Huge effort has gone into making the spreadsheet visuals look cleaner and prettier than last year.
6.0         Graphics
Last years' 3D match engine has been improved, but not enough to make it worthwhile.
2.0         Sound
The usual crowd noises. Do yourself a favour, whack on some tunes instead.
9.5         Gameplay
The FM we know and love, but with virtually every aspect given a little polish.
9.5         Lasting Appeal
18-hour-striaght sessions are par for the course with FM, with the 2010 iteration likely to be no exception.


[fly]9.3           Outstanding         [/fly]

Tottiseiya

声音无视

韩流

坐等大大翻译~
FM10快了

starsea8792

Quote: "See, we like to think of the FM series as a long-term girlfriend (indeed, we undoubtedly spend more time with the game than we do our real missus) - we've spent many years with it and love it for its depth and personality, but sometimes it'd be nice if it just made a bit more effort. But FM10 is like your better half after she's been on a makeover TV show"

I really liked this girlfriend metaphor. It's so true...

nicholastyc

总结。。。没什么改变，只是改变了视觉目录排法，和加了新的ANALYSIS TOOLS, 可以查看球员的各方面的表现和可以快速的调球员的位置。

坦白说，方便了不少是FM10最大的改变。

就是FM迷的普通数据都没变 ---那就是最好不过的了。

nicholastyc

还没看整篇的朋友。。。别看了。。直接看他的总结好了。 鬼佬就是爱浪费时间。

nicholastyc

Closing Comments
In short FM2010 isn’t an evolutionary step in the series. Instead it’s merely an incredibly well produced update. SI has lovingly polished the FM bodywork, added some spoilers, alloys and a couple of PS3s in the passenger seats, but underneath it’s the same engine. Luckily under the hood everything is in full working order; for detail and realism FM2010 is - as usual - in a league of its own. It’s the stat-heavy beast beloved by millions of PC Gamers, but prettier, more accessible and with some ingenious new tweaks. FM2010 is not however a Fernando Torres-style game-changer that takes the series to the next level.

8.0         Presentation
Huge effort has gone into making the spreadsheet visuals look cleaner and prettier than last year.
6.0         Graphics
Last years' 3D match engine has been improved, but not enough to make it worthwhile.
2.0         Sound
The usual crowd noises. Do yourself a favour, whack on some tunes instead.
9.5         Gameplay
The FM we know and love, but with virtually every aspect given a little polish.
9.5         Lasting Appeal
18-hour-striaght sessions are par for the course with FM, with the 2010 iteration likely to be no exception.

juntakashi

Media interaction, despite the addition of press conferences for new signings and better-written responses, is still fundamentally a series of five-point multiple choice Q and A sessions that quickly becomes an irritant you palm off to your assistant manager.


媒体对答 还是那么失望啊，治标不治本啊   哎~~~

juntakashi

but well，反正玩FM 也不是为了3D，有最好 没有也不会吐血，声音......反正都是一路下来 都是边玩边听歌，声音有无更不重要

9.5         Gameplay
The FM we know and love, but with virtually every aspect given a little polish.
9.5         Lasting Appeal
18-hour-striaght sessions are par for the course with FM, with the 2010 iteration likely to be no exception.


看到IGN这2个给那么高，吾甚欣慰

nicholastyc

就是没什么改变。。