Football Manager 2014 is the latest release of the well-known Football Manager game series. Football Manager is the most comprehensive, highly-acclaimed and widely-appreciated football management simulation game series in the world. To get an idea of how comprehensive and impactful this game is, the fact that its player database is used by real football clubs to scout players (Everton FC) is quite relevant. Its impressive influence and popularity is also well illustrated by the fact that Football Manager players got real-life football management jobs based on their success in the game (an example is an Azerbaijani student landing a job as the manager of FC Baku’s reserve team).
The fact that it’s the latest version of the Football Manager series doesn’t necessarily make FM 2014 the most praised edition as well. Changes and improvements in comparison with the previous versions are rather scarce and lack major importance. It’s still the best football management simulation game out there, and the best of the Football Manager series as well, but old fans of the game series might have difficulties in finding reasons good enough to move from older versions of Football Manager to FM 2014. Though considerably improved and including an enhanced AI, the 3D match simulation engine still comes with plenty of bugs. The tactical system has been overhauled in terms of both player roles and team instructions, but the actual differences compared to the old tactical systems are hard to notice. Anyway, the news system, the interface, and the social interactions (with players, other staff, or the media) are indeed remarkably better.
I have been playing the games of the FM series extensively, since it was called Championship Manager, and I’m one of those addicted old players that feel that FM 2014 is a big paradox: it disappoints a little while still being the best there is. It disappoints in comparison with the greatness of the series, as it doesn’t offer any major improvements or additions, but it’s still the best, as it’s the current exponent of the unrivalled Football Manager series. Simply put, it’s incredibly comprehensive, overwhelmingly addictive, and undeniably satisfying, just as its predecessors.
