Championship Manager 5

Championship Manager 5 Description

The Championship Manager series is known for two things - it's as old as the hills, and as addictive as crack cocaine. Many the life of an unsuspecting male PC owner has been all but consumed by this compelling series. It does what mere football games cannot do, for whilst they are still an action-based video game like any other, this fulfils the fan's fantasy: that he could manage his own football club, and manage it better than any overpaid, anoraked Premiership supremo. Now for the first time, following the release of the long-awaited sequel on PC, the game is to see its first release on a home console. Partly, we assume, to address the competition from SEGA's recent footie management effort, and also to give the wives and girlfriends of XBOX owners already addicted to PES4 something to really complain about. The series has always given total control over pretty much every area of the running of a football club. Players can pick their own side, arrange transfers, control who gets paid what, who stays, who goes, what tactics should be used in each and every match, in every competition, and fight their way up through the league to eventual dominance. A minimalist title, the match action was always conveyed by text commentary flashed up on the screen, that is until the last version, which featured a 2D representation of the match, seen from above. The folk from Eidos are back this year with another version of the celebrated series with Championship Manager 5. The game will have all the features you'd expect from a Champ Man game, and this year two areas in particular have been totally overhauled: Training and tactics. The Training mode was something of a chore in previous games, and was often ignored by even the most obsessed players (you could delegate it to your Assistant Manager). Now the training features have been made more accessible with a scale that allows the player to choose the level of detail they go into, from a broad overview to a system that allows you to account for the training routines of any given player on any given half hour in the week. All the training techniques have been devised with the assistance of professional football teams. The second area that is very different is Tactics. Budding managers can drag their players into any of 270 positions on a board representing the pitch. Not only can the manager specify what runs they need to make, but he can also say what channels he wants the ball passed into and who certain players should try to pick out with their passes. Plenty here then, to lure fans of the series, who will doubtless buy it anyway.

NEED FOR SPEED - Sick of having to put the kettle on between matches? Championship Manager 5 provides a much faster gaming experience with massively reduced loading times and 'constant gameplay'. Championship Manager 5 does not lock the front-end as it processes, therefore allowing you to access all screens as the matches resolve so you can simultaneously tweak your training regime or check out scouting reports.

ACCESSIBILITY - A new and improved user-interface will makes navigation much easier. Transitions between screens will be more straightforward with explanations of what info is displayed and how to get associated info. A selection of 'skins' will also be available.

STAT ATTACK - Championship Manager 5 takes a more specialised approach by combining a variety of data sources to ensure accuracy and impartiality. As well as fan scouts and a team of internal researches, Championship Manager 5 uses data supplied by PFS (Professional Football System), a long-standing agency who provide information to clubs and managers around the world. Player stats are now presented as a percentage out of 100 to better reflect attributes and improvements.

ACCURATE DATA - Championship Manager 5 will contain up-to-date data for the 2004/2005 season and the latest competition rules.

THE BIG MATCH - A whole host of improvements to the 2D match engine. For the first time ever Championship Manager 5 offers a tilted match perspective enabling managers to judge the height of the ball, and a wider choice of match speeds, including the full 90 minutes (as opposed to the truncated 64 mins of CM 03/04).

IT'S TRAINING MEN - More user-friendly and effective training module devised in conjunction with Charlton 1st Team Coach Mervyn Day.

TACTICAL GENIUS - Improved tactics screen that as well as adding arrows for players to make runs, lets managers instructs players where to play the ball.

ZONING IN ON THE ACTION - 'Action Zone' screen splits the pitch into 9 zones (3 in CM 03/04) thus providing greater feedback on where the match action is taking place and how possession is being shared between the teams in each zone. This allows for more informed decision making on tactics, player selection, substitutions and training.

SEARCH FOR A STAR - More comprehensive scouting system enabling searches for specific 'player types' to be carried out.

SEAL THE DEAL - A fully realistic transfer model is being employed, encompassing an array of factors including finances, reputation and player personalities. To lure the likes of Ronaldo and Zidane you will first have to establish yourself.