Football Manager 2009 Game
Apr 17, 2009 Football Manager 2009. The Football Manager series is deeply addictive and guiding your chosen team to promotion, league, cup or European glory takes some serious dedication and effort. If you are currently battling away with Football Manager 2009 you might be interested in a few tips and tricks and maybe even some cheats. On the second page of. Football Manager 2009's match engine has seen more testing than ever before having been extensively beta tested in Football Manager Live for the past year. The famous Football Manager match engine can now be viewed in full 3D with motion captured animations for the players. Sports Interactive has been working on the 3D match engine for nearly 3 years with the support of SEGA Japan's Virtua Striker team who provided the motion capture data and some of the animations.
Football Manager Portal
Stop! Before All you goblinfanciers blankly flick past this review in search of mystical worlds, take a minute to gaze in wonder at the surrounding screenshots. For years you have dismissed Football Manager as a glorified spreadsheet Even the introduction of an overhead 2D match engine couldn't sway you from pixie boots and leprechauns. But look now, there are actual human footballers with shirts and hair and skin, some of which even relate to their real-life counterparts.
Yes, the king of football management sims has finally stepped into the '80s with the advent of a 3D match engine, adding a further facet to what is arguably the deepest role-playing game ever made. That role is the thankless job of a football team manager, and until this year the feckless overpaid players in your charge existed only in your mind, or as a series of dots on an overhead view of a pitch. Now finally made flesh, it's likegoing through the looking glass, and in gaming terms is a revelation akin to the advent of colour television.
Pah, the naysayers will scoff. 3D football management games have been around for decades, the vast majority of them looking considerably better than these rancid Amiga-standard graphics.
Park Life
The difference of course is that all other football management games are dog shit the fancy 3D graphics doing little more than papering over the cracks of a paper-thin match engine and afundamentally flawed management model.
In FM2009, the point is that the players are doing exactly what the dots were doing in previous versions of the game; it's just the circles have been made flesh through a bit of motion capture courtesy of Sega Japan's Virtue Striker development team. So while purists may fear that the series has sold out rest assured that the integrity of the match engine has in no way been compromised. And besides, bluff old traditionalists can still use the 2D view. In fact if your laptop is more than a few years old, you'll have no choice.
With the concept behind the leap into 3D hopefully established, what is the experience actually like? Much as we love the game, let's not pretend that it's like watching Match of the Day. Rudimentary at best the graphics occupy the middle ground between the original Football Manager on the Spectrum, and the latest version of FIFA. While remaining watchable, it's not without its quirks, with players getting tangled up in each other and passing the time with the odd spot of moonwalking. In general, it takes some getting used to, particularly when the action freezes in order to advance the clock. In the previous text commentary or 2D modes, it wasn't particularly noticeable, but seeing footballers suspended in mid-air while the game zips forward to the next highlight does tend to make you think it's broken.
Either way, the action can be watched from a variety of vantage points, from the main stand to behind the corner flag, or even an overhead Sensible Soccer view. And when in fullscreen TV mode, a variety of so-called widgets can be displayed, showing player ratings and so on, although it gets a bit cluttered with more than two or three open at once.
While it's tempting to think that with all the attention on the 3D engine the rest of the game has been neglected, as ever the tireless drones at Sports Interactive have been ceaselessly building upon perfection, with such evolutions as increased Assistant Manager feedback, more media involvement, and an overhauled transfer system.
And as ever, it's the same life-sapping experience it has always been. As the nights draw in and clinical depression due to a lack of socialisation rears its ugly head, it's reassuring to know that there's a place you can go where your actions mean something and people know your name,. even if it is just some pretend footballers with the wrong coloured hair. There's an argument that says living in this dismal country is only made bearable by the televised sporting calendar, and the annual release of FM almost falls into this category, providing a swathe of green for men to stare at for hours on end while the rest of the world gets on with allegedly important stuff.
Even without the 3D engine, Football Manager2009 is still fully deserving of its classic rating, providing a staggeringly comprehensive simulation of the complex world of management. We predict a few patches before the match engine is fully functioning, but even in its current state, it tangibly enhances the experience.
Football Manager 2009 is the latest incarnation of Sports Interactive and SEGA’s hit football management simulator, which had its roots in the now Eidos-owned Championship Manager series. In 2004, developers Sports Interactive split from publishers Eidos Interactive. While SI retained the rights to the database and source code, Eidos kept the Championship Manager name. This eventually led to SI teaming up with SEGA to publish SI’s “footy” managerial simulators under the Football Manager name.
The concept of a management simulation game is simple. Instead of directly controlling the players like in FIFA or Winning Eleven, players or “managers” as they are known in game, have to pick the team, choose the tactics and the match is then simulated between you and your opponent. While the match is being played, you can still change your tactics or substitute your players among other things.
What has set FM apart from their competitors like FIFA Manager and Premier Manager has been its focus on authenticity and realism. Football celebrities like Beckham and Ronaldinho are more likely to please the fans and rake in more merchandising income than players like Andy Johnson or Kenwyne Jones. In terms of realism, your players can get tired and injured easily, they sometimes hate the way you do your half-time or full-time team talks and usually wants to move to a “bigger, more prestigious” club.
FM 09 isn’t just a game that lets you pick the players, tactics and play the match; you’ll have to manage your players egos and ambitions, ensure they are training properly, interact and build relationships with the media and also hunt for that “special” player which just might transform your team from mid-table mediocrity to title challengers.
FM09 also features leagues from 51 different countries around the world. This allows players to manage the prestigious teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United, all the way till Malaysia’s Melaka FC and Singapore’s Balestier Khalsa.
There have been many changes since the last installment of FM. This includes a new 3D match engine, which now allows players to watch matches in 3D, pre and post-match press conferences which take media interaction a step further, as well as assistant manager feedback, where the player can receive feedback about his team’s performance while the match is being played.
There is also a multiplayer mode where players can play either using hot-seat play (users take turns managing their team on one computer) or over LAN/internet. This is however, one of FM09’s weaknesses. Multiplayer over LAN/internet still requires the player to type in an IP address to join into a network game. There is however a pay-to-play version of FM called FM Live, where it’ll probably appeal to the more social FM player.
There are also a number of bugs in the game. The 3D match engine is a little buggy. For example, players will occasionally look like walking crabs on the pitch as well as the occasional “floating” player. There are also occasional issues with the in-game news system.
While the game clearly caters to managerial sim fans, first-time players need not feel left out. There is a tutorial and online help system in the game where new players can learn the ropes of managing a football club. You can also choose from a number of default tactics or choose to create your own. Despite this, the myriad of options and drop-down menus might still feel intimidating and “wordy”. Gamers who are new to FM will probably need some time to get used to the somewhat complicated user interface.
FM and other manager simulators is really an “acquired taste”. Some will find it boring while others will probably spend a good part of their lives playing it. While it might seem intimidating to the first-time player, once you get into it, you’re hooked!
Pros
- Updated database of players and clubs
- More playable countries and leagues to choose from
- New 3D match engine
- Media interaction adds realism
Cons
- Weak multiplayer
- 3D match engine is buggy
- Steep learning curve
- Ridiculously addictive
Football Manager 2009 Game Play
Bottom Line
Football Manager 2009 Game Pc
- It’s another must-buy for managerial sim fans! Newbies though might want to try it out first…