Championship Manager 2010 Preview
Championship Manager has a very illustrious history in the world of gaming, but a few years ago there was a divide created. Football Manager was created as an off-shoot and since then, Championship Manager has been seen as the title attempting to play catch-up, until now.
Typically, the Championship Manager franchise has an iteration released every year - if only to keep up with the current roster changes. However, Beautiful Game Studios decided to really start from the ground up with their game and this meant that there was no version released in 2009. As a result, the latest version, Championship Manager 2010, has been in development for two years, and it really shows.
The first changes to be noticed are cosmetic. The majority of the user interface (UI) has been changed, and a lot of niggling issues has been fixed. An example of this comes with player status. Previously, if a player had multiple issues, only the issue with the highest priority would be displayed. This meant that if a player was on international duty, it wouldn't have displayed that they also wanted to leave the club. Now, all of the different statuses cycle through, and it's small changes like this that really help with ease of play.
More extensive changes have also been added, with there now being a Set Piece creator, an extensive Scouting Network, Practice Matches and Season Live. While other games in the genre may feature some of these in one form or another, Championship Manager 2010 is looking to add a new layer of depth.
Set Pieces are a huge facet of the modern game, and it's now possible to go really in depth about what players should be doing. Whether a player should just shoot from the dead ball, or players should make dummy runs. It's even possible to create intricate passing strategies. The Scouting Network has also been completely re-modelled, with it possible to specifically decide where to send scouts, how much to invest and the reports returned are extremely useful.
Practice matches allow a manager to pit their First XI against a Second XI, which is crucial for testing out tactics. It also helps new managers learn all about their squads, especially if they aren't overly familiar with their players. However, potentially the biggest addition is Season Live. This is a mode that allows players to start a game from a set point in the season, based on what's happened in the real world. Roy Meredith, the General Manager of Beautiful Game Studios, explains just how this works,
Season Live for me is a big innovation. Man Utd just lost to Burnley and if they lose 3 or 4 more games, Man Utd are struggling near the relegation zone. Wouldn't it be great in October to just go 'I'll see if I can still win the league as Man Utd'.
It means that players don't always have to start again from the beginning of the season, and it offers a slight departure from a player's "main game". The Season Live start-dates will be added throughout the duration of the regular season, but there will be a slight fee for the privilege of using this feature. It's important to note though, that it's not necessary to use any of these features to enjoy Championship Manager 2010. However, the depth and functionality is there for the more hardcore players and they will see rewards for their extra commitment.
The game also has a fully 3D match engine, which can be enjoyed in full, or in bite-size chunks. The engine was completely designed by Beautiful Game Studios, with everything being developed internally, including the motion capture. It helps to make the match-day experience much more authentic and it gives a better insight about how players are performing. The 3D engine is also used in Practice Matches, Training Simulations and the Set Piece creator.
This edition of Championship Manager really looks to have taken the bull by the horns. Great strives have been made to make sure that Championship Manager 2010 is the premier Football Management experience, and it looks like the extra effort may have paid off. The game is scheduled to be released on the 11th of September so be sure to check back to Gaming Union for a full review at a later date.
