Video game of the week: Football Manager 2009

Posted by Aidan Sansom on Tue 2 Dec 2008

Who are Dwayne Plooney and Dobin Van Schmersie?

It's that time again. A new year, a new season, and a new roster of official team and player names. Yes, Football Manager 09 remains the managerial game of it's type to be able to use the all-hallowed Premiership licence.

Sticking with their usual trusted format, Sega have added a few twists and upgrades in the hope of making your scrabble through the tables a touch more immersive. The most obvious and welcome has to be the new, full 3D game view in which you can enjoy a series of polygons hoof a white blob around the screen.

It may sound a shade unfair, but we were really expecting something more along the lines of match highlights from the FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer school of character-modelling. Maybe some motion-captured fisticuffs on the pitch that you'd have to sort out later in the locker room, or a more tangible opportunity to look at any chosen player's form on the ball. Instead we're presented with a view that looks more like a virtual reality game from the early nineties, with full crowd sounds playing but no actual crowds, just an ugly wedge of grey to represent the terraces.

That said, it is nice to finally have a departure from the old bird's eye view of dots milling around a pitch and the score sporadically popping up without warning. At least now you can actually watch the match, rewind goals, change the camera positioning and zoom in and out. It's a good start, and we'd like to see more progress like this in any further sequels.

The mechanics of Football Manager 09 have been made to feel more practical than your average management game. It includes such delights as interaction with the media and building relationships with favoured journalists. Further to this, the 'rumours' make for a great little feature, forcing you to handle your publicity career at a more comparable level with your sporting one. It really makes for a more interesting experience rather than the predictable scripted older variations of the game.

09 also seems to be more realistic in the way that you have to deal with European transfer markets and the financial differences between them, rather than everything being bartered in pound sterling.

Equally, the finer details of the transfers themselves have been given an overhaul, with more factors to take into account, and more opportunities for the deal go sour just before the pen hits paper. Far from being an annoyance, it adds a much needed sense of drama to your job, encouraging the player to consider things more closely before committing to offers.

Some fans may argue that the new ability to specify your digital alter ego as a girl is a pointless one. But given the astonishingly encyclopaedic footie knowledge of the likes of Helen Chamberlain and Natalie Sawyer, we think this might be a pleasing alteration for the growing stock of female supporters out there, and a little snub to the male-dominated stigma the game had previously built over the years.

Chances are, if you were a fan of previous Football Manager outings, or indeed their illustrious stint under the previous name of Championship Manager, then 09 will keep you occupied right up until the end of the season and beyond. Just make sure you remember to watch some actual football somewhere in downtime...

User Comments

By FreeItems4You

21|08|2009 13:59

www.gifts.freebiejeebies.co.uk/86180

To get yourself a free Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or the latest PS3 Slim all you have to do is follow the 3 easy steps:

Step 1 : Sign up for a free Gift
Sign up at the link below to get your free gift. We recommend this free gift site because it's been TRIED and TESTED to work.

www.gifts.freebiejeebies.co.uk/86180

You can choose other prizes like free iMacs from this site too! Make sure you use a real email address. Use your real details when you sign up so that the company knows where to send your gift! Remember that they have been proven legitimate, so will send you your free gift if you do everything legitimately!

Step 2 : Try an advertiser's offer
Basically all you need to do in this step is complete one of the offers, this is where the freebie site make their money, if you complete an offer then the freebie site will recieve commission for it. So if you complete Coral which will only cost you £5 to complete, the freebie site gets £25 from Coral. The two best offers are Lovefilm Free DVD rental trial (where you rent any two DVD's for free!) and Coral (bet £5 on a sport). I would reccommend you do Coral as it credits in an hour and is really simple to do, Lovefilm however can become complicated and takes up to 4 weeks to credit! You can also try one of the other offers, most are gambling offers. Don't skip this step! You must complete this step to get your free gift!

Step 3 : Refer some friends

This part is a lot easier than it seems, especially now with free gift sites getting so popular. There's lots of people online who want a free iPhone, Touch or macbook too, so start referring them! You only need to get a few signups before you'll be finished. You can ask your friends or your online buddies. I already got a free iPhone without even having to ask my friends for help - there's lots of people online who want a free iPhone like you! One of the easiest ways to get a referral is to do a favour for a friend and ask them to sign up in return. That way, you both can get a free gift!

Basic rules
Don't break these rules! This is the only reason that you won't get your free gift, so make sure you follow these rules!

- One account per household - don't use a public computer to sign up!
- Use real information - this is a proven legitimate site and they will not give out your information.
- Only complete each offer once! You cannot complete the same offer again, even for different freebies.
- Don't try to cheat the system. This site has been proven legitimate, and they will catch you if you try to cheat. If you do everything legitimately, by following this guide, you will get a free gift!

Thats all, just follow my guide and you will have your free gift in no time.

www.gifts.freebiejeebies.co.uk/86180

Report this

By iPhone_3G

21|12|2008 20:13

http://Apple-Freebiejeebies.co.uk

How do I get a Free Apple iPhone 3G? Easy. I got my Free iPhone 3G from the Freebiejeebies network and so can you! It's so easy to get your free iPhone through these easy to follow steps because these companies bank on you thinking they are scams, but once you know how to earn one free gift, you can earn them all. This method has been proven to work by the BBC and CNN.

If you follow the Three Simple Steps of signing up, completing a single offer and referring a few friends, I guarantee you will receive your free gift!

Report this