Football Manager 2014

Alongside with the FIFA/PES war there is a title which has no rival, Football Manager. Football, because it is played with the feet and a ball instead of the hands and an egg. And it's older than the American cousin too.

Every year since 2004, Football Manager has been the king among the football managing simulators. Nothing extraordinary because Sports Interactive was responsible for Championship Manager up untill then. With the brand Championship Manager being explored by someone else and SI keeping the formula that brought them a dedicated fanbase this was the expected result.

 

It's hard to talk about this game without talking about the whole series and in many ways this is an upgraded version of the previous title, so just this time I will individualize the review by each cathegory.

Graphics

Being a simulator that relies on statistics, stat points, informations and news on most of the time it is easy to say that the game does not look pretty. It has a 3D match engine that has been upgraded since it was released but it's far from looking as good as FIFA, which is, in my opinion, the reference when we talk about football and graphics, but nonetheless it does not look bad, it's reasonable.

I also have to say that the windows never tire you, and you can even change the layout due to the skins available in almost every site and forum about the game. You can change the color of the stats, add facepacks and add logopack, it has a great costumization value which is a good feature to compensate for other flaws.

Comparing to the 2013 version the game looks better but still it's not great. I give it 3/5.

Gameplay

Being a game that is launched every year, the question everyone who hasn't played is the same: "Isn't it the same every year? What's new besides new rosters?"

And that is a plausible question that is better answered by playing. Every year there are many new features that make the player feel like they really are in control of their team. Every year something is introduced and refined to the point you just cannot remember how did were you capable to play the game without those features. Each new title looks and feels like the better instalment yet. And "yet" is a very important thing because every Football Manager knows that, somehow, next year this game is going to improve.

I've been playing the Manager series since 2000 and I've never read the manual of the game. It's so intuitive that you just learn how to play it by yourself. You can easily discover how to do anything due to the easy interface that the game offers or you can play the tutorial, and you also have a help system that you can use to ask anything.

If you don't know, the players have stats just like in a RPG and you have to manage the players, tactics, finances, transfers, training and many more things. Football Manager 2014 just might be the most intuitive version ever.

So, as gameplay is concerned, Football Manager is as easy as it is satisfying to do things well done. It's easy to play but it's not easy to be great at it, that balance is crucial to the success of the series. I just cannot imagine it to be any other way. It's only boring for those who have not played it.

I give it 5/5.

Sound

This is where Football Manager falls short to many. The only sound in the game is during the matches. You hear the crowd cheering, the referee and the ball being kicked. Nothing more but it's a managing simulator, in my opinion any more than this would make it repetitive. For me this is enough but they could add real chanting to the supporters in the stadium. Just to make it more like in real life.

I give it 3/5.

Longevity

Dozens of countries, hundreds of divisions and thousands of teams. To be the best you want to win everything. I easily play more than 20 hours in any save I start because it's easy to get addicted on taking your team to the top. On Football Manager 2003 I've spent more than 130 hours at it. There are not many games that are as lasting as this one. It's 5/5.

Final Score

In conclusion, if you not own any Football Manager game, I highly recommend you this title as it is the most  refined version ever. If you do own Football Manager 2013, I still recommend it because the changes made to the game make it a new challenge. Every new instalment made me feel like a noob and this was no exception.
Football Manager 2014 scores 16/20.