Football Manager 2017 Reviews
Walk a season in the shoes of a manager taking the reigns of your favourite club. Football Manager 2017 offers inclusive functionality, making sure your decisions as a manager can either win you the trophy, or bankrupt your club. It's fun, but it starts to feel like little more than admin after a while. That, I suppose, is the point.
There's little to fault here and that's because SI Games takes the iterative approach. Whilst there hasn't been a big shift on the game's workings since tactical sliders were removed in FM 2014 each version is a step forward.
A deep, rewarding and addictive experience
Football Manager 2017 is more of the same, just bigger, better, and more refined. For many, that is exactly what the series needed.
Football Manager 2017 adds to the best sports simulation series on the planet with a barrage of low-key additions.
Sports Interactive must be commended on doing a really excellent job in finessing not just the contents - old and new - but the UI, to a level where it's not only less taxing to navigate, but elevates the overall experience and enjoyment of the game. The developer has been able to intelligently and subtly guide players towards being more familiar with the choices at their disposal, embracing them with a mode-defined sense of control and expanding the depth of the game in their minds. Everything that made Football Manager great in last year's entry is not only still present, but has been polished to a high degree. Whilst many of the new incorporations may not be as ground-breaking as some might have hoped, they are welcomed additions and point to things to come. For now, Football Manager 2017 is quite simply the most in-depth and rewarding experience yet - and perhaps, worryingly, maybe even more addictive.
For me, Football Manager 2017 is undoubtedly the best game in the series, and even when results aren’t going my way, I’m desperate to come back and go again. The changes to the match day experience are superb, and the social feed is a touch of genius.
Football Manager 2017 is my favourite in the series so far. Aesthetically it can't hold up to games like FIFA that make the visual presentation a priority, but there are plenty of nice touches for the ever-evolving engine that help to sell the experience as you observe and coach it. Beyond that the depth here should appeal to fans of the sport, especially those willing to let the action take a back seat to strategy and preparation. With so many different options at your disposal, you can dig about as deep as you would like in your experience.
This is a behemoth of a game franchise and should be experienced by anyone who follows football in any manner. I started playing the game with only a fleeting interest in football, and now it is one of the most important aspects of my life. Football Manager is not only a game, it is a factor in so many people’s lives whether it be good or bad reasons. The bad mainly being the game has been cited in 35 divorce cases… I can wholeheartedly recommend Football Manager 2017 at full price for any football fan out there.
The addictive one-more-game hook, the chance to prove your smarter than your favourite team’s manager and a mind-blowing database that’s still utilised by many professionals in the real-life footballing world. If that doesn’t tell you anything, nothing will. But if you’re only interested in knowing if it’s worth upgrading from last year’s version, then the answer is a resounding yes.
Football Manager 2017 is still the best football managing experience, but if you own its predecessor, then consider saving money for next year.
Review in Slovak | Read full review