14 DAY TRIAL // The Football Manager series might just sucked up the most of my gaming time over the year, alongside other classics like Civilization IV and Alpha Centauri, and I suspect that the 2012 installment of the Sports Interactive made management simulation will add to that total.
This series never really changes and the solid simulation mechanics that thrilled fans both in 2010 and 2011 seems to be here, as strong as ever and ready to bear the burden of many long seasons of glory hunting.
The interface is one of the changes that pops up after loading the demo because it's now crisper, a little more intuitive and manages to cram more information and more potential options on just one screen.
It will be easy for long term players to move around and find all the areas of the club they are interested in but I suspect that it will be now much simpler for newcomers to understand what is going on and how the various team management options are linked to each other.
I have not played enough of the game, with the demo limited to just one half of a season, to assert how much difference the tactical changes make for a team but I have been through enough games to notice that putting a player out of position seems to have a greater effect on his performance.
One interesting new element is how team meeting are handled, with all the squad players huddled around the coach, listening to his words (of wisdom and calm when it comes to my character, but potentially of anger or resentment) and then reacting to them.
There are also more options linked to transfers and to how the various free agents and staff negotiate with you as manager.
The 3D match engine also looks a little better but I never used it all that much in Football Manager 2011, instead preferring to use the classic 2D look and the text commentary to evaluate how my team is doing.
Here's a look at the demo of Football Manager 2012 in action: