Football Manager 2006 (SIGames) (41 Viewers)
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Video Game Review: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006
11/30/2005 8:09:00 PM
Goal.com's Andrew Giffen was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to play around with the latest version of Worldwide Soccer Manager (a.ka. Football Manager). Here's his long-winded take...
If you’re a regular reader of this site you probably are aware how passionate we are here and how passionate your fellow readers are about the beautiful game. Being the passionate, soccer crazy person you are you also probably have heard of the comprehensive, wonderfully detailed soccer management simulation video game series brought to us by the geniuses at Sports Interactive and SEGA: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006.
Before we get to far into it, let me come out and say that, if you have never heard of this series it's not a video game in the traditional sense, like FIFA 2006 or Winning Eleven 8 where you're mashing controllers while trying to manipulate players on a pitch. You don't need the dexterity of a thief enjoy Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 (which is also sold as Football Manager 2006 depending on where you live in the world).
It's even better in my opinion.
It’s Great
Intricate, detailed, thorough… just what you expect when you have over 2,000 researchers from around the world helping piece together complete leagues and rosters from the lowest levels of English football to the highest levels of Singapore (seriously!).
And for those who have played previous versions of the game and know what I’m talking about, there are even more wonderful new features, including the abilities to alter tactics on the fly, to give individual or team talks at halftime or after a match, and to negotiate with your club’s board of directors for a better contract for yourself, as well as for higher transfer budgets and stadium expansions.
If you are one of those poor souls unfamiliar with this series, be prepared to hand over your life. As the name of the game suggests you can put your management skills to the test in over 50, fifty, leagues from around the world. There’s so much involved, you just may believe your sole purpose in life is to get Woking into Europe within the next five years.
Set the training regimen. Select your own formation and starters. Manage the reserve team. Send your scouts to all corners of the globe searching for the next Lionel Messi. Sell off your aging superstar to finance an injection of new blood into a stagnating league campaign during the January transfer window. Fire Carlos Queiroz and offer his position to Roy Keane. Heck, fire Sir Alex Ferguson, create Roy Keane as a manager, take over Manchester United and then tell Alan Smith he's an embarrassment to the red shirt during halftime of a Carling Cup tie with Millwall.
Watch your matches in real-time and groan with every poor pass or breathe a sigh of relief with every well-timed tackle. Fine Ronaldinho two weeks wages for no reason other than you don’t like his hairstyle. Take over as manager of England and see if you can figure out how to get Lampard and Gerrard to play well together. And while you’re at it, say something mean about Walter Smith in tabloids just to rankle those Scots.
It’s all possible in this game!
Sounds mind-blowingly fun and simple, doesn’t it? Well, it’s more way more than just fun, but it can be far from simple. Instead of taking charge at Juventus, try taking the reins at Nottingham Forest and bringing them back to glory. Or try managing the MetroStars on for size and see if you can bring the SuperClub a trophy. Just one. It's not as easy as you think.
My Experience
Usually I dabble in several areas at one time when playing by managing about three teams on average: D.C. United (my favorite team), one big European club, and one lower-division club somewhere in the world. I remember one game where I was running Roma into the ground, unintentionally, in Serie A, but at the same time I also had Modena firing on all cylinders and locks for promotion to Italy’s top level. My most vivid, and bitter, memory from managing was also in an older version of the game where I assumed command at D.C. United the year after they had missed the MLS Playoffs several years running. I took them to a first place finish in the East and, more importantly, back into the playoffs. Then, for some inexplicable reason the board gave me the sack! The nerve! I swear I didn't know she was the General Manager's daughter! But such is life.
For this review I decided to do things differently. It’s going to be one team and one team only. But which one? I love a good challenge, but at the same time I don’t want to stumble into a situation that’s more hopeless than an Everton striker in front of an open goal. And if I get fired from my first job at Nottingham Forest, well, there’s not much hope for me to get another gig for quite some time unless perhaps at one of the 80 zillion third division clubs in Brazil.
I decided I needed a league and a club where the expectations and football aren’t the kinds to make or break you after just a few weeks on the job. I settled on the premier league in Ireland and went with Drogheda United. Why Drogheda? No reason other than if I run them into the ground who’s really going to care? Plus the Irish season begins in February of 2005. After getting the hang of the newer version of the game I am hoping either to switch jobs at season’s end when some of the first sackings start taking place in some of the bigger leagues around the globe, or I am just going to create a new manager and take charge at a club that looks like it could use a change.
After looking through the roster and the skill levels of my players I thought I’d have Drogheda relegation-bound by spring. But luckily for me I have some experience playing this game. It’s still not easy, mind you, and just as it’s possible I may be a managing genius, it’s also possible many of the other clubs in the league are even worse than mine. One must keep these things in perspective before sending one’s C.V. to the fine fellows at Portsmouth.
I’m half way through my first season and it appears it’s a race between first place Cork City and second place Drogheda United for the league title. I’ve only been beaten once in league play, but it came recently, during a three match winless stretch where my boys drew U.C.D., got beaten by Finn Harps, and then beaten at home by Cork City in our first Cup match of the season. So much for the double!
Since then I have rebounded with a win over Waterford United.
In the past I would have selected a formation and tried to forcibly mold my players to my tactics and formation. Sometimes you can get away with this at a club with loads of phenomenal players, like a Chelsea or a Barcelona. However, the key to maximizing your team’s potential, I have learned, is to mold your formation and tactics around the strength of your players -- duh!
I’ve tried to do that, although it’s kind of difficult when your defenders have a higher rating for creativity and flair than they do in tackling, marking or heading – that’s how bad my team is. But so far so good as you can see by my league position.
I have run into some problems, however, mainly injuries. I’ve got no less than seven first-teamers who have missed at least a month due to some thigh strain, bad cabbage, or fractured skull suffered while scrimmaging against the Under-18’s. Fortunately there is a new feature that gives you the option of giving an injured player an injection so you can use him a little bit longer. It’s a risk for the player’s future, of course, but, hey, I’ve got a job to do. If I need my star striker to gut it out for a big clash with Cork City, even if Stevenage are keen to break the bank to sign him which could subsequently replenish my transfer kitty, then so be it.
In a more competitive league, like the Premiership, or even the Championship, I think things would be worse for me. In a few months when I make a move to a new club I suspect I’ll find out for myself.
The Specifics
I’ve touched indirectly one some of the game’s specifics with the ramblings above. As you can tell I like this game very much. But there are other reasons why I like it besides having the option of managing the Bush Bucks of the South African Premier Soccer League.
Graphics/2D Match Engine – The game’s presentation is great. Things are easy to read, pictures are clear, etc… 2D, meantime, is how you can watch your game plan unfold in real time. Alternatively you have the option not to view the match but to take in the match commentary only, or to view particular highlights of interest, such as goals or near-misses. When watching a match in 2D the players are represented by circles with numbers, but I have found this does not take anything away from the game simulations at all. The “physics” of the game play are quite impressive, from the ball’s movement to the way the players act and react to what’s going on around them. Viewing the match in 2D is also the best way to see if your players are following your detailed instructions on how you want them to play out this particular match.
Menu/Navigation – It could not be any easier to navigate your way through this game, which is important given the complexity and depth it possesses. Just about everywhere you move your cursor there is something to click. There is also a search box, which is useful when you want to search quickly for a player, coach or club by name; just punch in a few letters and off you go. In addition, when searching for potential transfer targets, loan targets, additional staff, etc… the customizable options for narrowing your search are incredible.
Player Details – All of your run-of-the-mill player details from height and weight and place of birth to spoken languages are there, but a whole lot more like how he plays with each foot and which positions he can be used in without throwing a tantrum, contract details, general happiness, ambition and reputation are all included as well. With regards to player development, the game has improved greatly in allowing you not only to really develop truly individual training schedules but also to chart your players’ progress with greater ease. In addition, from a player’s personal page you can read how they feel about their training regimen, their place within the club, as well as reading how your assistant manager feels about the players—which is very useful if you have an assistant manager worth anything (the one at Drogheda United isn’t very good but I don’t have the budget to pay him off and hire a better one).
Job Center/Job Security – This is an excellent feature. With it you can place advertisements for your coaching staff, from assistant managers all the way down to medical personnel. This can be quite the time saver as you will have people coming to you, wanting a job, as opposed to trawling through page after page of scouts looking not only for the one to meet your needs but who can be pried away from his current place of employment. In addition, with the Job Security feature you can view how other how secure other managers are in their current positions. For example, if you’ve built up quite the level of success at Leeds United and see Rafael Benitez’s position with Liverpool is “insecure” you can take this info and release a comment to the media that you are interested in the Liverpool job. This may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for poor Rafa while paving the way for the moving truck to get your things over to Anfield.
National Teams – In addition to managing just about any club side you can think of, you can also manage most, if not all, the national teams in the world. With the World Cup right around the corner, this may be the perfect time to sack Leo Beenhakker at Trinidad & Tobago, lead the Soca Warriors to unprecedented World Cup heights, and parlay it all into a phat job come August, 2006. And if Beenhakker is still unemployed after all this you can have the gall to offer him a job as a scout!
Much, Much More… – I could go on, but this review was already overdue and I’ve got a crucial league match with defending champions Shelbourne to prepare for.
As you can imagine, if you can imagine it, there is quite a lot to this game—something for everyone, really. You can delve really deeply into the management aspects, like player development and stadium expansions or concentrate solely on simulating years of matches while wasting away hours of your life in front of the computer screen.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a management game simulation virgin or a dirty old man when it comes to this series; just ask yourself if you’re a football fan. If your answer is “Yes,” then this game is a must!
--Andrew Giffen, Goal.com senior editor
11/30/2005 8:09:00 PM
Goal.com's Andrew Giffen was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to play around with the latest version of Worldwide Soccer Manager (a.ka. Football Manager). Here's his long-winded take...
If you’re a regular reader of this site you probably are aware how passionate we are here and how passionate your fellow readers are about the beautiful game. Being the passionate, soccer crazy person you are you also probably have heard of the comprehensive, wonderfully detailed soccer management simulation video game series brought to us by the geniuses at Sports Interactive and SEGA: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006.
Before we get to far into it, let me come out and say that, if you have never heard of this series it's not a video game in the traditional sense, like FIFA 2006 or Winning Eleven 8 where you're mashing controllers while trying to manipulate players on a pitch. You don't need the dexterity of a thief enjoy Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 (which is also sold as Football Manager 2006 depending on where you live in the world).
It's even better in my opinion.
It’s Great
Intricate, detailed, thorough… just what you expect when you have over 2,000 researchers from around the world helping piece together complete leagues and rosters from the lowest levels of English football to the highest levels of Singapore (seriously!).
And for those who have played previous versions of the game and know what I’m talking about, there are even more wonderful new features, including the abilities to alter tactics on the fly, to give individual or team talks at halftime or after a match, and to negotiate with your club’s board of directors for a better contract for yourself, as well as for higher transfer budgets and stadium expansions.
If you are one of those poor souls unfamiliar with this series, be prepared to hand over your life. As the name of the game suggests you can put your management skills to the test in over 50, fifty, leagues from around the world. There’s so much involved, you just may believe your sole purpose in life is to get Woking into Europe within the next five years.
Set the training regimen. Select your own formation and starters. Manage the reserve team. Send your scouts to all corners of the globe searching for the next Lionel Messi. Sell off your aging superstar to finance an injection of new blood into a stagnating league campaign during the January transfer window. Fire Carlos Queiroz and offer his position to Roy Keane. Heck, fire Sir Alex Ferguson, create Roy Keane as a manager, take over Manchester United and then tell Alan Smith he's an embarrassment to the red shirt during halftime of a Carling Cup tie with Millwall.
Watch your matches in real-time and groan with every poor pass or breathe a sigh of relief with every well-timed tackle. Fine Ronaldinho two weeks wages for no reason other than you don’t like his hairstyle. Take over as manager of England and see if you can figure out how to get Lampard and Gerrard to play well together. And while you’re at it, say something mean about Walter Smith in tabloids just to rankle those Scots.
It’s all possible in this game!
Sounds mind-blowingly fun and simple, doesn’t it? Well, it’s more way more than just fun, but it can be far from simple. Instead of taking charge at Juventus, try taking the reins at Nottingham Forest and bringing them back to glory. Or try managing the MetroStars on for size and see if you can bring the SuperClub a trophy. Just one. It's not as easy as you think.
My Experience
Usually I dabble in several areas at one time when playing by managing about three teams on average: D.C. United (my favorite team), one big European club, and one lower-division club somewhere in the world. I remember one game where I was running Roma into the ground, unintentionally, in Serie A, but at the same time I also had Modena firing on all cylinders and locks for promotion to Italy’s top level. My most vivid, and bitter, memory from managing was also in an older version of the game where I assumed command at D.C. United the year after they had missed the MLS Playoffs several years running. I took them to a first place finish in the East and, more importantly, back into the playoffs. Then, for some inexplicable reason the board gave me the sack! The nerve! I swear I didn't know she was the General Manager's daughter! But such is life.
For this review I decided to do things differently. It’s going to be one team and one team only. But which one? I love a good challenge, but at the same time I don’t want to stumble into a situation that’s more hopeless than an Everton striker in front of an open goal. And if I get fired from my first job at Nottingham Forest, well, there’s not much hope for me to get another gig for quite some time unless perhaps at one of the 80 zillion third division clubs in Brazil.
I decided I needed a league and a club where the expectations and football aren’t the kinds to make or break you after just a few weeks on the job. I settled on the premier league in Ireland and went with Drogheda United. Why Drogheda? No reason other than if I run them into the ground who’s really going to care? Plus the Irish season begins in February of 2005. After getting the hang of the newer version of the game I am hoping either to switch jobs at season’s end when some of the first sackings start taking place in some of the bigger leagues around the globe, or I am just going to create a new manager and take charge at a club that looks like it could use a change.
After looking through the roster and the skill levels of my players I thought I’d have Drogheda relegation-bound by spring. But luckily for me I have some experience playing this game. It’s still not easy, mind you, and just as it’s possible I may be a managing genius, it’s also possible many of the other clubs in the league are even worse than mine. One must keep these things in perspective before sending one’s C.V. to the fine fellows at Portsmouth.
I’m half way through my first season and it appears it’s a race between first place Cork City and second place Drogheda United for the league title. I’ve only been beaten once in league play, but it came recently, during a three match winless stretch where my boys drew U.C.D., got beaten by Finn Harps, and then beaten at home by Cork City in our first Cup match of the season. So much for the double!
Since then I have rebounded with a win over Waterford United.
In the past I would have selected a formation and tried to forcibly mold my players to my tactics and formation. Sometimes you can get away with this at a club with loads of phenomenal players, like a Chelsea or a Barcelona. However, the key to maximizing your team’s potential, I have learned, is to mold your formation and tactics around the strength of your players -- duh!
I’ve tried to do that, although it’s kind of difficult when your defenders have a higher rating for creativity and flair than they do in tackling, marking or heading – that’s how bad my team is. But so far so good as you can see by my league position.
I have run into some problems, however, mainly injuries. I’ve got no less than seven first-teamers who have missed at least a month due to some thigh strain, bad cabbage, or fractured skull suffered while scrimmaging against the Under-18’s. Fortunately there is a new feature that gives you the option of giving an injured player an injection so you can use him a little bit longer. It’s a risk for the player’s future, of course, but, hey, I’ve got a job to do. If I need my star striker to gut it out for a big clash with Cork City, even if Stevenage are keen to break the bank to sign him which could subsequently replenish my transfer kitty, then so be it.
In a more competitive league, like the Premiership, or even the Championship, I think things would be worse for me. In a few months when I make a move to a new club I suspect I’ll find out for myself.
The Specifics
I’ve touched indirectly one some of the game’s specifics with the ramblings above. As you can tell I like this game very much. But there are other reasons why I like it besides having the option of managing the Bush Bucks of the South African Premier Soccer League.
Graphics/2D Match Engine – The game’s presentation is great. Things are easy to read, pictures are clear, etc… 2D, meantime, is how you can watch your game plan unfold in real time. Alternatively you have the option not to view the match but to take in the match commentary only, or to view particular highlights of interest, such as goals or near-misses. When watching a match in 2D the players are represented by circles with numbers, but I have found this does not take anything away from the game simulations at all. The “physics” of the game play are quite impressive, from the ball’s movement to the way the players act and react to what’s going on around them. Viewing the match in 2D is also the best way to see if your players are following your detailed instructions on how you want them to play out this particular match.
Menu/Navigation – It could not be any easier to navigate your way through this game, which is important given the complexity and depth it possesses. Just about everywhere you move your cursor there is something to click. There is also a search box, which is useful when you want to search quickly for a player, coach or club by name; just punch in a few letters and off you go. In addition, when searching for potential transfer targets, loan targets, additional staff, etc… the customizable options for narrowing your search are incredible.
Player Details – All of your run-of-the-mill player details from height and weight and place of birth to spoken languages are there, but a whole lot more like how he plays with each foot and which positions he can be used in without throwing a tantrum, contract details, general happiness, ambition and reputation are all included as well. With regards to player development, the game has improved greatly in allowing you not only to really develop truly individual training schedules but also to chart your players’ progress with greater ease. In addition, from a player’s personal page you can read how they feel about their training regimen, their place within the club, as well as reading how your assistant manager feels about the players—which is very useful if you have an assistant manager worth anything (the one at Drogheda United isn’t very good but I don’t have the budget to pay him off and hire a better one).
Job Center/Job Security – This is an excellent feature. With it you can place advertisements for your coaching staff, from assistant managers all the way down to medical personnel. This can be quite the time saver as you will have people coming to you, wanting a job, as opposed to trawling through page after page of scouts looking not only for the one to meet your needs but who can be pried away from his current place of employment. In addition, with the Job Security feature you can view how other how secure other managers are in their current positions. For example, if you’ve built up quite the level of success at Leeds United and see Rafael Benitez’s position with Liverpool is “insecure” you can take this info and release a comment to the media that you are interested in the Liverpool job. This may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for poor Rafa while paving the way for the moving truck to get your things over to Anfield.
National Teams – In addition to managing just about any club side you can think of, you can also manage most, if not all, the national teams in the world. With the World Cup right around the corner, this may be the perfect time to sack Leo Beenhakker at Trinidad & Tobago, lead the Soca Warriors to unprecedented World Cup heights, and parlay it all into a phat job come August, 2006. And if Beenhakker is still unemployed after all this you can have the gall to offer him a job as a scout!
Much, Much More… – I could go on, but this review was already overdue and I’ve got a crucial league match with defending champions Shelbourne to prepare for.
As you can imagine, if you can imagine it, there is quite a lot to this game—something for everyone, really. You can delve really deeply into the management aspects, like player development and stadium expansions or concentrate solely on simulating years of matches while wasting away hours of your life in front of the computer screen.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a management game simulation virgin or a dirty old man when it comes to this series; just ask yourself if you’re a football fan. If your answer is “Yes,” then this game is a must!
--Andrew Giffen, Goal.com senior editor
