Football Manager 2007 (Xbox 360)

• Platform:   Xbox 360
• PEGI Rating: Ages 3 and Over
• Media: Video Game

The lowdown:
Having already got the balance between complexity and accessibility pretty much spot on, most of the improvements in this latest sequel are designed to make the game feel more organic and believable. A lot of it is simple stuff like being able to conduct team talks and see how players are responding to your dressing room dress downs, but it really makes a difference. It’s also possible for major clubs to sign up smaller ones as feeder clubs, while players themselves have a greater level of personality and new signings can be asked to recommend other players. None of the new changes have a massive impact on the way you play the game, but they all serve to create an even more immersive reality.

Most exciting moment:
The scouting engine has also received a major revamp and makes searching for new stars a lot easier. The scouts you send out can now learn from their experiences and a new scout report card makes it easier to get a quick overview while you do your superstar shopping.

Since you ask:
This version of the game still doesn’t have anything approaching moving graphics and its unlikely that’s ever going to change. The interface has been greatly improved though so that it’s not only easier to use but also faster and smoother.

The bottom line:
The best football management game ever made.-HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
New features include:

Feeder Clubs - Brand new to Football Manager 2007, and one of the most requested features on Sports Interactive's forums has been the addition of feeder clubs to the game. This new addition works in all the ways you would expect it to in real life. You can establish your club as the small team who receives loan players from a larger club or a large club looking for support getting your youngsters match experience by loaning them out. Have the first option on players from clubs, and schedule pre-arranged friendlies each season by simply asking your board for a feeder relationship and choose from the list they compile.

Youth Revamp - A complete revamp of youth teams sees full youth squads for each team that has a youth set-up, thus giving a much better system for the regeneration of players in the long term game.

User Friendly Football Manager 2007 gives players a new easier to use default skin, along with hints and tips throughout the game, and an improved tutorial. In addition to better feedback from your assistant manager and scouts as well as lots more media, customisation and multiple row selection, all this adds up to the most user friendly Sports Interactive game ever.

Scouting Revamp - A complete revamp of the scouting system inside the game leads to more information about players and teams being made available to managers, as well as a more realistic methodology for player scouting. This system allows scouts to grow and improve their knowledge-base of the world's football players.

Player Interaction - You can now talk to any player in the world via the media. Player interaction allows you to tap up other teams stars or see if players will buckle under the pressure. An effective manager must use the media as a motivational tool - why not praise your own players in many different ways or shout at them for loss of form?

Team Talks - For more varied ways to talk to your team, SI have worked hard to deliver vastly improved team talks at half and full time. Not only this, but pre-match team talks will now be making their first appearance in Football Manager - so you can send your team out onto the pitch with a specific briefing.

• PC & Video Games > Games > Sports > Football