FIFA Manager 10 Review

Greeted with the old Grandstand theme music and soft but precise presentation, FIFA Manager 10 is immediately and noticeably different from the basic, but highly competent Excel charts fabled in Football Manager. Regrettably, these initial layers of stylish presentation during the opening moments were knocked down by the immediate download of a patch, made available soon after release to fix reported game-crashes and other lesser grievances.

Those aspects aside, let's establish the basics of your (hopefully) prosperous career. FIFA Manager 10 provides a decent line-up for different play-styles. Most will simply choose a club and/or national team for a managerial career, but should it appeal you can negotiate a contract with a random team or even set up a new club. Following that choice is the typical customisation process - pick a database and leagues, create your manager profile and appearance using a fine tooth-comb and, if desired, set-up an optional personal life. At this point FIFA Manager 10 lets you choose from five difficulty levels spread over seven game areas, but being an average chap I went for Normal on everything, which later on seemed like the right choice.

It is also worth mentioning the exciting sounding "Action Mode" that can be selected. This optional mode allows for an additional career controlling a single player in the 3D mode, or more tantalising is the thought of a player-manager role. The problem with this idea is that unlike FIFA 10's "Be a Pro" mode, the player control is utterly terrible - amusingly my best efforts at manually controlling a player resulted in him getting slated by the assistant coach. As commentator Peter Brackley once said: "Nice idea, shame about the execution".

Once you have addressed the small matter of picking a team to manage and defining your season's expectations, you're at last unleashed into this huge and daunting world of managing not just a team, but the whole football club. Everything from merchandising, advertising and stadium design is present and correct. The problem I had however was the difficultly in discovering all the important tasks which are required to be fulfilled around the club. Learning to swim from the deep end without floats attached is a daunting prospect; better to focus on the basics and drip-feed the ostentatious features later on. A useful blue info button is at least on hand to help explain what's being displayed on each individual screen.

As a result of my confusion I went through most of the pre-season being pretty inefficient at running the club, though favourably the various areas of club management can be set to automatic as desired. I tailored the club management aspects to a level I felt more comfortable with, mostly trimming back on the admin work. With those problems dealt with, I could now focus on the team players and tactics. Keeping with the theme of FIFA Manager 10, there is an awful lot of detail here which just leads to an information overload. In next year's game I fully expect blood type to be on the agenda for player profiles.

To go into greater detail on everything FIFA Manger 10 caters for would be a Herculean task. To summarise, the great deal of varied tasks to get involved with form more of a distracting veneer on top of what is really important to most football managers. FIFA Manager 10 is privileged to contain all the club, player and league licences in the known universe, but all this would be pointless if there was no continued reason to play. The general feeling during my season with Norwich City is that the game successfully upholds interest over a season, though in the form of bite-sized energetic chunks as opposed to all out addiction.

It's hard to know whether the developers actually want you addicted or not - there is a real-world clock in the interface to remind you it's time to stop, but there is also a bizarre little feature which indicates the value for money recouped from the game. The major downer in drawing me back was most likely down to the deficiency of tactical depth, and there didn't seem to be enough feedback on why my decisions failed or suddenly succeeded. Feelings of joy and disappointment are always going to be a part of a football manager's job description, but more satisfaction would have made a refreshing change.

At any rate, the sound and graphics are two areas which FIFA Manager 10 can claim the crown over rival games in the genre. In the 3D engine - much improved from last year - the players, pitch and stadium are all notable for the right reasons, whilst the animations are now slicker and more diverse. Besides, seeing a ball hit the back of a net is even more gratifying in 3D. Loading times are no real problem and the presentation looks gorgeous, though the new menu layout will take some getting used to. The sound department meanwhile can boast respectable game music and atmospheric effects, while there is even basic match commentary from Clive Tyldesly and Andy Gray.

Not new to FIFA Manager? Well, this yearly update means there is going to be new and amended areas from the last game, some 400 changes in total. Several of the new features, like automatic substitutions, a jazzy season preview, career scrap book and customisable desk seemed superfluous, making a modest impact at best. There are a few decent new touches though, such as the ability to shout instant commands - like shoot, pass or cross - from the touchline in a control-freak manner which provides some witty moments. It is debatable whether there is enough to tempt a player back from last year to make a full priced upgrade to this latest and greatest version, though it is fair to envisage respectable value for money in the long term.

One of the major new additions to FIFA Manager 10 is the completely free online mode. Setting up an account is quick and easy so it's not long before you're in the lobby, where information on games available to join is displayed, including a handy friends tab too. The online mode is far less complex and quicker in pace than the offline counterpart. Each turn typically gives you one minute to tweak the basic training schedule, tactics and finances. Players are given an overall rating from 1-20 and can be transfer listed and then purchased via an auction system every week between July and April. There are no contracts to worry about and matches are played out in a few minutes using a very basic text display.

The first problem I encountered with the online mode is that despite there being a few dozen servers running, the majority are German speaking using the unfamiliar Bundesliga division, with only a handful of these at the start of a season. I decided to take the plunge and join a game of six players (the maximum is eight), but soon after the season began the managers left one by one. By the time the first match ended the game was terminated due to the fact I was now alone.

Eventually I did manage to start a game with a committed and friendly manager called "buh4". We played a complete season in the Barclays Premier League (all matches including the cups), with various other players joining and leaving throughout. Online seasons were originally promised to be short portions of entertainment lasting no more than three hours; however our season took closer to six. With user attention regularly required throughout, during this long session I had to use the repetitive match days as a chance to make a cuppa and take a leak. Despite an early buzz of excitement during the opening part of the season, interest levels steadily decreased over the next few hours, only picking up towards the latter part of the season when the teams reached their climax and the banter between mangers picked up.

This single online experience was one I will remember. However the major lack of variety - and the fact that tactical changes have little effect on matches - means that despite a rankings table to climb, I would only want to play a complete season like this once in a blue moon. Just about worthwhile as an addition to the main bulk of the game then, but the online mode needs to be built on and improved significantly next time around.

It is my overall opinion that FIFA Manager 10 can provide an enjoyable and rounded experience for managers new and old for a fair few hours, with superior sound and graphics to boot. However, if it is an addictive season-upon-season mentality and a polished match engine that you're after, then Football Manager still reigns supreme in those departments. While still the underdog, I would recommend giving FIFA Manager 10 a chance by at least trying out the demo before simply buying a rival out of tradition. You never know, it might just one day substitute Football Manager 10 as the greatest football management simulator on the market, but for now it will have to settle for being the best club manager instead.

Note added Jan 13th 2010: Update 3 released