FM 2011: Thoughts

It’s been almost a week since the FM 2011 demo (or my precious, as I’ve started to call it) was delivered to my computer, and it’s been pretty much everything expected. There are a lot of new features packed in, so here’s my take on some of them.

Firstly, some features that I like:

1. New match engine/improved 3D. This has been a big improvement for me, in the two previous versions the 3D views, as well as being graphically unimpressive, were as jumpy as Goldilocks just after the three bears have come home. Now even on my 2 1/2 year old laptop I get to watch Shola Ameobi in all his glorious shaded backdropped glory as he spanks another chance wide.

2. Player/Press/Board interactions are now performed in a conversational style, and it’s awesome. No longer do you have to choose between calling your rival manager incompetent and insulting his squad depth, and no longer do you have to wait another day before asking your full back if it might not be a good idea to try clearing the ball once in a while.

3. Agents. You may curse them when they’re being unreasonable (15m agent fee for Fernando Torres!), but they add variety to what was a fairly staid feature before, and it makes you appreciate it all the more when your under-18 midfield starlet sacks his just before you want to start new contract negotiations.

4. The AI will make offers for your players. For actual money.

And now, in the interests of fairness, a couple of negative points:

1. There’s no money! Well, not as much as there was. This clearly reflects the current financial situation of many clubs (barring Man City, obviously), but it doesn’t bode well for me, given my penchant for selling off as much of the squad as possible in the first two weeks. I also once sold Adebayor for only scoring 59 goals in a season, as Ibra had got 60 and I didn’t need two work shy centre forwards.

2. But the lack of money doesn’t really matter, given that it’s actually quite hard to dismantle a squad, or even sell certain players. Transfer listing Joey Barton led to Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith and Andy Carroll queueing outside my office to complain about his treatment. And the new player interaction system doesn’t yet allow for an “It’s Joey Barton!” response. Instead you have to gradually degrade your man, putting him on the subs bench before easing him into the reserves, until he is desperate to go, pleading with you. Of course, all the while you’re paying him £80 k a week. Go figure.

In all, FM 2011 is a decent improvement on last year’s game, and well worth the £25.91 it’ll currently set you back on Amazon, the best price I’ve found so far. And face it, for the possible 1000+ hours of gameplay, it’s a bargain, as no other activity offers anywhere near the same cost/time efficiency. Go buy it!

p.s. What new features did everyone else like/hate? How are you finding the demo? And what’s the most you’ve had to pay an agent?

p.p.s. I’ll leave you with this 11 second illustration of my managerial genius, which has nothing to do with the fact that Robin van Persie is excessively good at football. For best quality in the bottom right of the video change 360p to 720p.

Category: FM2011