An addictive game (Football Manager 2005 (PC))

Member Name: julios123

Product:	Football Manager 2005 (PC)
Date:	21/09/05 (244 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: build your own team, have full control over your team, staff and finance

Disadvantages: to addictive

Warning - this is a very addictive game. I played this game non stop and completed nearly 3 seasons in 10 days and that’s what I mean by an addictive game. This game allows you set out tactics and the transfer market. You’re in control of your own team as you release new players, offer contracts and one of my favourites is the training. The training is my favourite because if your team is not doing well, you can add more training sessions so they will continue to improve. You can also change players position as for example, Steven Gerrard is a midfielder but you can change his position to a striker. It is very realistic as if you purchase old players then they are likely to get injured from time to time, I remember when I bought Ronaldo for £30 millions, he kept on getting injured all the time, so be careful who you purchase. You also maintain full control of which staff you require as if a manager gets sacked you can offer them a contract so they can come and work for your club as a coach or assistant. You do not have much control over the finance but if the board give you a transfer budget then you can spend all of the money they give you. You have to be careful with your finance, as if you go over you wage budget, you can then drive your club into bankruptcy which means you have to sell your top players. The scouting system has still not improved from previous version. Board requests can also be made, you can ask them to add more transfer budget or increase weekly wage budget and many more, but remember if you give the board an ultimatum then you are likely to get fired. The transfers have improved as in previous versions you had to double the the asking price but in Football Manager 5 you can just offer the asking price. If a player is unsettled at a club then you can get them very cheap.

If you do well and win a lot of cups, you can be offered to take control over a national side. The tactics has a wide range of options to choose from as you can set out tactics for every player. The only disadvantage about the game is that you can get too addicted and play the game all the time. I would recommend this game to any football fans but if you don’t know anything about football then you will have a hard time. Watch out, if you spend too much money and end up in an unreasonable position then you are likely to get sacked or be given one more season but if you fail again then start looking for another club.

Summary: good addictive game, great tactic options and buy any player in the world