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0 Sports Interactive Games (SI Games) has returned once again to the yearly release schedule of Football Manager 2022. Coming out on a multitude of systems, including a console variant on Xbox. How does this fully-fledged football management sim differ, lets dive in to find out!
Football Manager 2022 Brings The Beautiful Game Back!
How have you found Football Manager 2022? Who are you taking charge of? Let us know in the comments, alternatively come and join in the conversation on one of our social media accounts.
Gameplay
If you are new to a Football Manager game, then 1. where have you been? and 2. Essentially it’s a heavy sim where you take charge of a football team and control as many aspects of the daily running as you want.
There, that’s it… review is over.
Nah, not really. So with this being the 2022 version of Football Manager you might be wondering what makes Football Manager 2022 different from its 2021 offering. Is there enough new stuff to bring you into this new game and start again? Well, I guess it depends on how much you value authenticity.
So the main feature update of Football Manager 2022 is arguably the Data Hub. This is your one-stop shop to literally everything you could want to analyse within the game. It gives you interesting stats that will help you mould your team and player tactics. Are you channeling all your runs from the left side of the pitch? Maybe you want to make your formation more balanced. Alternatively, if you are being overrun in the midfield, perhaps a formation more suited to controlling the midfield might be worth trying out.
You could lose hours in the Data Hub and you wouldn’t even regret it! You can even ask for more detailed information on specific criteria. Just dive in and see for yourself just how much information there is at your fingertips.
Other new features include a revamped game engine, with new animations that give your players that next level of authenticity when the 3D action kicks in. This helps if you, like me, enjoy watching the action unfold on the pitch. Seeing your players making runs gives you a better idea of how your players are performing on the pitch. Along with the new animations the game engine also gives the players more intelligence when it comes to pressing, making smarter decisions when you press your opposition and when you sit back and let them come on to you.
Deadline Day has also been revamped in Football Manager 2022, giving you a wider scope of actions to perform in the final days of the Transfer Window. If you choose to take part in the deadline day, and you can choose not to, you are then taken to a new Deadline Day type hub where you have a whole myriad of information. This gives you a slight insight into what game managers are up against when they are trying to make those final-day deals.
The other major addition is the backroom staff system that has been adopted through Football Manager 2022. You get regular updates from all the departments within your football club, from recruitment to player development. These regular updates and messages also allow you to have more knowledge of the inner workings of your football club. In staff meetings, you will get recommendations for upcoming tactics to adopt as well as certain staff that you might be interested in signing up.
All of these additions, and there is more, all add up to the most in-depth football management experience available. Football Manager 2022 is so in-depth you could end up losing yourself, which is where your staff come in handy. If you don’t want to look after a particular aspect of management then you can delegate that to a member of your coaching staff. Don’t want to worry about the tactics then just let your staff work out everything. If you do want to take control of that aspect though, your staff won’t just sit idly by as you destroy the club, they will interject with suggestions on what you could do. It’s then up to you whether you want to listen to them or not.
Graphics and Audio
Football Manager 2022 is menu heavy, there is menu after menu, but these are all nicely coloured in your club that you are currently managing. Each of the menus will have a number of other options sprouting from it. It’s easy to get lost, but a quick press on the home button and you are back on the main screen.
When the game kicks into the 3D engine it’s actually not a bad-looking foray. Yes, it’s not as polished as some of the big football titles out there, yes I’m looking at you FIFA. The graphics though are absolutely adequate to see who has the ball and who has put it into Row Z.
With regards to the audio, well for the most part there is none. Nothing in the menus allows you to listen to whatever you want whilst playing. However, when the matches start you are greeted with a generic crowd noise which does change depending on the action. Leading a game 3-0 the crowd was giving all my players an Ole every time they touched the ball.
Longevity
Literally, how long is a piece of string? This game will either be the only game you play for the next year, or you will get bored of it all quite quickly. However, if you are here reading this, then I expect that you have already played a previous Football Manager and so know what to expect from Football Manager 2022.
Final Thoughts
Football Manager 2022 has built on the already solid foundations from SI Games and just gently massaged the game. Bringing the game more into the current times with all the management decisions going on around the world! You even get a nice transfer budget if you play as Newcastle United.
If you are a fan of the franchise then no doubt you will absolutely love this iteration and will spend hours upon hours either taking a club from the bottom leagues all the way to the top echelons in football management.
Football Manager 2022 receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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