In a context in which the serial nature of video games always ends up triggering the eternal dispute between innovation and tradition, the Football Manager series has always had the enormous fortune of being sheltered from certain types of criticism, even in the face of the great similarities that has characterized all the latest chapters of the franchise. On the one hand, this certainly happened because the managerial genre faces a more mature audience, more fond of substance than form. On the other hand, however, it must be admitted that Sports Interactive's product has reached the threshold of absolute perfection, so it is understandable that the British studio has preferred, in recent times, to introduce small improvements instead of major revolutions. .
The community has been surprisingly patient, although in the last calendar year it must have made itself felt, at least by observing how Miles Jacobson, great Football Manager guru and director of the Sports Interactive studio, took action with a long post aimed at outlining the future of the series, with the great promise of a decisive change of pace starting with the next edition, which will arrive in 2024. This year's is, therefore, a connecting chapter, which nevertheless does not fail to offer the public of fans a good number of new features in the Football Manager 2024 Review Let's address them one by one, in an attempt to answer the question that's probably on every virtual coach's mind: Is it worth sitting on the bench this fall, or would it be better to take a sabbatical away from the fields?
What's new in the game experience.
Given the premises set by Jacobson himself, it was inevitable to approach Football Manager 2024 with very few expectations, even if truth be told. There are several new features debuting this year.. From the introduction of intermediaries to that of the inverted side, from the improvements applied to the AI of the coaches to those dedicated to the match engine, there is the clear feeling that once again Sports Interactive has managed to propose a management system that is substantially better than the previous one, although it must be recognized that the first impact with the new effort of the London team, as tradition dictates, was somewhat discouraging.
In fact, this time too the new Football Manager slavishly preserves all aspects of thegame interface, plus the shady editor for the trainer's creation, simply doesn't live up to a franchise of this reputation. This derives directly from the match engine, that is, the engine that regulates the racing simulation, which dates back to 2017 and will be retired from 2024 with the transition to Unity. Although the transition is imminent, Sports Interactive has not given up introducing some small improvements, which affect not only the players' AI, now inclined to make more coherent movements and interact better with their teammates, creating spaces for insertions, but also to the exquisite technical aspect of the experience.
A few games were enough for us to notice clear progress throughout the field. animations, which now develop more fluidly, especially when a player receives the ball with his back to the goal and has to turn. We also found the ball physics better, after all Sports Interactive explained that they had completely revised it to make it more realistic, and the impression is that the studio's efforts have been successful. Especially in rebounding, which has always been one of the sore points of Football Manager, the sphere now behaves more coherently and also interacts better in the various contacts with the player models, which however remain insufficient in all cases. areas, due to their total backwardness.
Even in the face of all these new developments, thematch experience that Football Manager 2024 offers remains light years ahead of the technical objectives achieved by other sports simulations. It is true, for those who still cannot give up the 2D view it will be frivolous, but the series desperately needs to update its graphic component to current market standards, so it is expected to witness a concrete revolution with the move to Unity. in 2024.
The new tools in the hands of the technician
There is not much to say about the content offered by the new edition, which is divided as usual between Career, Online Career and Fantasy Draft, whose saved games can now be transferred from Football Manager 2023, a feature highly anticipated by the community, and finally available starting this year. In addition to savings transfer, there is another interesting detail related to the start of a new game, which now includes the choice between three different new modes linked to the type of database used at the start of the simulation. Taking as an example the transfer of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, when starting the Classic mode we will find the English striker already among the ranks of the Bavarians, while in the new Real World mode he will move to Germany only during the transfer market, exactly on The day on which his departure from Tottenham actually occurred.
Finally, Alternative Reality puts us on the bench next June 30, at the end of the 2022/2023 season, without the transfers that livened up the summer being taken into consideration in the slightest. This latter option offers the opportunity to shape the transfer session without restrictions and we have no doubt that it will be welcomed by the majority of the Football Manager community. There is great news among the licenses: after years of courtship, the English team managed to obtain the possibility of integrating the first three Japanese divisions, starting from the J1 League. As for Italy, all the players are there, but several teams from Serie A and B are missing. Here you can find the complete list of licenses. Naturally, Sports Interactive did not stop at just these innovations, but also offers in this year's edition a new management dynamics package which in some cases we appreciated, but in others they did not manage to convince us at all.
We can only start with intermediaries, one of the new players that Sports Interactive has decided to introduce with the clear objective of facilitating the outbound market of user-governed equipment, but who in the end turn out to be little more than simple disturbing figures, exactly as in real life. Intermediaries are essentially agents, hired by the sporting director, who have the task of finding offers for a specific player, who may no longer fit into the coach's plans.
However, as happens all too often in real football, even in Football Manager 2024 the intermediaries seem to act with the sole objective of pocketing their convenient commission, proposing downward offers, unacceptable for the club and almost offensive for the players and their agents, who in fact never take too kindly when they try to be sold in this way. If its introduction could prove to be an ingenious solution to the age-old problem of the outbound market, only in rare cases have intermediaries been able to really get us off the hook.
Schemes and objectives
This fall's edition also features a new set-piece management system, intended to simplify (and, in part, automate) the process of creating schemes dedicated to set-piece situations. In Football Manager 2024, through the new schematic editor, we will be able to decide the philosophy behind each offensive and defensive scenario, while the AI will choose who to place on the field, based on the players' skills. Human or zone defense? Incoming or outgoing corner kicks? And how many players do we want to present for an inactive ball in our favor? Once a brief questionnaire has been completed, the system itself will propose a rudimentary scheme based on our preferences, although it will never be the optimal solution, since in the game it is enough to replace the best so that set pieces sneak in. chaos.
In general, the system greatly facilitates the work of virtual coaches, who now no longer have to manually draw the movement trajectories of each athlete, however it is still necessary to work hard in creating effective schemes, given that the one generated by the AI exposes the team with serious deficiencies. However, we generally appreciate the unprecedented possibility of setting dates. individual goals for footballers, with the aim of promoting their performance on the field of play.
These are not simple challenges, but one new dynamic to interact with team members, who could, for example, ask to fulfill a contractual promise if they score enough goals, or receive starting status in exchange for better performances. In short, just one of those small changes that deepen the management of Sports Interactive edition after edition, even without the arrival of major revolutions.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Price 59,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (12) 7.1 your voteFootball Manager 2024 is one of the most conservative editions of the historic Sports Interactive series, however the company has shown great consistency, choosing to make small innovations that have made the simulation better and deeper, before the big revolution planned. for next year. Is it then worth returning to the role of coach even in the face of these few changes, or is it better to wait for the new generation of managers signed by the English firm? The answer depends solely and exclusively on how long you can live without a Football Manager this year, something that for many fans is much easier said than done. Being available on many types of subscription services (Game Pass, Apple Arcade, Netflix) could help avoid this problem and allow many to enjoy this year's new features without worrying about cover pricing.
PRO
- He is the definitive technician, the last of his generation.
- A good number of new developments, although of moderate impact
- Interesting introduction of the three game modes
AGAINST
- Intermediaries do not work as we expected
- Technical improvements are evident, but they are not enough
