It really is that much like a sequence of spreadsheets though. Yes, I’m talking about workflow with regards to a video game. I should also say that for all the density of information that comes in the game, after a few hours every menu option makes sense, every tweak you might want to get to is easy to execute, and the layout of the screen itself allows for maximum workflow. That aside, what’s in Football Manager is going to last you a very long time indeed, even if you only ever play with one or two save files. I desperately want to manage my team, Kawasaki Frontale, to glory. I’m especially miffed that there’s still no J-League there. That being said, this has been the case for this franchise for a while now, and it’s getting to the point that it’s quite irritating that the developers haven’t come to terms to get more teams from Africa (where there’s just the one), the Middle East, and Asia/Oceania into the experience. Football Manager is very European-based, but outside of Europe there’s also wealthy leagues such as the US and China, talent-filled pools of athletes in a half dozen or so South American leagues, and even some minnows like South Africa, Singapore and Indonesia, if you want to challenge yourself to succeed with a team despite having no budget to play with. There’s a good range of leagues that you can take control of a team within. As a storytelling experience, I really love how Football Manager really does use its spreadsheet-like presentation to build a real narrative around your in-game actions. And when things get tough, the criticism can be a sharp reprimand indeed. Naturally the developers didn’t bother recreating the toxic tweets that comprise 99 per cent of the Twitter experience, but the remaining 1 per cent of users of Twitter add plenty of insight and discussion into real-world events in real time, as so the comments that you see in your in-game social feed start to build vivid, creative impressions of your time as the manager of a team. After every match, transfer, or major decision you make, there will be “people” sharing opinions in the Twitter-like social feeds. The fake social media feeds are particularly effective in building this storytelling experience. And that caring is deeper that in a standard football sim, thanks to the intense control you have over every facet of your team. In short, though the players in your team are rarely anything more than names on (relatively pretty) spreadsheets, you’ll care. You’ll start to micro-manage their training to try and drive at the development of particular skills, and you’ll feel bad when a twisted ankle earned through that training sidelines then for a few months. You’ll read every word of their match report, give yourself a fist pump every time they are shown in match highlights (rendered through an exceedingly simple 3D engine) to have done something major for the team. You recruit a player from another team via transfer, and you’ll suddenly become acutely aware and concerned for their performance, particularly if “fans” and the board are questioning the wisdom in the transfer. Here’s the big secret about Football Manager these games are, under that incredibly dry surface, storytelling experiences. On the other hand, when things aren’t going so well, watching three or four loses in a row can be brutal not only because your team’s board of directors will start to lose faith in you, but also because it honestly hurts to see the hours of preparation and careful nurturing of your team start to sour. You won’t be able to control your team’s performance come game day, but you’ll be forced to watch it, manage dynamic tactics, and the interchanges with players as they get tired, yellow carded, or injured.Īll of this feels great when tactics are working and your team wins a few on the trot. You need to keep an eye on the club’s finances, deal with the social media fall out from your activities, and set up the on-field tactics. You need to arrange transfers and manage training regimens. That is, if you’re part of the tiny niche of people who love football that much they genuinely care about the behind-the-scenes business and politicking of the sport.Īs manager you need to develop the youth team so that young talent can make its way into the first team, strengthening it in the process. And while a football game in which you play no football might sound impossibly obscure, it’s actually really good fun.
#FOOTBALL MANAGER MOBILE 2018 TACTICS SERIES#
Taking out all the thrill of the on-field heroics of a football team, this series instead casts you as the manager of your own team. There are few franchises that are more incomprehensible to people who aren’t in love with them than the Football Manager series.
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