Review: Football Manager 2014

I’m going to be completely honest here. When I first booted up Football Manager 2014 I was totally and utterly overwhelmed. I had no idea what to do, let alone where to begin. Not really knowing much about the game of soccer (or football) I was definitely throwing myself in the deep end. Here’s an artist’s rendition of how I approached this game:

I kept at it though and what I found was an incredibly deep, complex and polished game. While definitely not something I would usually play, Football Manager 2014 has it share of charms and I can understand why it’s so popular. Is it for me? No. But is it a good game? Yes.

If you’re unfamiliar with the series– and the literal title didn’t give you a hint — Football Manager 2014 puts you in the shoes of the General Manager of a football team. On booting up the game, I entered my name and chose my favourite team. Being unfamilar with the game, I chose Melbourne Victory. It was a nice thrill to see the Hyundai A-League included. I’ve since discovered the league has been included in previous games, but it was a thrill nonetheless. As a total noob, I figured starting with tutorials would be a wise move. Thankfully Football Manager 2014 is awash with them. Even after going over tutorials multiple times I felt I only have the most tenous grasp on how the game actually works. The learning curve is one of the steepest I’ve ever seen, and for a game without any gameplay — in the traditional sense — that’s quite an achievement. Sim-junkies will be in heaven. I, on the other hand, waded into unknown territory with great fear and trepidation.

Football Manager 14 is a very menu heavy game, but I never found it overbearing. Your inbox is where the bulk of the “action” occurs. You’ll receive messages and decide how to proceed. Each item will usually transfer you directly to the decision making with one-click from the Inbox. While you could explore the menus for hours and find your own way, this direct approach worked for me. If it hadn’t been there, I most certainly would have been lost.

Similar categories and types of information are colour coded and grouped together in your inbox meaning you don’t have to wade through dozens of messages to find the one relating to one another. It makes it simpler to action groups of decisions together and keeps it straight in your head. Going back and forth between screens and trying to remember each and every decision you make is difficult enough, without having to tackle multiple decisions of the same type separately.

I found that I spent a lot of time in meetings in FM14. Meetings with chairman. Meetings with the staff. Meeting with the players and press. Endless meeting, with not so many endless conversations. It became clear early on that I was going to have to repeat a great many of these meetings with almost the exact same dialogue multiple times. It becomes rather dull and repetitive, especially as it occurs so often.

I had fun trading players, although I really didn’t know whether I was making good or bad decisions. There’s quite a lot that goes into the trading systems and it was probably one of the most interesting aspects. Players have agents and both the agent and the player have their own distinct personalities. This affects the way the trade works. As does the clauses that can be built into a contract. One such clause is the loan-back. This allows you to loan a player to another team to allow them to gain much needed experience until you actually want to use them yourself. Very nifty.

Every decision you make in FM14 has some ramification, good or bad. You have to choose wisely at all times, and when you don’t fully understand the game, its rules and the players (like me) you’ll find yourself and your team in a world of trouble. I never really came to grips with the game. A few times I thought I’d cracked it, just to lose horrendously in my next attempt. I was somewhat addicted at first, but as I didn’t actually see myself improving I tired of it quickly. This is not a game for those with short attention spans.

I understand why Football Manager 2014 is so popular and I understand that it’s well made, very complex and probably a lot of fun for those who understand it. For everyone else though, we’ll want more action. I prefer to take direct control of my sports games, rather than be a passive observer. If you like micro-management, you’ll get a huge kick out of Football Manager 2014. If not, it’s probably not for you.