Football Manager 2008 (PC/Mac)

For anyone who has played the Football Manager series this is a definitive purchase and for those looking for a football manager game there really is nothing better.

For those new to the series the match engine is in 2D and most of what you will be doing will be receiving messages from various staff, looking at attributes and playing with sliders for your tactics. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. This game can run on almost anything, the game is quick and many leagues can be loaded. Further more the 2D screen makes it far easier to track down problems in your tactic and correct it. Also if you give it a chance I am sure you will be jumping off your seat when your number 9 punts the ball from 20 yards into the back of the net.

I would say that FM2008 is a little harder than previous titles however just like previous titles a bit of persistence will go a long way. Furthermore the SI forums are a good place for tactical questions and general answers to queries about the game.

Now a bit about the bugs. The problems I have noticed are as follows...

Non-league teams have all there players greyed out. (A big problem if you wish to manage around the conference level)

There are some "hmmmm" moments as a striker who is 10 yards offside puts the ball into your net and the linesman lets it stand. Furthermore once in a blue moon a shot which looks like is going over will hit the back of the net. These are all small match engine bugs.

Mac Installation problems. If you own a previous SI game then you will need to remove or rename the 'Sports Interactive' folder, otherwise the game is installed with iffy permissions and it will not run.

There are several others however these bugs are far from game breaking. If things are going well you will ignore them.. if things aren't you may find them annoying. However SI have a good history with supporting the FM franchise so I am sure they will fix this up soon.

There are many many enhancements but the 4 game changing ones are the following.

Confidence - After each game you will be told how the fans felt about it. At the end of the month the board will give you feedback on your performance and it is far more detailed than ever before. If you have a few bad games you will feel the heat from the supporters very quickly. This is a departure from previous games where a run of defeats only led to unrest if your team was seriously under performing.

Pitch Size - At the start of the season you can define your pitch size. Why is this important? Well it allows you to dictate the type of play. A small pitch will mean there is very little space and the game will be congested. A bigger pitch has loads of space, play will be more fluid and as a result more goals will probably be scored.

News System - The news system has been completely revamped. Now you will receive only new on your club. You can then view the division screen to see news from your division. This means you will be receiving perhaps one or 2 messages a day instead of 8-10 from previous games.

Budget Adjustment - You can now budget adjust your way to safety, what does this mean? If your wage will is too high you can sacrifice some of your transfer funds mid season to raise your wage budget. This works both ways. So if you see a 13 million striker that you "need" you can generate much of the transfer funds by cutting your wage budget. Its neat.

I gave this game 5 stars because despite the handful of bugs it is still best football manager game to grace the PC.

In short the game is very fun to play, the new features which have added a new dimension to the game. Confidence is perhaps the biggest change since they brought in the 2d engine. Its addictive, its fun, its hard, its everything you want football manager to be.

If you have a previous FM game BUY THIS NOW.
If you want the best football management game out there right now BUY THIS NOW

If you know nothing about football AVOID

If you are new to the series prepare to lose your social life ! if you are a regular to the FM dynasty you'll be wondering how much value for money FM2008 is over 2007, ok there are some nice features but other than those minor improvements, is it anything more than a re-skinned 2007 with a newer player database ??

It is a steady improvement in the evolution of the series and I do recommend it but is it honestly different enough from its previous incarnations ??

Theres not a lot of point in me praising this game, as i think all the 5 star reviews below mine have done a good, and perfectly accurate job of it. Forgetting what im about to say, this is still a brilliant game and i would recommend it to anyone.However i would recommend with a warning; as soon as you've installed this game, get on the SI website and get the patch. Without it the matchday engine is absolutely ridiculous. Your players will part like the red sea everytime an opposition player gets the ball and no amount of tactics will get them to actually try and make a tackle. This makes the game unbelivably frustrating to play. There are some other small bugs but this is the only game-breaking one in my opinion.
So, buy it, but patch it!