Football Manager 2015 – Review
The Football manager series came into being in the year 2005, when Sports Interactive split from Eidos Entertainment. This event led to Sports Interactive working together with Sega to release games in the Football Manager series from 2006 onward. Football Manager 2015 is available on Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux.
Story
You are a manager and you are in charge of leading your team to the highest ranking. It’s that simple. Do so, and fame is yours, otherwise you’ll be demoted. With the events going on during your career, you’ll get the feeling that the game has a life of its own, especially so when you are being interviewed on your team’s progress. You’ll soon find yourself taking the team’s interest at heart.
Graphics
Playing management games can feel like a chore if the menus aren’t streamlined or the colours are dull. If the whole thing feels uninspired, it becomes difficult to stay focused. Sports Interactive have done a stellar job of avoiding to make the game feel like work. The menus are clear and the colours fresh. Options are easy to find and it makes it all feel streamlined. This makes it easy for newcomers to the genre to jump in and play.
Upon viewing a match being played by your team, you’ll notice that the graphics are decent. They aren’t extremely detailed, but with the game running on a myriad of devices, all with different specifications, it is clear why they had to keep the details to a minimum. The names of your players will pop up overhead so you can see which player is which, but they pop up at random and hovering your mouse over a player does not show their names. They might have put in the latter over the former for clarity reasons. Pay attention to the surroundings of the field and you’ll see that the game refers to some charities, among which is Gamesaid. Although it might just look like a billboard that some will overlook, it’s a nice touch.
Sound
What’s surprising is the lack of sound in the game. There is no tune playing when you are busy planning the next match or haggling over the player’s income. Fear of disturbing a player’s focus might have been the motivation behind the lack of music, though it makes the game feel lacking. If you are paying attention to the details, you can go for several hours of preparations to the match and making sure your team has the best set up and cross checking field set ups and match tactics, so a little bit of music should have been implemented. The only sounds you’ll hear occur when you are playing a match: the hooting and applause of the players, and the ball being kicked around.
Gameplay
If you are new to the Football Manager series, then you are in for a shock. The gameplay is extensive. It’s not all that difficult to wrap your head around, but it’s a daunting task to get into. The first mode is the most extensive management experience you have. The description tells you this, but doesn’t really explain that it’s also a lot to take in for the newer players to the genre.
For those players it should be recommended that they start off with Football Manager Classic. This mode is less daunting and it doesn’t sidetrack you with the how and what you were before you started taking up coaching. There is some background information, but not as much as in Football Manager mode. Having said this, the game isn’t without tutorials. Every new item or menu is explained clearly. Little yellow bulbs with numbers in them will be plastered over the new menus and when you hover over them, they’ll have extra information. Though most of the information is rather clear from just the first glance, there is some information which you’ll find useful later on into the game.
Football Manager 2015 also gives you tips on how picking more teams can put stress on your computer. The game needs a lot of information to run. The more teams you pick, the more information is needed when the game loads. Eventually you’ll notice your computer starts running slower with more teams chosen. It just shows the amount of information and detail the game has. In both modes you can pick as many teams as you want to manage, but know that this will complicate things and it soon becomes clear that you’ll have this isn’t a game to play when you want to shut your brain down and have some mindless fun. You have to stay focused and pay attention because every decision you make has a result. How well the team does therefore relies mostly on how attentive you are while making decisions.
If you want a break from making decisions in the Football Manager modes, you can have your way with the Challenge mode. Here you’ll be tasked with several handicaps as a manager and will have to make decisions to come out on top. Want to know what it’s like when your team doesn’t believe in you as a trainer? Maybe you don’t like the negative vibe these challenges give you and want a hand at making it big with the newly found youth talent? You could also try and prove yourself as a rookie among the professional coaches. These are just a few of the challenges that are presented to you. These challenges are shorter and they don’t offer as much freedom as the other two modes, but they do offer more streamlined gameplay. Managing a team is all well and good, but if it’s just zeroes and ones you are trying to beat then you might get bored. Luckily Sports Interactive have included an online mode for you to show off your coaching skills and beat the competition. Know that the adversaries are thinking players and they’ll do anything in their power to stop you, and they aren’t limited to algorithms.
Conclusion
Football Manager 2015 isn’t just a management game, it’s a full simulation. A lot of attention has been put into making a streamlined, fun experience. The game can be quite daunting for newer players as the Football Manager mode has been expanded quite a bit since the previous game, but there’s always Football Manager Classic for them to try their hand at. A must have for the fans and a great way to get into management games altogether.
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