Review: Football Manager 2007 (X360)

Football Manager 2007 (360) continues the legacy by adding a few new features and camera support to the best football management simulation game.

I have played all of the Sports Interactive football management games going all the way back to Championship Manager. This is the first time I have bought it on a home console (for the achievements…I’ll admit it) having been playing Football Manager 2005 (Mac) and Football Manager 2006 (PSP) over the last couple of years.

Most people are already familiar with the game so I will just highlight the 360 specific gameplay mechanics and new features for 2007.

The first thing I noticed switching from mouse to controller for navigation is how well the actions and menus have been implemented. I tried LMA Manager a few years ago and it was dreadful, but SI Games have made it very intuitive and easy to use. The triggers bring up the Go and Action menus, while the Start menu effectively brings up the File/Save menu – dead simple. On the whole the controls are very good and I found myself easily navigating the menus and pages using the controller that I previously would have used the mouse for. It’s all quite logical and familiar if you have played FM before.

I was pretty much able to setup and start playing FM07 in a matter of minutes which was a welcome change from the 6 minute database build from the PSP version. A new feature in FM07 is the ability to have your face to your manager profile. I now have my ugly mug in Vegas and Norwich City (my starting team) emoticon. Other new features in FM07 include half-time team talks, feeder clubs and other communication improvements.

For the 360 version there are a number of XBL modes to play. Fantasy Draft is a new XBL mode for FM07 – it is a bit like American Grid Iron in that you take turns to pick your players before launching into a mini competition. I have never played FM online before and it will be interesting to see how well it works.

The graphics are functional, including player photos and the 2D match engine. There where some minor “lag” glitches as I navigated the menus but nothing major. The sound effects are fine for a game of this type.

I will probably devote some time to this game over the Christmas period, but first impressions are very good. As with all the previous SI Games from Championship Manager to Football Manager, once you get into these games you are hooked so value for money (it was £30) is very good.

In summary, it’s Football Manager on the ‘360 with a neat control solution, a few nice new features and your own ugly “boat” visible to all on XBL (should you wish it).

7/10