Review: Football Director. More a gentle tap in than a screamer.

Sports Director Ltd have released this fun and new game to tackle the boredom that most of the footballing community have when we haven’t got Sky Sports in front of us, making our lives happier and feeling more fulfilled when you see your team score so breathtaking it stuns the world.

 This has to be said for nearly all fans across the globe, this also goes for football games alike!

Sports Director Ltd have made this game very well, but only for people who know about football. I say this because although there are some basic things about the game to help new comers understand, such as the basic outline of players skill and overall rating.

Take, for example, the players screen. This lists their overall skill, best foot, age, wage and many other things that you would normally find on a players personal screen, or is it? For most people know who know where players play this isn’t a problem but for someone who is new to football or the managerial scene, this could be a big problem indeed. I’m talking about the fact that Ben Arfa is a midfield player (as stated) but where in midfield does he play?

Another thing I have noticed is the Employees tab. My eyes lit up when I saw this, reminding me of my childhood when I used to play LMA Manager, picking employees and sponsorships for the club. I quickly clicked the tab to have a look and found it really odd. Assistant Manager? Coach? Physio? I know who all these people are and what they do for the club but the game either doesn’t know why they are there or just don’t tell you why and what they do. This means you spend your budget on hiring and firing employees with no regard on the effect it is having on the club! I would have liked to have been able to have picked my own shirt sponsor, but I just got a message the next date day on the game telling me that we have negotiated a deal and have got £3,000,000. I want to know now, who the hell is sponsoring my team!

Moving on to the actual match screen. Very basic but very simple. The top half of the screen shows the minutes gone by, the teams and the score along with an aerial view of the pitch, letting you know the percentages of where the game is/has been played. At the bottom is a text based flash up that lets you know vital moments within the game. This can be changed to view the rating of the defence, midfield, attacks and the percentage of play. Also other screens letting you know corner counts, free kicks, shot etc, this usually pops up on the next screen after the match anyway. To make subs during the game, there is an icon to select that takes you to the squad screen to be able to make your changes, allowing you to check players ratings at the same time.

There is also a good thing within the game to keep an eye on, that is the home screen! This informs you of fan confidence, board confidence, club balance, team morale, current form and the annoying news. Annoying because this isn’t your clubs news, oh no! This is news for cup draws, transfers and so on!

Football Director in one sense is misleading as you’re the manager not the director. But there are aspects that the game has that every manager game usually has, such as the league table, top goal scores, club history and so on. But my thinking is, is this game meant to be a game that you can buy, sit down on the sofa while your wife watches Emmerdale and just pass the time by? Or is this game meant to force you down in your chair, slap you across the face and scream at you and take away hundreds of hours from your life as you sit there and play it?

My answer to this is defiantly to pass the time. Although this is a good game and great to pick up, have a bit of fun and scream and shout just to annoy people when you score, I just don’t think I could choose this game over a real managerial game such as FIFA Manager or LMA! People making managerial games really need to take a look back at LMA 2000 and try to recapture the simple, yet complex and in depth feeling you can get. That was all due to either wanting to do everything yourself or just hire employees to do it all for you and you will just manage the team.

I have found the game overall enjoyable. I especially like the fact that I can individually train players as well as manage the outline of training of the team. I also like the fact that there is a youth team within your grasp. I find it slightly weird that we have a youth team but no reserve team at all.

Football Director is a good game. The title in so many words is the same as all other managerial games with that lack of overall control but is such a great game to pick up and play in your spare time.

Review written for Thumb Culture, kindly contributed by Martin Nicholls.

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