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Game
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Total
Club Manager 2004 |
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Format
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PS2 |
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Publisher:
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Electronic
Arts |
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Release
date:
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Out
now |
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When
this one popped through the letterbox I must admit I was somewhat
under excited. This game has been out for quite a while now and
has probably been reviewed by every games website you can shake
a memory stick at.
Nevertheless,
I stuck it in the PS2 and was raring to go. Unfortunately my raring
was to be somewhat in vain.
When
the game starts you have a variety of options concerning which team
you are to manage, the level of difficulty and just about anything
else you can imagine having options for.
That is really what this game, like every other football management
game, is about - tweaking options at the right time to give the
best results from the resources you have available.
And my what a lot of tweaking!
My
first attempt at computer football management was on the ZX Spectrum
in 1983 with the now legendary game somewhat appropriately called
"Football Manager".
What that game started has now been refined to the point of stupidity.
Whereas in the early days all you really had to do was pick your
team, train 'em up, pick a formation, and occasionally look for
transfer bargains, has transformed into a mind-blowingly complex
(and painfully dull) experience which relies upon your judgement
in tweaking everything from the price of tickets to the amount of
sugar in the players tea (not really!)
I think it should be renamed Total Club Chief Executive 2004 as
this would reflect what you do most of the time. Bet
the marketing men would have a job with that one though!
What
began with "Football Manager" (a simple excuse for watching
stickmen pass around a bright yellow blob whilst you crossed your
fingers and hoped that playing your goalkeeper up front might work
out) has turned into a long and overly protracted stat-fest which
I am sure blokes with no girlfriend no doubt love - but with very
much improved graphics.
I must
admit I was somewhat hampered in getting straight into the game
by not having been supplied with a manual with my promo copy - so
my patience had probably been tried to stretching point by the time
I figured this one out.
I suppose also it all depends on what you want from a game too.
I have to use my brain at work (world-domination can be challenging!)
and so generally like films and games that allow me to turn it off
at home.
Other people may not have that challenge and may find games like
this as a way of getting the old cogs turning. Horses for courses
I suppose, but this was not for me - it was more of an exam than
a game as far as I am concerned.
This
does not inspire me to get a fake tan, buy a camelhair coat and
become an alcoholic - it is the equivalent of working for an insurance
company.
5/10
Dr
Leevil
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