Football Manager Handheld Review

By Steve Hill Published 21 April, 2006

A less guilty pleasure.

Version tested: PSP

When it comes to football management games, one developer is in a league of its own. Sports Interactive has consistently managed to enrapture a nation of armchair managers for over a decade via its Championship Manager and latterly Football Manager titles, with the domestic wreckage wreaked well-documented. That heritage has now been distilled, shrunken down and injected into the PSP, which if you think about it is the ideal format for the game.

No longer tethered to the PC screen, or indeed hogging the telly with the 360 version, it's almost a less guilty way of playing. Addicts of the game will be all too aware of the deep shame of wrenching yourself away following a six-hour session, but if you're on the move anyway, killing time is to be positively encouraged. The perfect companion for planes, trains and automobiles, I played the game on all three modes of transport during the course of this review. This is my story...

So I'm in the back of the car heading north for the big Chester v Wrexham derby match when I crack out the game, falling into silent reverie for a good couple of hours as I come to terms with the interface. If you're used to the latest versions of the game, then know that this is a brutally pared down affair. While the PSP is capable of playing movies and throwing vivid graphics around the screen without breaking sweat, it is apparently unable to muster 22 dots and a ball on a green background. The much-vaunted 2D match engine is gone, replaced by old-school text commentary for what is effectively Championship Manager 3 Lite.

It really is the absolute minimum as regards interactivity: buy players, organise training, pick the team, select the tactics... you can pretty much see all the game has to offer within the first couple of hours, helped by a perfectly functional and intuitive interface that requires no recourse to the manual. Navigating to crucial areas is a breeze, with the left shoulder button allowing you to retrace your steps, and crucial elements are hyper-linked. So, for instance, if a news story comes in informing you that a club has made a bid for a player, pressing the 'View Link' button enables you to peruse the details of both the buying and selling club, as well as the player himself.

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot brighton

Poor old Brighton.

As for picking the team, the entire squad is presented on one page, enabling you to scroll through and pick and unpick the relevant players with a single press of the same button, something that you'll get used to within minutes. As for comparing general attributes such as form and average rating, the various columns can again be ordered at the press of a button. The tactics screen is another click away, and while there are no customisable formations, there are a slew of generic ones to choose from. Team instructions are quickly selectable, as are individual player instructions. As for the matches themselves, they can be played at a variety of speeds, with substitutions and tactical changes available as soon as the ball is hoofed out of play.

Compared to its PC and 360 counterparts, there is distinctly less to do, with no reserve teams, no media interaction, no player comparisons, and no sound apart from the clicking of the menu screens. Football Manager has never really been about feature sets though. It's about creating a believable and realistic world of football, and the baby of the family manages to do this with no less panache than its more established brethren. There's a tension to the matches and a narrative to the season that simply feels right. Some of this may have to do with brand loyalty engendered by playing various incarnations of the game for years, but the game effortlessly convinces you that it's working its magic 'under the bonnet'.

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot swap

That's swap player, not the entire team.

Back to the self-indulgent travelogue, there was still no way I was pulling out the PSP at half-time (as recommended), an act that would have seen me either robbed or rightly deemed a numpty. And having seen 1200 feral Welshmen silenced with a superb late winner in a real football match, the mood in the car back was more one of celebration than contemplation. I did return to the game at Didcot Parkway station though, numbing the hangover of the final hour of the journey by stringing together a couple of decent results.

Fast-forward a few days and the promotion push is taking place at 30,000 feet. Eight miles high in a Virgin Premium Economy seat, I forgo the in-flight entertainment in favour of the grind of pretend League Two football. Fifty movies at my fingertips, not to mention the company of an attractive woman, and I'm trying to secure a loan deal to cover the glaring weakness on the left flank. I've barely settled on my first choice XI and we're beginning our descent - the plane, not the team that is, although a few nasty injuries soon exposes my paper-thin squad.

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot anticipated

The hugely anticipated fixture reaches boiling point...

But Football Manager Handheld isn't just for travel, it's also ideal for bed, particularly if you're jetlagged and alone. In what may rank as one of the more improbable gaming scenarios, I find myself punching the air at 6am in a Hollywood hotel room having secured progress to the LDV Northern quarter-finals on a penalty shootout. There are few - if any - other games that can evoke a similar response.

As for the nitty-gritty, the loading times are negligible, with a 'processing' progress bar disappearing seconds after it has appeared, and the other results being churned out in a matter of seconds. You're never left waiting around, and indeed can push on to the next match in minutes, particularly if you ask your assistant to pick the team.

It's to the game's credit that you will rarely take this option though, preferring instead to autistically scour over the player attributes in the hope of gleaning a minor advantage.And with a battery time in excess of six hours, it's a game that you can whip out for a quick dabble almost indefinitely. In many ways FM Handheld is the gaming equivalent of a security blanket, and unlike so many other games, I'll be playing it long after the review is finished.

8 / 10

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Comments (54) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Jeepers #1 6 years ago

    Ooh.

  • Tomo #2 6 years ago

    Wicked. Official confirmation after the positive forum feedback.

    Congrats SI!

  • Hicksy #3 6 years ago

    I MUCH prefer this over the 360 version. This is an excellent first attempt from SI at a handheld FM where the 360 version is a clumsily customised version which leads to much frustration.

    Kudos SI!

  • DiscoMike #4 6 years ago

    Much prefer this weeks picture of Rafael Benítez than last weeks one of Arsčne Wenger.

    Well done Eurogamer.

  • marc_si #5 6 years ago

    Thanks very much for the cheeky captions next to the Brighton screenshots :( ;)

  • Ceatlan #6 6 years ago

    This sounds like much more my cup of tea than any of the other versions. The other versions all seem a little bit to detailed, heavy and more like hard work than fun to me. This seems much more akin to the original Footbal Manager of 20+ years ago, kind of a Football Manager 'Light'.

    Is my perception correct, or is the fact that I find the current PC and XBox 360 versions completely unapproachable and no fun because of the overwhelming amount of data, detail and micro management, still going to be true with this version ?

    I want a game that concentrates solely on the players in the squad and how you use them in a football match. I don't want to deal with running the football club as a whole, no advertising, no stadium development, no dealings with media or other managers, no budgeting of club etc, etc.

    Ceatlan


    Edited by 2 at 21/04/06 @ 08:54

  • Bumbuliuz #7 6 years ago

    I bought both the psp and 360 versions. Gotta have accsess to Fm everywhere :)

  • Eldritch #8 6 years ago

    Oooh, tempting. Might pick this one up. Nice to see some good PSP software again!

  • TheSaint #9 6 years ago

    Loving this game, Saints will soon be back in the premiership where they belong thanks to my south American imports.
    Edited by 1 at 21/04/06 @ 12:55

  • Murbal #10 6 years ago

    I've said it once and I'll say it again...

    Northampton Town for Europe and the Premiership!

    /adds to basket

  • Kay #11 6 years ago

    Had this for about a week now and it's great. There are still a few minor niggles, though, which can hopefully be sorted out in the next version.

    K

  • mattman #12 6 years ago

    Will this work on a 1.5 in any way?

  • smoison #13 6 years ago

    Anyone not English and interested in this?

    This game makes me think of interactive Excel....

  • Zero Beat #14 6 years ago

    It makes me think of ugly old PC magazine coverdisk UI's.

  • krudster #15 6 years ago

    It makes me think of really lazy, predictable comments!

  • Perry #16 6 years ago

    Mattman: No, I think

    Caetlan: Yes, very simple. Although you never dealt with stadium expansions and advertising in FM games, so no difference there.

    Good review, BTW. My only niggle with the game is the commentary can be a bit hit and miss, which is disappointing considering there is no 2d view. One thing they must get right and quickish is the commentary.

    You can't have, for example:

    "Volz is given a red card". That is it? What did he do? Also, I've had other gems like:

    "Goal to Leeds". That is it, out of the blue I am given this snippet of information in teh 89th minute of a, until then, tense nil all draw.

    Teething problems though, overall I love the game. Had it since Thursday before Easter and it will be in my PSP for months to come.

    Edit: SMoison, yes, not English, love it. Maybe you should have a look at worldwide sales before such a predictable moronic comment.
    Edited by 1 at 21/04/06 @ 10:02

  • Monkey #17 6 years ago

    Been waiting for this since I knew about it!!
    Train journeys will never be the same again.
    :)

  • ERG1008 #18 6 years ago

    I haven't got a PSP but this really interests me.
    I'm still madly in love with FM2006 trying to get my crocked Northwich Team back up to the Conference but the idea of playing whilst travelling on long, boring journeys sounds great.

    What's this??
    Eurogamer reviewers jetting off to Hollywood!!!!

  • Perry #19 6 years ago

    ERG1008: This is a must for long journies. My trips to work everyday are now so much more pleasurable.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #20 6 years ago

    Steve Hill in "Likes Football Manager game shock"!!!!!

  • gizmo #21 6 years ago

    Sounds like a decent first attempt, but to me too many wrinkles to justify splashing on. I'll wait till they're sorted in the next version. Needed a bit more polish by the sound of things, but hey, with the world cup just round the corner.

  • Fozzie_bear #22 6 years ago

    Rafa Benitez, bored shitless by the game unfolding in front of him, decides to entertain the crowd by dancing like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

  • LetsGo #23 6 years ago

    Nice to see the reviewer comparing CM:pSP.... not!

    I’ve got CM:2k6 and its missing some vital features…

    -No in-depth tactics editing
    -Unable to see ratings of players and Stats from ALL previous games
    -No way to re-read the commentary again if you miss something (which can happen a lot)
    -Realistic? Yeah, Jose Moriniho going to Crystal Palace in season one :(.

    To name but a few.

    I wanted to like it, I really did but its just missing soooo much!

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #24 6 years ago

    I reckon the picture looks more like Rafa's dropped a smell and is blaming it on generic_fan_01 ;)

  • Kay #25 6 years ago

    Those screenshots look slightly different to the version that was released. The font on the tactics screen seems to be cleaner and better looking.

    K

  • pantherboy #26 6 years ago

    I quite like the media interaction and the taunting fellow managers

  • paulioo #27 6 years ago

    Where's the mention on the game crashing when you press the left shoulder button?
    Its happened to me on several occassions. Look around the net on other forums and you'll see its a big problem.

    And when SI say "oh but its only our first attempt at making a game on the PSP" I couldn't give a dam. I paid Ł30 for it, I expect it to work properly, and with no possibility for updates or patches it really is a disgrace.

    When the game works its great, but you need to save every 5 mins just incase it crashes. Im using ver 2.6 by the way.

  • marc_si #28 6 years ago

    "Where's the mention on the game crashing when you press the left shoulder button? "

    If you look on the EuroGamer forums themselves you'll find a helpful chap there has found the exact screen combination which causes this to happen so you can avoid it (it isn't just using the left shoulder button from what we've ascertained so far - its a combination of specific screens and actions prior to the left shoulder button being pressed which cause it).

    Its a fairly obscure problem and can be avoided - yes in an ideal world we'd have found it before the game was out, but in defense of the reviewer only a few people have come across it as its very playing style dependant (hence the reviewer probably didn't have it happen to him).

    Most people don't appear to have ever tried the precise combination of particular screens and activities to cause the problem (despite many of them having played numerous seasons in the game).

    Obviously though as I indicated in the other thread I'm looking into the cause at the moment and will obviously update people upon things once I know 100% why its happening.

    Hope this helps,

    Marc
    Edited by 5 at 21/04/06 @ 17:13

  • Collie #29 6 years ago

    The first thing I looked at in the review was the score. Then I looked up at the reviewer and thought, 'well that figures'. It must be great going to review a game and already knowing you're going to love it. Sega ought to employ him, then stick impartial 'Best Football Game EVER! - Steve Hill' quotes on the boxes of their games, a bit like the Codemasters used to do back in the Eighties, but with their founding owners. How many people used to fall for that in the days of Spectrum? You'd end up buying some crap, 'Advanced Plankton Eating Simulator' game on the basis that some chap on the cassette inlay said it was, 'Totally addictive, I'd buy it'. Still, I'm sure the FM games are actually good. I haven't played one since about 2001. I'd just end up every night at 4am unable to leave the PC as I'm trying to win the European cup with Nomark Utd for the fourth season running, when instead I can be up at 4am wanking or something.

  • dynarama #30 6 years ago

    Played one season (Newcastle won the FA Cup) and I'm really enjoying it. I'm a CM 01/02 fan so this is a nice natural progression.

    Only major thing that's missing is the financial side and some of the wages I'm able to offer when getting players to renew contracts can be a bit confusing, but overall this is a cracking game - thoroughly recommended.

  • Smiggs #31 6 years ago

    tbf collie he gave it 8/10, i was expecting at least a 9 ;)

    i'd be looking at this as the psp's killer app if I had any money
    Edited by 1 at 22/04/06 @ 00:50

  • Pachinko #32 6 years ago

    It's just too simple. Nobody will convince me that the PSP is unable to show 2D animations of the match which would add to the atmosphere immensely. And other areas, too: no fiddling with the formations (or creating your own) is a pain in the ass, as well as the extremities in player behaviour. It's either long passes all the way or none at all, it's long balls all the way or none at all. The AI doesn't try to take players away from you in bidding wars. Et cetera.

    It may be that the PC and 360 versions are too cluttered, but taking the series in the other extreme is no good as well!

  • Liggur #33 6 years ago

    Championship Manager has a 2D match engine.

  • marc_si #34 6 years ago

    "Nobody will convince me that the PSP is unable to show 2D animations of the match which would add to the atmosphere immensely"

    I've been pretty open on the reasons behind us using a text match engine instead of a 2D one.

    Simply put yes the PSP can display 2D animations no problem, however to get a 'realistic' 2D match engine on the PSP wasn't possible, simply put if I ported the PC FM match engine then you'd be talking a delay of 20-30 seconds before the match began and around a 10-15 minutes delay for match processing every match day ... which imho would be unacceptable.

    As such rather than go with an unrealistic 2D engine I opted for what I believe is a realistic text based match engine. This style of match engine is also somewhat faster to play than a 2D based one which imho suits the pick up and play nature of a handheld console where you might be playing in a brief 10-15 minute period ...

    Hope this helps,

    Marc

  • paulioo #35 6 years ago

    I prefer the text based commentary over the 2d match engine.
    The problem here is that if you want a fully in depth management game buy the PC or Xbox version. The PSP version is for playing it while taking a dump on the loo etc.

    Its fun, its quick and its addicitive. My only gripe is the crashing, lack of financial information and lack of detail in transfer system (cant set prices for players).

    The PSP version isnt trying to be an exact copy of the PC version. Its highly addictive and maybe a little too easy. I won the champions league with Celtic in my first season, when is that ever going to happen in the real world. Although i did only finish 2nd in the league..Meh..

  • marc_si #36 6 years ago

    "Any chance that the next version could hand off processing to the PS3 if available?"

    If you've got a PS3 you can lend me then I'll see what I can do ;)

    (but on a serious note I've no idea of the concrete specs for a PS-3 at the moment so its impossible to say if this sort of thing would be practical or not ... although bearing in mind that we'd never be able to 'guarentee' a PS-3 being available for processing the game would have to be designed without such a thing in mind)
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 08:24

  • Pachinko #37 6 years ago

    "Simply put yes the PSP can display 2D animations no problem, however to get a 'realistic' 2D match engine on the PSP wasn't possible, simply put if I ported the PC FM match engine then you'd be talking a delay of 20-30 seconds before the match began and around a 10-15 minutes delay for match processing every match day ... which imho would be unacceptable. "

    Although I do appreciate your quick answer and understand the limitations of a handheld platform, I still fail to see how such an option can't have been included, at least for those who enjoy actually watching the game. We're talking PSP, not DS, for God's sake - the processing power is comparable to PS2 and the UMD stores 1,8 GB of data. As far as the other matches are concerned, they of course needn't be simulated in the 2D graphical engine.

    It is good for 15 minute bursts, yes. However I for one prefer a complex manager as opposed to a simple one since this IS 2006, handheld or no handheld. I would be perfectly happy to spend 15 minutes of in-depth planning and managing my Inter instead of finishing a month's worth of matches in the same amount of time. It is old school, yet imho this hurts the game more than in contributes.

  • marc_si #38 6 years ago

    "I still fail to see how such an option can't have been included, at least for those who enjoy actually watching the game."

    As I indicated its possible to display a 2D match on the PSP - however imho showing such animation if its not wholly believable actually detracts from the gameplay rather than adding to it, thus for me it was something better left out of the game.

    I'm aware that not everyone will agree with me on this and I do hope one day to have time (and processing power ;) ) to enable me to do a 2D match display on the PSP however I won't do it until I believe we can do it 'right'.

    If you feel a management game isn't 'complete' without this option then I'll have to reluctantly admit that FMH simply isn't a game I'd recommend to you.

    (sorry I realise this isn't the answer you probably wanted - but at least its honest)

  • LetsGo #39 6 years ago

    Marc, you've obviously not played CM on the PSP.

    CMPSP=decent match engine.

  • marc_si #40 6 years ago

    "Marc, you've obviously not played CM on the PSP.
    CMPSP=decent match engine. "

    Sad though it might be to admit it but I always at least try ALL management games regardless of the sport or platform (heck if I didn't love these types of games I shouldn't be making them myself imho).

    I do however make it a point not to comment upon rival games however - simply put it takes a lot of time and effort to create a game and I don't think its fair or right for a games developer to comment upon a rival product.

    If you enjoy that game then thats fine and I'm happy for you (sorry but I'm not into controversial flamewars ;) ).
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 09:54

  • thesnowman #41 6 years ago

    Got this over the weekend and I am really enjoying it, the satisfaction from scoring that last minute goal was amazing.

    However I have got a few quibbles. First off I have had the game crash twice, which is a bit anoying, it seemed to happen when I pressed 'back' to much at once (although I will look on the forums to see what it is that sets it off). Secondly I would love to be able to fine players, I have always done that even going back to champ manager on the Amiga. I always fined players for red cards and poor performances, it makes me feel like I have some power as a manager, and feels a bit lacking without it.

    Third quibble would be the lack of sound, it would be good if I could import songs from the PSP and play it while playing, maybe a feature to include in the future.

    Anyway top game and my american fiancee just cant understand how I can play game, "that you dont do anything in"
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 10:50

  • Pachinko #42 6 years ago

    Thanks again for the comments, Marc. We'll agree to disagree here. However I must point out that the lack of a decent 2D match engine is the least of the game's problems. I do not believe that handheld games should in this day and age be this simplified. FMH is, at its heart, a very old fashioned experience, and I realize many players will appreciate that. Yet is a lack of depth really a characteristic that handheld games should be praised for or thrive on? I think that FMH could have easily been as complex an experience as the home console versions, and that this simplification is not welcome. To paraphrase a previous statement, I'd rather put 15 minutes into one in-depth match preparation that go through five games in the same amount of time. There are simply too many options missing for FMH to be a good and modern football management game. And that is the core problem - using handheldedness (sic!) as an excuse for oversimplification. It's as one couldn't be bothered to concentrate on a plane, train or automobile. That is not the case, one CAN. Additionally, the PSP as well as the DS both feature standby functions. You can continue from wherever or whenever you left off.

    In the old days 'handheld' meant something derogatory, less that the home consoles and the PC. Games like FMH, though somewhat enjoyable in the simplemindedness, bring back that feeling. Is that really what the 2006 is about?

  • marc_si #43 6 years ago

    "I have always done that even going back to champ manager on the Amiga. I always fined players for red cards and poor performances, it makes me feel like I have some power as a manager, and feels a bit lacking without it. "

    Ok - noted, will see what I can do for the next version.

    "Third quibble would be the lack of sound, it would be good if I could import songs from the PSP and play it while playing, maybe a feature to include in the future. "

    This was simply memory/UMD related - we could have enabled sounds but they'd have had to be spooled off the UMD which would have reduced the play time from battery considerably (at the moment once its booted the game doesn't touch the UMD at all which is why the play time for the game on battery power is high).

    I'll obviously be looking at compressing the memory used in the game as much as possible again for the next version so we can shoehorn more stuff onto the device, keep your fingers crossed ...

  • thesnowman #44 6 years ago

    Could we not play songs that are stored on our memory stick, a bit like how the xbox streams songs off its hard drive.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 11:52

  • sonmi451 #45 6 years ago

    really enjoying this, so far won the Championship with Saints and 2nd in the Prem (if only this was reality...).

    in the next version i would like to see a more in depth 'action zones' map of the pitch which could highlight problem areas for your team. In real life if you kept seeing your opponents break down the left wing, then you'd look to strengthen that area. it'd be nice to get that kind of feedback during a match.

    only had it crash once. not a major problem with auto-save on, and didn't lose my 4-3 win over Man U ;)

  • Perry #46 6 years ago

    Marc, I love the game, but I do have my suggestions as well. I'll put them below, and if I remember more I'll edit them in:

    1. Commentary. For a text commentary based approach, I find there are some glaring mistakes by the commentary.
    Example 1 - Out of nowhere, red card. No explanation, just simple red card. What the hell did he do?.
    Example 2 - As above, but sometimes the first line you read in a sequence is Player A scored. End of commentary. Quite odd.
    Example 3 - Gets confused as to who is witholding pressure. E.g., I am attacking, and after a long sequence of possession and we lose the ball, i get My team witheld the pressure.

    2. Injuries - I used the standard training that the game came with and I had 17 of my squad of 35 injured at one stage. Very, very unlikely, and this happened 2 seasons in a row, until I vamped down training considerably.

    3. the dumbing down of contract negotiations needn't have happened so much. Surely it could handly exchanges and other bits that made 02/03 such a cracking game

    4. A touch easy. Fulham won the UEFA cup in my 2nd season, and I am traditionally cr@p at this game, but still love it.

    5. Reserve team would be useful

    6. Some press interaction would be good, even if dumbed down

    I did write a reader review over a week ago but Eurogamer still haven't put it up (edit - my mistake, didn't press submit). Top game but there are some errors/issues here that could make it an amazing game.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 15:29

  • marc_si #47 6 years ago

    "Could we not play songs that are stored on our memory stick, a bit like how the xbox streams songs off its hard drive. "

    This is definitely something I'd like to do - it comes down to finding the memory to do it with, which is something I'll be looking into (basically compressing things further).

    "Perry "
    Thanks very much for the feedback - I'll look into all the areas you've indicated (and I agree with the player-exchanges side of things incidentally, there just wasn't time to get it in and get the AI working properly for the first version).

    On the injury front there have been a couple of people (yourself being one) indicating excessive injuries but most people don't appear to have this problem. If you've still got that save game would you mind emailing it to me (marc.vaughan@sigames.com) so I can see if there's something specific that you're doing which might be causing this?

    Thanks again for your help and feedback chaps,

    Marc

  • sonmi451 #48 6 years ago

    hey, what about my feedback? ;)

    in the next version i would like to see a more in-depth 'action zones' map of the pitch which could highlight problem areas for your team. In real life if you kept seeing your opponents break down the left wing, then you'd look to strengthen that area. it'd be nice to get that kind of feedback during a match.

  • marc_si #49 6 years ago

    "sonmi451"

    Sorry I did read yours, just forgot to comment on it - nice idea, consider it tucked into my back pocket ... although be warned if it doesn't go in it'll be purely down to memory limitations (as any data item which requires storage for every fixture accumulates memory usage very quickly) ....

  • Perry #50 6 years ago

    Cheers Marc

    I'll try and sort it out tonight and email you, although I am off to see mighty Fulham v Wigan......

  • yegon #51 6 years ago

    Wise move not commenting on the opposition, I respect that.

    Re: CM's 2d match engine, the 2 seasons I played it in it's first incarnation were pretty horrifying. Totally unrealistic bunching of players, subs magically coming off the bench unprompted, goalkeepers in forward positions at 0-0 in the first half etc....eek! Impressive in what it attempted to do, but in a similar way to how Ultima IX was impressive in scope, but horribly crippled in reality.

    Can't comment on CM2006 though, not played it. I really mean no offense to you LetsGo - I truly mean this in a constructive way - but, for me, it'll take more than just your word that CM2006 has fixed these probs as you seemed pretty satisfied with the, imo, shonky first version.
    Edited by 1 at 24/04/06 @ 16:59

  • TheEnd #52 6 years ago

    Even if mp3 playback can't be shoehorned in, at least crowd noise :) Helps the atmosphere immeasurably, and the old A500 could handle that, so I'm sure my PSP could.

  • Bumbuliuz #53 6 years ago

    Bought the psp and 360 versions today. The psp is just mind blowing. Fantastic performance and the same good feel of play.

  • Bones13 #54 6 years ago

    If Marc views this... a couple of comments (having played just over 1 season).

    Firstly I'm enjoying it. Sliming the game down for the PSP has worked well given the alteration to the finances, International games, reserve teams etc. The game works well 'on the go'. Going back to text only matches isn't a problem for me, especially given your comments re battery life.

    A couple of constructive comments though...

    Injuries and red cards - I'm sure you took a look at real historical averages, but my team/squad does seem to get what I think is a lot of red cards and injuries. Sure, every team loses maybe 1 player to a long term injury each season (6 mths), plus a few at any one time to shorter term ones (2-6 weeks), but I feel my team suffers a lot (maybe it's my poor management!!).

    Training - In the close season do the players continue to train or do they rest? I got some injury news linked to training in June, so I checked the training settings and it seemed like the players were still training. Also there seems to be no 'no training' setting, just 'normal' 'goalkeeping' etc. I therefore changed all the settings in 'normal' to no training and assigned all my players to that. You may want to consider adding a 'no training' option, as once pre-season arrived I then had to reset the 'normal' training back again.

    Great game though...