| Product: |
LMA Manager (PS) |
| Date: |
02/06/01 (138 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: See Op.
Disadvantages: .
For whatever reason, managerial games are usually looked at as inferior sporting games by the general demographic of gamers. Why? Well, the argument by many is that you do not actually do anything except click a few buttons here and there, and hey presto, that is the game in general. This is ignorance. Managerial games are in fact the most tactical games you are ever likely to play, bar a few classics such as the phenomenal "Final Fantasy" role playing series. The amount of thinking that is required to take your selected team to the highest echelon is mind boggling, and concentration is required just to choose your tactics. Not one for when you've had a night out with the lads then....
Thanks to the exceptional "Championship Manager" managerial on the PC, this genre has began to be looked at a bit more generously, and people who normally would have never dreamed of buying a managerial game are, and they are loving them as much as the long time fans such as myself. No other type of game has ever appealed to me as much as managerial sims, as you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, you have an entire squad of football players to guide and train to the best of your ability. Back in the mid 90's, all those years ago, if I was given the choice of having a standard football game or a managerial, I always chose the managerial, ignoring what I was advised to buy by many of my close friends. I knew what I wanted and that was a managerial game.
"Premier Manager" to be precise. This was the game that opened my eyes to just how good games can really be. For years before, I had been spending hours trying to figure out which cavern door opened, and which dragon you had to kill, in countless adventure games that once captured my imagination. Actually, in a way I suppose discovering the managerial genre was a bad thing, as I have bought few games outside of the genre since!
That is not to mean I did not buy t
hat many games, With the increase of popularity into the genre, a steady stream of managerial games were finding their way onto many a console. To this day, there are half a dozen managerials released each year, that is quite a lot if you consider the limited market of gamers who will buy these games. But, I am certainly one who will buy them, I just cannot get enough of them.
In 1998, I took the foolish move to sell my PlayStation, complete with 18 games (about 10 of them managerial) to fund my hoped purchase of an N64. I did it too. The stylish new Nintendo systems had just had a new wave of games brought out in time for the Christmas rush. One such game was Premier Manager 64, now, I had loved the original version on Sega's "Mega Drive" and was eager to see whether its descendant could match up to it's mighty predecessor. Unfortunately, it didn't even come close, and I resulted in being a very unhappy N64 owner.
After two years of exile from the PlayStation, in January of this year I decided to return to my old friend. To my surprise I had discovered that a new managerial game had been released in my absence (the cheek of it!), "LMA Manager". Officially sponsored by the League Managers Association, this game was heralded as the Playstation's closest effort to the dominating Championship Manager. "The best football management sim on the park" is boasted on the back of the case, a compliment kindly given by the Official PlayStation Magazine who also awarded a superb 9/10 rating. And if they say a game is good, then it is... or so we are led to believe!
But, they were right in this case, it really is a superb game, and by far the best managerial on the PlayStation to date, and with the release of the PlayStation 2, LMA will probably go down as the best managerial ever on the console.
No doubt you are extremely bored by my rather long "introduction". To save you from further t
orture, I shall now actually get to the task of reviewing the game. You've been warned.
There are three modes of basic play in LMA, all with some added extras thrown in. You obviously have the "Full Game" mode, where you are allowed to choose any team from English football, from either the Premiership or Divisions 1,2 and 3. As is normally the case, you usually would go for the team that you support, even if you have the misfortune of supporting Torquay United! From here, you then are required to enter you managerial name, which could be anything. Although I tend to stick with my real name, you could always put in the name you had always wanted, just for a little more magic! I had always wanted to be called Jake, but I was never tempted to use that as my name in a game, but hey, it's up to you. After that task is completed, the game is yours to explore. You are in complete control of your team, and everything that goes with it. Good luck!
You may have a little help though, but that is also up to you. You have to employ a full staff of scouts, physios, coaches, trainers, etc. to help with the running of your team. But what tasks they are required to do is fully your decision. You can have them doing nothing at all, to having them sort out who to buy, who to sell, your ticket prices etc. But, once you have been playing the game for a while, then usually just the most basic of tasks will do. This option is all down to how confident you are, and how much you are willing to do, it can get very busy doing it by yourself, but slightly boring if they do it all. Try and find a happy medium.
That is the basic outline of what is required in Full Game mode. If you are a beginner, or just do not feeling like playing a proper game, which can last for years, then the "Quick Start" mode is the right choice for you. This is effectively a dumbed down version of the real thing. There are not as many options, and the whole game r
evolves around the matches. Picking your team is about the only thing you need to do. Playing this mode, you will find that the game speeds along far more quickly than it would normally, as half of the options have been completely cut out. Codemasters, who made the game, were wise to put this option in as not all people fancy themselves as the next Alex Ferguson but still want to play the game. But this mode will soon grow tired if you have been playing the Full Game, and you will probably find that it is not enough of a challenge.
You certainly will not be saying that about the "Challenge" mode, as I feel this is what makes this such a superb game, and is what separates it from the rest of the managerial sims available. You are restricted in what team you can be, and are given a choice of about 10 Division 3 teams whose target you have to fulfil. If you choose Exeter, then the likely target will be to avoid relegation. If you do this, then you have completed the Challenge. But it is a lot harder than it sounds. You will find that your team gets plagued with injuries as the season progresses, so the natural solution is to acquire more depth by dipping into the transfer market. This throws up two problems. The first problem is that you simply do not have enough transfer funds to be many players of decent quality, and are forced into buying players who are of the same quality as the rest of your team, which destroys the purpose of buying in the first place. As well as buying to add depth to your side, you are buying the improve what you already have. My advice is to search for out of contract players, as because there is no transfer fee, you can afford to pay a larger wage which may tempt the player to join your club.
Whatever game option you choose, you are sure to be challenged in some way, and you will find that you play all 3 modes at different times. The good thing about Full Game over Challenge is that there is no limit to how long th
e game can continue for, good luck in whatever mode you choose.
The main game screen (excluding Quick Start mode) is fairly complex, and does take a while to get used to before you can travel between the wide array of options at your disposal. There is a row of icons at the top of the screen, at the bottom of the screen there are the options within the options. For instance, in Squad, there is the option of Training etc. I will now go through the top row of options, and what goes with them.
Squad
This is the section where you control your team, from selecting your starting eleven to selecting who takes your penalties. This is the main part of the game and you will find you need to check it every day that you are in the game.
Information
Whether you want to check your teams placing in your division, or if you want a sneak preview of your next opponents, this is where you will find it all. This screen will be crucial in your managerial career.
Transfer Market
This really speaks for itself as this is the place where you can buy, sell or loan players to or from your club. Whether you are just browsing, with no real transfer target, or if you are desperately searching for a new Goalkeeper, this is the only place to go. The Youth Squad screen is also here, so make sure you check fairly regularly to see if you should promote any hot new talent.
Organiser
This is the screen that you are taken to after every match as it shows your messages. If you have bidded for a player, this is where the you will find out if you have been successful and any details of postponed matches will all be delivered here. This screen will undoubtedly the most visited.
Stadium
On the other side of managerial life, your teams stadium is always a concern. If you have been successful after a season with a lesser known club, then why not upgrade your stadium to cater for more fans, which means more money! You will not need to vis
it this screen regularly, but it is important when you do, just make sure you don't forget that it's there!
Records
For the football anorak in you, this is the place to be. Here is where you will find histories of the winners and losers from past cup competitions. But, this also comes in handy when managing a team you know little about. By looking at this screen, you will get a guide to how well your team has fared in the past, and how well you should be aiming to do!
Matches
When all else is done, it's time to play the matches!
Hopefully I have been of help to you, and you should be in no doubt as to what managerial game you should buy, because this is it. (You can wake up now!).
Thanks, Smark.
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