If you know all about the first few instalments of championship manager you will already know how good a game it actually is. As far as in-depth management games go you cannot get better than championship manager for realism and enjoyment. I have spent months of my life on this game playing with myself or with my friends and since buying the original have bought every update and am still enjoying it.
The games engine is based around statistic and number crunching with no wonderful graphics. You may think that this is odd not to have 3D matches to watch your little men running around the field, but after an hour of playing you will forget that and get really immersed into the game. The whole game is based up of text and numbers with easy to access menu’s where you can see, analyse and control every aspect or the club and players.
First of all you can pick from any football club from near every country in the world and take part in any league you see fit with every single detail or every league and cup competition shown and up to date. All players, managers, trainers, physios, stadiums are not just the real names, but they have taken special care into making sure the stats for everything are as spot on as possible. Of course these are always updated with every version.
New comers upon starting up a new game will first
of all will be able to put your name into the various menu’s and then “you” will be the manager of the club of your choice. Of course if you want to buy all the best players in the world then you will have to be a club with money which is the way I like to play, but if you happen to be a supporter of a lower division club then you will have a challenge to get your hands on that premiership title or even better the European Champions League.
Once you have selected your club you will then be thrown into the game. For Championship manager old boys to navigate around “Championship manager 4” is only slightly different in the way it is set out, but in fact it will take you seconds to know where to look for everything. For the newcomers you will think oh my god what do I do now. I would strongly advise to spend over an hour just looking at the different menus and playing with it to navigate your way around. You have complete control and once you have mastered the menu’s you can flick from fixtures, to your teams stats to the transfer market in simple seconds.
You will find yourself analysing every single details about each and every one of your players that is why this game is so addictive. You will be looking on the transfer market to find that young player who has the stats and potential to replace an existing member of your team.
Watching the matches are all in written text which sounds very boring, but you will soon come around. It doesn’t get much better than staring at the screen watching text appear letting you know what is happening in the game. During games you have access as usual to hundreds of stats and amendments to tactics/substitutions.
If you love football you will not be bored of the amount of stats and the lack of lovely interactive menus. This is why championship manager is more realistic than any other football game. It spends it’s time making sure they pack the CD to the brim with everything about football rather than just knocking out a GeForce 4 all graphics no gameplay football management sim. Like the latest dabble from EA Sports and many others. Every other game does not even come close to championship manager and with well over 20 million copies sold then I think that just proves this game has not just national but worldwide appeal.
It would be ridiculous for me to try and include all the options and all the areas you can control because you would be reading this for hours, but to put it in a nutshell you can do pretty much everything. With each new version or championship manager they don’t create a new game they just tweak the latest version. They have got feedback from the millions of Champ fans on ways to improve the game.
Now for the fans of championship Manager already, they want to hear what is new and I would be surprised if anyone reading this hasn’t already played the game before.
Without doubt the best football game just got better, but at what cost???
They have completely re-done the menu’s which after a little while is just as easy to work out as the others. Looks a little nicer in the way it is set out but you will probably prefer the old way, but in order to include some of the new features they had to do this.
Of course all the new player are updated as you would expect, but you can now compare players which will bring up both players stats and show you who is better in what stats they have. This is pretty pointless and I would never use this.
There are a lot more tactical options to choose from and a few more training options, but if you play around with these too much your team plays worse than when you started, so it is very difficult to get a winning formation and tactics. The game is definitely a lot harder to get the results you need.
They have made the transfer market more realistic and if you have 30 million in the bank don’t expect to get Ronaldo as the clubs will usually ask for staggering amounts for players before they wish to part with them. In past championship managers you have been able to just buy a new team in this version you will be lucky if you can buy two players in a season.
Of course the match engine is pretty much the same, but the inclusion of a lot more text which means you won’t be staring at the same writing as the previous game.
You have the ability to comment on players, do press releases and appeal against disciplinary during matches which is a nice touch.
All the leagues, cups, rules and regulations have been altered to be up to date as usual.
The game is packed with more details and stats than ever before and I would seriously say that if you want to play more than one league then you need a powerful PC to get the most of the game. Though with all the new editions it does take a lot longer to get through a season.
To all championship manager fans of course it’s the next step to better realism in the game and some ways championship manager 4 just doesn’t make you feel that the game has done you justice for being a loyal follower for so long. The new instalment is great, but when you are still looking for the perfect version, so just hope that they keep getting better and better.
For all newcomers I would advise just to run to the shops, buy the game, go home, lock yourself in your room and be amazed for months and months to come. For less than £30 you can't go wrong.
I’m just awaiting the next one with glowing eyes………
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Im afraid i prefer the 01-02 as its more userfriendly - nice info!
eve6kicksass 28.10.2003 22:38
Not a big football pc game guy, but an extremely well written and informative op!!! Chris xx
AnitaM 27.10.2003 12:37
I loved CM2 - I started off as Forest manager, got sacked, got the job at Bournemouth, was a successful Wycombe boss and ended up at Stoke via Lincoln. I'd just got Stoke promoted to the Premier League at the end of season 25, and the game finished! It made me retire. It was so disheartening that I haven't played since!
Championship Manager 4is the latest in the long line of football sims to come out of the ... more
Eidos/Sports Interactive Games doors, and followers of the ever popular series will not be disappointed. With over 200,000 players and staff across 39 national lea...
Postage & Packaging: £1.94 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Championship Manager 4is the latest in the long line of football sims to come out of the ... more
Eidos/Sports Interactive Games doors, and followers of the ever popular series will not be disappointed. With over 200,000 players and staff across 39 national lea...
Postage & Packaging: £1.94 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Championship Manager 4 PC is the next generation of football management games, offering ... more
more players, leagues and competitions than any other title. For the first time ever in the series, Championship Manager 4 PC features a real-time 2D match engine e...
Advantages: It's Champ Manager, up to date stats, comprehensive, addictive, new 2D highlights. Disadvantages: Very buggy, can be slow, won't run windowed.
Advantages: newer players Disadvantages: not the same
martinofandino 02.02.2004 (02.02.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Championship Manager 4 (PC)
Oct 26th, 2003
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