14 DAY TRIAL // One could argue that Football Manager 2012, the simulation from developer Sports Interactive and publisher SEGA, is not an overlooked game because there’s a dedicated fan base for it that is waiting for it every year and, for a few weeks, makes the game one of the stars of the United Kingdom chart.
But this is a game, and more an experience, that should be going mainstream and should be familiar to all those who make FIFA 12 one of the bestselling games of the year.
Football Manager manages to get to the heart of the football experience, past the simple actions that take place on the field for 90 minutes, performed by 22 players in search of a ball.
The game is mostly concerned with choosing players for on the pitch roles and making sure that they are suited for their job.
Gamers can decide tactics, can choose duties, can shape mentalities, developed tactical schemes and manage the morale of their players and also deal with business elements, the media, the board and other clubs.
It’s a deeply engaging experience, the kind that can make 4 or 5 hours go by in the blink of an eye, and there’s a lot of feedback about what a player does right and wrong and how he might correct course.
The presentation of Football Manager, a game that for most of its history only supported 2D matches, has long hampered its success but now the 3D mode is well developed and makes watching players perform actually enjoyable.
Surely, players cannot control the on the pitch action directly and some feel that this lack of influence is unacceptable, but Football Manager is all about planning and how the best laid tactics sometimes fail to perform in the face of reality.
I think that EA Sports would do kill their own FIFA Manager series, pick up Sports Interactive and finally give Football Manager the audience it deserves.
Here's a video of the game in action:
