Football Manager 2013 - TheReview

Today, i'm going to be reviewing Football Manager 2013!
Hope you enjoy!

Sadly, I'm not going to be able to use the tried-and-tested formula this year as Football Manager 13 is quite unlike any previous edition in the series. While the original game is still there (and yes, don't worry, I'm still planning on describing its new features), this year marks the arrival of Classic mode – a new, streamlined version of the game.

It's a pretty radical departure for Sports Interactive, what with their unerring focus on adding complexity and depth to the series over the past 10 years. To abandon that now is somewhat surprising – after all fans have been moaning about how complex and time-consuming the game has become for a long time. Perhaps it took this long to give Classic mode the right balance. Or perhaps it took this long for SI to realise that realism at all costs was not necessarily what people want.

Whatever the reason, it was certainly worth the wait. Classic mode is fun in a way the full game hasn't been for some time now, and far from just tempting back those who had given up, I think many who have remained loyal will find their allegiances tested this year.

Strangely, it feels almost like an EA management simulator, such is the change in tone and presentation. Classic has a much more attractive, glossy feel than the nuts and bolts of its bigger brother – but still retains the all-important player database and match engine which made Football Manager a genre-defining franchise in the first place.

In terms of gameplay, most of the fat of the last 10 years has been trimmed out to the point where you can get from match to match with only a few clicks. Miles Jacobson referred to it as a "tactics and transfers" in an early development video and this is probably the best way to describe it. Buy some players, pick a formation, and then zip your way through a season in a day.

It's the speed with which you can make your way through the game, and the lack of time-commitment and stress that comes from this that makes Classic mode so refreshing. This is best illustrated by the Challenge feature offered within Classic mode – essentially a variety of custom-made save games for you to load up and take on different scenarios

If you've got a spare afternoon, why not take on the challenge of saving a small Portuguese team from relegation? Challenge mode will put you into the hotseat in the January transfer window, and in two to three hours you can make your way to the end of the season. Win or lose, your time investment is small – you're playing for the sheer fun of it. It's been a long time since that could be said about a Football Manager game.

In-game unlockables allow you to purchase, with real money, "cheat" options to help you with the game, and while I worry what ramifications this may have for the series – I'd be surprised if we didn't one day have to pay extra for things we once expected to be included – it justs adds to the sense that this is a game, not a hobby, and it's there to be enjoyed in whatever way you want. Sure, it's less rewarding than the full version. But if you don't have the time or patience to play the full version any more, then who cares?

Obviously, Classic mode isn't for everybody. For every 90s Championship Manager fan that bemoans how complex his once beloved game has become, there's another for whom the series is like a religion. The match engine is so sophisticated that hours and hours can be spent studying it – and thankfully Football Manager 13's fully-featured incarnation has had more than enough attention given to it to satisfy these hardcore fans as well.

As ever, layers of complexity have been added which mean more time can be spent away from the pitch than ever before. Training has been completely overhauled – an area that's remained relatively unchanged over the past few years of updates. You're now encouraged to spend far more time tailoring training to specific players and matches – train your team in attacking movement the week before playing weak opposition at home, for example. While this has been an option before, it now feels like something you shouldn't ignore.

Press conferences, too, have become more complex, and though you'll soon get tired of the generic replies on offer, just like team-talks you can now offer them in a variety of tones. I imagine some players will delight in the ability to turn the hairdryer on journalists, rather than just their error-prone left-back.

The way you work alongside other staff at the club has also changed – for the first time you can appoint a director of football to handle contract negotiations and the like, and also find more specific coaches for different tasks.

Aside from these new features, the interface has seen a major redesign that should make navigating the game's myriad features somewhat easier. The matchday experience has also been improved quite considerably, with much more information available to the player and a much less obtrusive menu available with which to make pitchside decisions. Improvements to the 3D match engine aren't hugely noticeable, but the new animations included are a pleasing addition for those of us who've tired of seeing their tiny football men kick a ball in exactly the same way.

Though we say it every year, Football Manager 13 is the most in-depth, detailed and complex football management simulator ever made. But I must admit, I've bitten my tongue as I've written about most of these new features. The last thing I personally wanted was a new set of variables to worry about as I play the game, and for even more hours to have to be invested just to get through a season.

Now Classic mode is available, though, such complaints are harder to make. It'd be nice if it didn't have to be a straight choice between too complex and not complex enough, but unless SI release 20 differently complex versions of the game, you can't keep everyone happy.

One enhancement that affects both modes is the drastically improved multiplayer options – fully integrated with Steam and making it much easier to play with friends online than ever before, and in a pleasing variety of ways.

In Versus mode, for example, you can set up a customised cup and compete with teams from your single-player games – perfect to settle those arguments about whose all-conquering Chelsea side is better.

Online leaderboards are also available for the first time, making FM13 feel like a much more social experience. It's nice to know, having spent the best part of a month guiding Metropolitan Police to the Premier League, that there are others out there too doing the same thing.

Without the amount of new modes and improvements on offer, Football Manager 13 is a pretty astonishing package. It will, though, be interesting to see what form next year's release will take. If Classic mode proves popular, it won't be bundled in with the main game for long – and I fear for the longevity of the full-featured mode should they end up being competing releases. For now though, Football Manager 13 at last offers the chance to play the game at a level of intensity you're comfortable with.

Overall, I would rate this game a 7/10

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Fifa 13 - TheReview

Hey guys, as I am a MASSIVE fan of Fifa, my first ever post on this blog will be about nothing else!

Fifa 13 Review

Presentation/Graphics

 
One thing that really makes FIFA 13 stand out is how good it looks and the menus. They really do look awesome and it is a credit to the design team. The graphics of the actual gameplay also look excellent. However there are big problems which unfortunately undo all of that good work. The lighting and shading of the pitch from the stands of the stadiums. It might look realistic but what is the point in making it so dark on the pitch that you can't see the ball? Just remove all stadium shadows from the pitches. We would prefer to be able to see the ball and players. There are still kit clashes because of the lighting in some stadiums. So Barcelona blue and red shirt can look the same as a black kit!! Also refs wearing same colours as one team still or clashing due to the black. Won't mention the invisible ball glitch (oops just did). Some of the balls just don't work in FIFA. Bit like the UT trade cards where you can't see the player or ball etc.

The Gameplay

 
Straight into one of the key parts of any football game. How does it play? Lets start by saying FIFA 13 is a complex engine and needs to be broken down into areas. Attacking, defending, passing, shooting, skills. The players in FIFA 13 now have attacking intelligence so look at making their runs to stay onside. This was a big problem in FIFA 12 and is now excellent in FIFA 13. There is also the controlled dribbling which is really good and adds really good dimensions to the game. Unfortunately a lot of attacking play is actually determined by the defending. Most people when frustrated by the game will shout counter attacking pace (insert swear word). As yet another goal against them on the counter is scored. The problem is the defensive intelligence in FIFA 13 is terrible. Watch as defenders don't cover space but go chasing the ball leaving big gaps. Every time you attack near the box or take a corner you fear your opponent just hitting a big clearance which magically goes to the strikers feet 35 yards away and the new "first touch" is completely ignored. This first touch which when doing simple passes between players creates a poor level of control generally. We wouldn't mind it doing that if it was consistent throughout the game. Also fullbacks even if high defensive and low attacking are way too far forward. The defensive line should be deeper and as a 4. Just press and hold 1 button called contain and your defender will just do everything for you. Was worse in FIFA 12 but still annoying when everyone is doing it in FIFA 13. Just remove it EA and admit its a game breaker.
The passing and shooting are very poor in FIFA 13 compared to the nearest rival which is Pro Evolution Soccer 13 (PES). Being footballers we want to be able to control the ball using manual controls or even assisted in a way that makes sense. It just isn't possible in FIFA. Especially online if the connection isn't 100% perfect. The delay on the controller responding to what you are doing is even a bit dodgy on fully assisted passing and shooting. In PES 2013 the passing and shooting is excellent. You can bend the ball, add back spin top spin, and everything you do with the stick to produce aftertouch makes sense. Can even hold a button to do a manual pass at any time during the game. Every year in FIFA there is a type of shot which is Over Powered ("OP"). In FIFA 12 it was finesse shots. In FIFA 13 they made those worse and now we have OP long shots and near post shots which nearly always go in. Luckily FIFA has always been good at skills and they are easy to do using the triggers and buttons. There are lots of them and they look really good. The problem here is that against the computer they don't really work much and online they don't work well against contain defending.
Games in the rain are fairly pointless. Well done on removing the snow now remove the rain please.

Career Mode

 
Again the presentation and amount of options is top class. We did like player manager in FIFA 12 as we wanted to progress a pro player and manage the team too. Mainly as the computer made stupid decisions when picking the team and buying players. So the player mode in FIFA 13 isn't quite as exciting. As a group of friends who used to play as guests on same xbox against otheres online in FUT and H2H we have played more career mode for fun (only because EA removed guests due to exploits in their game, more on that later). We play manager mode and try to take an average team to glory. The problem with it is the AI of the defence which forces you to play dull football in our opinion. Can't do skills and exciting play as the defenders don't commit and all sit there containing. Even if we put it on professional level. Then there are the annoying updates during the screens telling you the scores. Sure there is an off button somewhere but not found it! Same for in the game if you forget to switch off the annoying updates from Alan McInally he rambles on updating you on scores describing goals you know are just randomly read out. Overall it just doesn't have the gameplay to keep us hooked. Rather play a footy manager game. Also people have reported the game freezing after a few seasons and the save game no longer working. Kind of a big deal really if spent hours progressing!

Ultimate Team (UT)

 
The mode everyone wants to play as they get to buy and sell players to create teams using any players they want. Genius idea from EA. Unless an idea copied from somewhere else but for now lets give them credit. An amazing idea and very addictive. FIFA 13 brings leagues to UT, a great idea we all thought rather than a few online cups. Just one problem, people are so desperate to win they will do anything. From playing counter attack long through balls to fast strikers to actually tampering with the game. To combat that and the stupid defender intelligence/positioning need to be able to set custom formations. However EA have messed up or purposely stopped them from saving in UT. We have no idea which not sure they know either. We also now have no guest option which we always used to play as it was fun. Someone found an exploit using it! So the leagues have too many corrupt people trying to win at any cost. Why why why? Just learn the game and skills and enjoy playing!!! Also EA removed single matches which had less pressure to win and people were trying things out and enjoying themselves. Why have you removed it EA, why?
Anyway apart from the people playing it making the game annoying there are the faults in the game. Trade pile issues, server faults, disconnects, bizarre gameplay etc. But it gets worse… In the same week lots of youtubers and streamers suddenly had their UT reset, losing all their coins and players. With EA saying it would take weeks to look into never mind resolve. Then in that same week some people hacked UT and bought all the top in form players and discarded them. Putting lots of generated coins into clubs. Made a mess of the market, some In forms started going for crazy prices. EA took UT offline for a couple of days. Recently they took UT down for 6 hours for maintenance then tweeted out they are aware of issues just half an hour after bringing it all back online.
One word describes Ultimate Team in FIFA 13 - SHAMBLES.

Head to head mode (H2H)

 
Having always been drawn to UT we have never given this as much attention. With much slower gameplay and everyone picking Real Madrid online was pretty repetitive on FIFA 12. FIFA 13 has new filters to find same level of team and if using guest or not which is good. Due to the slowness of the game we always feel drawn to the better teams tho. If it was a little bit quicker but not as fast as UT we would love H2H mode. Seasons is a little less dramatic opponent wise even in the higher divisions but the slowness means skills are much harder to beat opponents with. Looking down our friends list nobody plays h2h seasons which is a shame really as it is good. Just lacks that edge that makes you want to play UT or 2v2 online or Clubs. Maybe if EA speed it up just a little bit everyone would play it?

Clubs

 As we gave up playing clubs in FIFA 11 due to hackers some of our players didn't even bother buying FIFA 12 and haven't bought FIFA since. They join us as guests for UT (or did) for a mess about and have some fun. Having seen the issues in FIFA 13 they haven't bought that either. These were hard core FIFA players who lost interest due to the game having so many issues. FIFA 13 clubs has some improvements and splitting online and offline Pros was a massive step in the right direction. The players in the club now improve as you go up the divisions but we think this is a bit of an error from EA. Most people will play clubs for a little bit and then stop playing it. Other games come out or friends drop out. Prefer to play Ultimate Team etc. So make the other players in the team good from the start. Same for all teams. Not amazing just good. Clubs will only really be good when the gameplay works well from an AI perspective. It just has too many issues which means people will always play the same way. It is a lot better than FIFA 12 though in our opinion.

Other features

 
Skill games arrived in FIFA 13 and these are really really good. Lots of different ones teaching you how to play the game. Unfortunately for us it just highlights how bad the aftertouch system is in FIFA generally. The only time we have seen aftertouch work as we would want is from free kicks and corners. There are various online modes from random h2h games, 2v2, even challenging for money on Virgin gaming. Certainly lots of modes to try out but do any of them grip you enough to want to come back and play them more?

Bugs and customer support

 
Probably missing from all other FIFA reviews but very important. We thought FIFA 12 was bad for issues but FIFA 13 we really do feel like asking for a refund. If we listed all the problems this would be the longest review in history. Obviously all these issues have made us mad and 2 of the big ones happened in the week we were actually writing the review. We didn't lower the score however which we already think is maybe a little generous. How many games have so many problems that they appear on Watchdog twice for the same release. Watchdog is an English TV programme following up complaints for customers with the makers of the game. See videos to the right. EA response to one of them can be read at the end of this paragraph - Unfortunately we aren't happy that they rant on about how many copies they have sold to start their response! Sorry would have been the best start. It became so popular as the top sites reviewed it incorrectly in our opinion. They played against each other in the office. How many players are going to do that? We have and yes its a good game against mates who like to play skilfully. Also EA were very clever getting the big youtubers to go to the London offices and produce footage and their thoughts. Again playing against each other! Gave us all so much hope to then be let down so badly.

Overview
 
If 2 players online who like to skill and play a nice passing game, FIFA gameplay can actually be a really enjoyable experience. Just that 80% of the games will be against people desperate to win. A problem with English football generally - no focus on skill just winning. Why England never win anything and all the best players aren't English. We prefer playing FIFA 13 as an offline battle between friends which is sad really as we want to take people on around the country and world. Working up the divisions and battling in various offline tournaments. Especially on Ultimate Team!! And single matches were removed where people were usually more skillful trying different moves and ways to score. These need to return.
FIFA 13 promised so much and just fails at every corner. The thing is its the best football game you can buy. So are we being harsh on EA? Maybe as the game can be good against the right sort of player. But surely if you couldn't spam shoot and long through balls from your own half for counter attack pace goals everyone would attempt to learn a better way to play the game. Also if manual passing reacted and aftertouch worked in a better way people could become masters of the game in a way they crave. Given the number of bugs and issues and failed support EA don't deserve a high score for FIFA 13 anyway. We don't hate EA and we realise this seems a strong review against them and their game. We would love to think this will help them with FIFA 14 and gain respect they have lost or never had in the community by being more honest and producing something better. Try releasing the next version as a beta while the previous version is still live. So it can be tested by us all and maybe have it working by the time the full release comes out. Don't add the correct players or all the modes. I'm sure we would all test it if we knew it would mean a working game at the end.

Overall, including most of the bad aspects of this game, I would rate this game a 9/10

Feel free to post any comments for future improvements on new reviews! :D
I will be posting reviews every few weeks..