Football Manager 2012 - a review.

Those on Twitter might (or may not) have noticed I've been less active there especially after working hours recently. And it is down to this.

I've got a copy of the new Football Manager 2012 and man that game is addictive (like any other Football Managers before it).

Picked it up for RM 135 (i got a 4 ringgit discount YAY!) - hey. It might very well be the ONLY original game I'd be buying in the next one year or so. So why not yeah?

No pirated one available yet, and since FM2012 needs you to be logged into Steam to install, I'd suggest just get the bloody original why dont ya?

So what's new?

For those who are used to the FM games, they would still need a couple hours to get around the reworked interface which i think in the long run, will serve well despite the niggling changes for those still trying to get the hang of it.

The transfer system has been tweaked - players can have a better say when it comes to negotiating contract talks (and I thought last season's was complicated. Damn you, and bless you (at the same time), Sports Interactive for doing that.

Interaction with players, managers, team talks (it's called Pep Talk now - What sort of talk you give to Pepe Reina ?A Pep talk! #Ha!) now come with a new feature where you can choose what sort of tone you wanna use. Be meek, or aggressive? And the response is instant.

Tactics wise, managers can now prepare a set of shouts to be instantly used from kick-off itself, or whenever throughout the game. So unlike last season where usually players will pause the game before picking out certain combination of shouts, they can have it sorted from the whistle itself.

Graphics-wise, not much of an improvement but the weather and stadium effects are much more...umm...tolerable. But your players will STILL move about like they're not wearing skates on an ice ring.

Weather takes bigger effect on the game with seasoned players surely taking advantage from the wind, rain or snow.

I've always been a stat nut and scouting for gems is an obsession to me. Uncovering that hidden gem - like Anatoli Todorov (was it in FM2007?) or Ivan Rakitic, Yaya Sanogo and Steven Defour last season (more on my tactics later, in another post) - scouting for talent is something i pride myself for. So the player search tool and customizing searches are much sleeker now.

Funnily, i noticed FM2012 runs smoother on my PC compared to FM2011. Maybe it's just me. But do share your experience with the game.

I gotta get back to whooping Sir Alex Ferguson's ass. ;p

Final verdict - Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!