Football Manager 2015 Reviews
So, we're left with a game whose main improvements are all disappointments. And yet I'd still I'd put money on me pouring hundreds of hours into it. That's Football Manager. I'm sure that once a few patches have been released and a few things have been tweaked I'll discover that magic again. I just expect it might be a little bit harder to find than last year.
Slow and disappointingly retro, not a series highlight.
Better menu layouts, countless new options and improved match-day features see FM2015 remain in title-winning form.
Football Manager 2015 is the same game we've come to know and love, but in this case that's no bad thing.
There's no doubt that come this time next year, I'll have played FM 15 more than just about any other game. It's a fixture in my life and this version isn't fundamentally flawed, but on the surface it's a baby step in the ongoing process and the majority of the changes feel like the edges of systems that are still working toward career-long implementation.
It's Football Manager, with some welcome new additions.
A far less ambitious sequel than the last two years and most of the headline changes are negative, especially changing your manager into a role-playing character.
Football Manager 2015 is the most detailed and complex Football Manager yet. There are some really minor niggles in the UI and game design, but if you have enough patience and love for football, you will quickly breeze right by them. Football Manager 2015 is a must-have title for veterans and newcomers alike who wish to try their hand at leading their favorite clubs to the plateaus of victory.
The latest Football Manager is a gentle improvement rather than a disruptive change, but its focus on managerial style and player interaction should tempt you to start your career all over again.
Football Manager has always been more than a game, but it is also more than a football product. It's both of these things in equal measure and updates of this quality will ensure that its legacy remains strong within the sport and among its fan base.
Assertive: The Sports Interactive lads have had a solid pre-season, I think Football Manager 2015 can really crack on for top honours from here.
As ever with a Football Manager game there has been a whole host of changes some of which are apparent straight away, whilst others become clear over time. The time-honoured tradition is to incite revolution in some areas and optimising others via evolution. Whilst this ensures there's enough new stuff to get owners of older versions to buy the latest release, it does mean that nothing is ever made perfect because of the modular, but cyclic change. It's not like everything that needs to be improved is touched in one go; nor do we get that brand-new and surprising title. So here we don't get that ten out of ten rating but Sports Interactive deserve praise for again delivering the best football management simulation around. It's the same as last year then, only different.
A good, solid addition to the franchise. If you are on the fence, this is the year to jump into Football Manager.
This year's Football Manager game feels a bit like the current state of Manchester United. The series has previously brought meaningful and well thought out advancements to improve the game, but this year the impact on the game comes across less aspiring and more awkward, as the company strives to make the most complete management experience a player can have, even if this means bringing along some of the boring parts of the job as well.
Struggling to break into the first eleven, but has a few new tricks
Regardless, the addictive qualities of Football Manager are ultimately untouched, with the new scouting and player interaction options only serving to expand the simulation and add a smidgen more personality. The best is still getting better then, but the pace of improvement might need to be addressed.
Better than ever, but know the risks going in
Football Manager 2015 does not feel like a must-have update for the series and I suspect that many fans will play their copies of FM 2014 for a while longer and will wait to see how the title evolves before they get it.
Football Manager 2015 is everything expected of a Football Manager release. The players who got many thousands of hours out of the previous versions will no doubt get the same out of this years' edition. However, the match engine has taken a significant step backwards and borders on moronic, making it a chore to play. Additionally, a tinge of tiredness is beginning to creep into the formula for this annual release. The changes to scouting and training are welcome but going forward Sports Interactive needs to plan to bring something big to the table to avoid the series beginning to feel a bit stale.
Pro Rugby Manager 2015 is an utter disgrace, a broken shambles, bereft of depth or quality, worth neither your time nor your money. It's frankly insulting that niche audiences continue to be exploited in this manner, and 505 Games should be utterly ashamed of themselves.