The latest entry in the long-runningFootball Managerseries has recently been released. The game has been well-received by fans and critics, exemplified by its positive85 Metascore on PC. Although theFootball Managerseries is often a hit with critics, it’s hard to deny that the games suffer from the same key problem that mostmodern sports gameshave, as the yearly releases often have minimal innovations.
RELATED:Football Manager 2022: Best Free Agents
Football Manager 22doesn’t buck this trend, though it does implement a handful of excellent changes that have made the latest game the best way to experience the management franchise. Here’s a look at the latest version’s best improvements.
6Data And Statistics
With data and statistics being at the heart of theFootball Managerseries, Sports Interactive is constantly trying to add more layers to each game’s analytics. Over the years, this has grown to the point where the latest games offer a plethora of facts and figures, which can make it somewhat overbearing — particularly for newer players.
Football Manager 22has taken great strides to improve this with thebrand-new Data Hub. The Data Hub adds a handful of new analysis types, while also making the data and statistics more accessible by putting them in one comprehensive but easy-to-understand hub. The Data Hub alone makesFootball Manager 22the best version of the game yet, as players will be spending a ton of time scanning the various, well-integrated graphs and stats.
5The Match Engine
TheFootball Managerseries' match engine has been a divisive aspect of the games for well over a decade now. The matches look nowhere near as realistic as they do ingames likeFIFAorPro EvolutionSoccer, and have shown very little improvement in the past ten years.
AlthoughFootball Manager 22’s engine hasn’t made any sweeping changes, there has been a noticeable improvement to the animations. TheFootball Managerwebsite showed off a handful of new animationsprior to the game’s release; however, the videos were sonly around 10 seconds long, so many people were still understandably on the fence about how much improvement there would truly be.
Thankfully, the short videos were an under-promise rather than an over-promise. The matches inFootball Manager 22are significantly better to watch thanks to the sprinkling of new animations, which make the games feel far less robotic than before.
4VAR Unpredictability
With VAR being a major part of the sport today, Sports Interactive introduced Virtual Assistant Referees in the series a few years ago, adding some true-to-life drama to the game. Granted, VAR decisions in the game have little impact on the gameplay, but, in theory, it was set to be a nice addition that offered some more tension.
RELATED:Football Manager 2022: Richest Teams To Manage
Unfortunately, the expected tension soon went out the window. Seemingly every VAR stoppage had the same animation and result, making the impending decision predictable. Sports Interactive clearly listened to the criticisms from fans regarding this, as the latest game finally offers the tension that players were expecting thanks to a more realistic split between decisions that are and aren’t overturned.
3Transfer Activity
For many,the transfer windowis the most exciting aspect of anyFootball Managergame, giving the manager a chance to re-shape their team by selling unwanted players and replacing them with new starters to fit their system. Moreover, the transfer window gives managers the chance to try andunearth some wonderkids— a quintessential feature ofFootball Managergames.
Sports Interactive has done a great job of making the transfer window even more exciting inFootball Manager 22,with a clear increase in A.I. transfer activity, along with a revamped deadline day. The final day of any transfer window is guaranteed to provide some drama as teams rush to close deals before the deadline,.FM22makes the day even more intense and interesting, with an increase in general activity and better insight into deals happening all over the world.
2Gegenpress Balancing
Gengenpressing is recognized as one of the most exciting tactical styles in the sport, as it demands that outfield players rush to close down the opposition like a pack of wolves, creating intense and exciting midfield battles. Many real-life managers have found success with gegenpressing,which made it a popular tactic inFootball Manager 21.
Many players were delighted to achieve great results with gegenpressing in the previous game, before it soon became clear that the high-intensity style was significantly overpowered. Thankfully, Sports Interactive has taken steps to rectify this by better balancing the style’s effectiveness. They have implemented real-life issues, such as player fatigue, in order to make this tactic less overpowered.
1Game Pass Launch
As mentioned before, theFootball Managerseries doesn’t escape the criticism of most modern sports games regarding a perceived lack of innovation between full-priced yearly releases. Many players don’t want to pay such a price for a game that doesn’t feel very different.
Sports Interactive and Sega have offered players an excellent alternative for both Xbox and PC players this year, asFootball Manager 22launched on Microsoft’s Game Pass service.Football Manager 21was previously made available on the service, thoughFM 22is the first to hit Game Pass day one, saving many people a good chunk of money.
Football Manager 22is out now for PC, Xbox, and Mobile. A Nintendo Switch version is currently in the works.
