The demo released by EA did even more to fuel the rumors, because EA chose not to include the match view in it. Well, Ill cut this rather long intro short now, and tell you that no, Fifa Soccer Manager does not have a match view straight out of the Fifa Soccer series.
It isn't even close. And as match views go, PM97 's flashier, prettier, and easier on the eye. I'm saying nothing about usefulness, mind. Now, when you got over your disappointment, let me try and help push your feelings in the other direction somewhat.
If not for one major failing, a failing that in my opinion is so huge, it makes this game unworthy of an award, FSM is so good as to be on the same level of CM2. No, it isn't better, but it is comparable.
I can now recommend it to true fans of soccer management sims who want something else. If only it wasn't for that one failing The above was my reaction when I understood that FSM does not, in any way whatsoever, support a multiplayer option. Now, if you are like me, and think that one of the biggest attractions of this type of game is playing it with other humans, then I suggest that you stop reading right now and go back to the greenish screens of CM2.
If not, read on. I got the pre release version of FSM, a gold master final beta thing that says "reviewable software". It came with a photocopied manual of the actual game, which was somewhat lacking in material. I also received another CD, with the demo screenshots from the game, something that helped me immensely in writing this review. Why am I telling you this?
Because it shows the kind of attention to detail that appears everywhere through FSM. I am talking about those little things that make life generally easier, things that grant more accessibility to a game. It starts with a hierarchical, two-level menu system that is easy to use, and spans through to tiny graphical representations of each player's assigned tactics on the tactics screen, something that helps you avoid having to look at each player separately while running a match.
More on FSM 's user interface later, though. Installing FSM is easy to do. It requires DirectX3, which it will install if you ask it to. A typical installation runs about 65MB on your drive, which falls within accepted standards today. It doesn't have any noticeable bugs, except once when it crashed on me unexpectedly and dumped me back to Windows. You have the option of playing one of five leagues- England all four leagues , Germany, France, Scotland and Italy the top two leagues in each of last four.
You can also install the game using any of those languages. You can have as many games as you like- there isn't a limit on the saved game slots. This isn't as helpful as it sounds, as you cannot save a game in progress- FSM saves your game for you.
No more exiting if your two star players get injured for two years during a match. I don't like this, because in rare times, this sort of cheating can help you avoid a lot of frustration, but I suppose it is more realistic. As a sidenote, you cannot change to another game while playing- you need to exit and start over. The interface is very graphical. Where CM2 uses a business-like front end, with a green background and a lot of text, FSM takes a different approach.
There are icons for every action, and graphs, and stadium pictures, and lots and lots of colors. It could have been totally confusing, but EA somehow managed to keep it simple enough to use, the main reason being that every icon has a textual description which appears clearly on the bottom left of the screen when hovering over it. As it is, its a refreshing change from CM2 's somewhat boring interface, and I believe that many people would prefer it I don't myself, but then again, I am a UNIX, as opposed to Windows, person.
I must note that FSM 's interface is not too cluttered with useless info- there is just enough on each screen to make things meaningful while easy to understand. Running your team in FSM is quite detailed. The first menu is the Squad menu, where you prepare your team. You can decide on team level tactics, like all out attack or time wasting or even change defense, midfield and attack "zones", and individual tactics, like whether to concentrate on passes, long balls, running into open spaces, shooting on sight and others.
You can even give biases to your players, for example biasing your star striker into dribbling the ball more, or telling your tough central defender to rush more into tackles. In here you also buy and sell players, decide on training, get graph analysis of your team's performance, and get detailed reports on each of your players.
The second menu is the Facilities menu, where you decide on pitch maintenance and stadium expansions. The former is done simply by spending money when you get warning signs like an announcement from Fifa that until the pitch is repaired, you wont be able to use it in their tournaments. The latter allows you to do everything from expanding specific stands to buying land around the stadium.
You can even watch your stadium from its four sides, and admire your work. And to top it all off, the stadiums appear as the background for each pre-match screen. The Finances menu is where you control the monetary aspects of running your team.
You can also control concessions, like a burger bar, taxi rank, sports shop and others. You can make loans, control the level of available merchandise and its prices, and determine ticket prices and availability.
You can have financial analysis, in the form of a color coded graph where you turn features like ticket sales on and off to your hearts content.
One aspect I liked very much is the way FSM tells you how well you are succeeding, in that on the player value table, there is each player's original value, current value, and the difference.
Wanna know how much that 22 year old youngster you brought 3 years ago from the third division has gained in value? It gives you the number right there. No need to go look in any career history, like in CM2. The last is the Events organizer menu, where you can see results, divisions, cups, tournaments etc.
One very interesting feature here is linked with the match view. After every match, you are asked whether you want to save the replay. If you do, then you may, at any time in the future, watch this match again using the archive from the Event menu.
This is such a wonderful feature that I think it needs to be inserted into every such game from now onwards. Here you can also see your latest match report. And now we come to what many consider to be CM2 's strongest- stats. Well, what can I say? FSM is just as good. Every player is described using 24 different stats, which are conveniently grouped into "super-skills". This means that you can, for example, look at a players technical ability by looking at his skill level, a single average rating, or expand this to show all five "sub-skills" which comprise the set- Shooting, Heading, Passing, Control, and Dribbling.
This is so much more better than anything else on the market- yes, even CM2 - that it allows stat freaks and easy gamers both to enjoy the game together. You like detail? Expand the sets. Don't like too much numbers to juggle? Look at the averages instead. But wait. It gets better.
You can sort through your players using any skill or sub-skill, or averages of different ones. Just click on a skill name, and it will be highlighted, and all your players will be sorted conforming to that skill. Wanna sort them using Heading a sub-skill , Power a "super" skill-set, which included a number of skills , and Awareness a standalone skill?
No problem. Click all three, and your players will be instantly sorted using the total average. To give you an idea how easily accessible this makes the game, it took me less than 15 minutes from when I ran the game for the first time, to decide on my best lineup. It also makes looking for new players to buy much, much easier. One more word on stats. I don't know if there are any hidden ratings- I suspect not. FSM also lacks CM2 's detailed in-game stats- it uses the well known "passes-shots-tackles-form" method.
But since the match view is good enough for you to understand what your players are actually doing, I cant hold this fact against it. And considering the much expanded ability to decide on team and individual tactics, I daresay that it even exceeds the latter, as you can take much better advantage of any player's skills. The game is played on a day-to-day basis, again much like CM2. It doesn't stop, however, unless there is a major event- like a game to be played, or a player agrees to join your team, etc.
It runs about much faster, which makes me suspect it generates other games' results differently from yours. There is quite a lot to do, and there aren't any assistants, but you can choose default options almost everywhere- team tactics, finances issues, training Browse games Game Portals. FIFA Manager Install Game. Click the "Install Game" button to initiate the file download and get compact download launcher. Locate the executable file in your local folder and begin the launcher to install your desired game.
Fussball Manager Verlaengerung v1. FIFA Manager Always make a backup of the files that are overwritten by the File Archive, as the original files are usually required to update the game to a newer version or to play Online! Play Instructions: Install the game - Full Installation. Most likely this Fixed EXE also works for other languages, but this has not been confirmed yet!
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