Review: Football Manager 2010

As sure as winter arrives - and regular as clockwork - Sport Interactive's latest iteration of its award-winning Football Manager series appears. It's been almost permanently emblazoned on my computer screen since its launch a few weeks ago - and I'm a very happy gamer.

I'm not one for change. I fear it, in fact. But suffice to say, after a few days of fumbling my way around the screen discovering how I can scout a player or tweak my tactics, I'm starting to feel at home with the new edition, and am becoming increasingly addicted!

I really did try to love its fierce rival Championship Manager (which I snapped up a month or so earlier through its much-hyped pay what you want deal) - but despite a facelift and plenty of TLC, I thought it was an absolutely shocking game. Much like cheating on your wife (I imagine!), it's kind of exciting at first but after a while you realise that the grass isn't always greener and you want things to go back to how they were. It all just feels kinda wrong.

My dalliance with Championship Manager left me feeling dirty. So after a good amount of metaphorical scrubbing and the removal of the offending article from my hard disk, I had high hopes for FM 2010. Although only a few days in to my inaugural season, I'm not disappointed.

You know that feeling when you're lying in bed and the pillow feels absolutely perfect? It's moulded to the contours of your head, ready to take you off to the land of slumber (to lottery wins, fast cars and beautiful women) - but you know that if you shift even slightly then you'll be far less comfortable and never get that happy place back? Well, that's my fear with every year's update of Football Manager. I play each version to death, get used to the controls, menus and tactics, and then the next version comes along and messes up my moulded pillow! It usually takes me at least a couple of weeks to get comfy again.

Not so with this version. With all the news that FM 2010 boasted a completely new interface, I wasn't expecting great things. Much to my surprise, however, its overhaul is fantastic and everything quickly becomes second nature.
Rather than the multitude of buttons and banners that used to transport me from one screen to another, a nifty series of tabs along the top of the screen now take me wherever I want to go. Everything appears very logical and fresh looking - and I think it deserves a big thumb's up!

Unlike Championship Manager, everything feels very natural and I was immediately engrossed; it felt like I am in control of MY club and MY players. And there are absolutely thousands of them for you to scout and sign within the game's bulging database (if your PC is up to the task).

It's damn tough though. The new game has so many options and you can get hugely involved in every aspect of the day to day running of your team. There seems far more to do than in previous versions: tactics can be tweaked in great detail both before and during matches, players can be instructed to do whatever you wish, and berated accordingly if they fail to perform.

The graphics and match engine have been overhauled but are still nothing to write home about. The player animations are a little more detailed and the goal ripples with every near miss - but it still puts the graphics card under little strain.

Sounds are much the same as last year, consisting of crowd noise, chants and the occasional referee's whistle - but ultimately, it doesn't really matter... it's the gameplay that counts.

Addictive as ever and sure to test you until a newer version inevitably appears next winter, FM 2010 certainly trumps previous efforts. I can't recommend it highly enough!