Football Manager “Launch Day” is our favorite time of year and an unofficial holiday for thousands around the globe. Yes, it is a game, but it is also a way of life. It has inspired a documentary, two books, and thousands of “careers” in football management. Trying to describe its impact and quality is often hard to put into words. It’s that good.
Let’s start by saying that Football Manager 2017 is the most comprehensive football game ever created, console, online or PC. It’s the finest management game we have ever seen from any sport. Most impressive is its depth and the fact that it actually improved over last year’s offering, Football Manager 2016, a game that drew rave reviews from us and just above everyone else all over the world. We didn’t think it could get any better, but it did.
This year’s game includes over 2,500 real clubs from all over the world in addition to over a half million real footballers and staff. It’s advertised as “the most realistic and immersive football management game to date.” We wholeheartedly agree.
With FM 2017, you are the center of the football world, at a team and league of your choice. Will you be Leicester City or AFC Telford? PSG or Pau FC? Juventus or Catania?
You decide what kind of challenge to take on. Will you take it easy by picking the favorite and winning all of the hardware? Or will you fight and claw your way up the football pyramid? There’s plenty of decisions to make.
You have all the leagues, both big and small. You can even play as Atlanta United FC or Minnesota United FC or as part of the Chinese Super League. Every team and every league offers a different experience so you won’t ever run out of options.
You take control of everything: transfers, who plays and who doesn’t, tactics, pep talks, game instructions, media relations, player happiness, training, the list goes on and on. FM 2017 has plenty of new features, actually over 1,000 of them, but the changes to the 3D engine, animations, stadia, and AI are most easily noticed. The ability to literally put yourself in the digital dugout using FaceGen is a very cool feature. The Fantasy Draft, Online Career, and Create-A-Club modes could easily be standalone games. Simply put, a deep game got even deeper with all of these improvements.
FM 2017’s tagline is “It’s the closest thing to doing the job for real!” That is certainly the case for this inspired game, one that has created an entire culture of FM addicts from all over the world. We have a feeling that the FM community is going to grow a lot this time around thanks to a great game, a game that continues to develop and improve each and every year. The team at Sports Interactive doesn’t know the status quo; they always go above and beyond to develop a game that will satisfy every fan.
Put down FIFA 17 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 and try something different, something better. You’ll be glad that you made the switch. Football Manager represents an incredible value and one that you won’t tire of, at least not until Football Manager 2018 comes out. Who knows what kind of goodies will be in next year’s edition?
