FOOTBALL MANAGER 2022

The great dilemma of the year is again before us. New year, new Football Manager, the classic question: are the new additions and improvements enough to justify the purchase of this year's version or would it be better to continue with your previous save until further notice? Last year's FM started off conceding goals from the dressing room due to a weak changelist but finally managed to turn the game around due to the many substantial improvements to the match engine. FM 2022 is called upon to do something similar in that there are even fewer new features, but Sports Interactive promises a completely new animation system that enhances the realism of the match engine more than ever before. So let's see, is the improvement significant enough to overshadow the lack of other features?

Before discussing the match engine, the only new features worth mentioning in the rest of the game are just two: the addition of the Data Hub, a special page where you can see a collection of various stats of your team along with some analysis of their importance, and the new design of staff meetings that practically collects some messages sent to you by staff on an interactive screen so that they are concentrated and don't clog up your inbox. Data Hub stats are sometimes interesting, especially when you're trying to find an explanation as to why your team has gone downhill. Of course don't expect ready-made solutions, the final decisions always belong to you.

With all the preparation completed and just before the first match, my anticipation was high due to the promise of a completely new animation system. If you've been reading the annual reviews I've been writing over the last few years then you probably remember that my perennial complaint has been focused precisely on the issues of animation, ball physics and generally realistic player movement on the field. So when the first match started and I saw the first few seconds of football action, I'll make no secret of the fact that I was disappointed. The improvement in animation is visible, but my first impression was that the degree of improvement was not what I expected based on the developers' focus on the new system.

By playing consecutive games, both the points that have improved and those that still need work became more obvious. The players' contact with the ball, the way they change direction and dribble, aerial duels and defensive interventions are all areas where the new animation system achieves noticeable improvement over last year's version. On the other hand, the acceleration of the players, the gravity of the ball in some cases and especially the reactions of the goalkeepers have inherited a lot of the issues of previous years. I believe this is the reason why the upgraded animation system ultimately fails to fully reform the match engine: the remnants of the past spoil the generally improved image and do not allow the player to be fully absorbed in the match, reminding him that he is watching a simulation and not real football.

As for the artificial intelligence of the match engine and the way players react to your instructions, in general the high level of last year's version has been maintained and the obvious problems are few in the launch version with which the review was done. The most common issue I noticed has to do with the behaviour of wingers and especially inside forwards: wingers sometimes opt for a pass further back rather than some obvious action towards the area, while inside forwards generally tend to play more as wingers rather than cut inside to pass or shoot with their good foot. Otherwise, you can play the football you want and see it implemented with a fair amount of fidelity on the pitch.

I don't have much more to add about Football Manager 2022 because the lack of major new features and the gradual but not rapid improvement of certain elements of the game helps to come to a clear conclusion relatively easily. This year's version represents noticeable but not decisive progress and its purchase will neither disappoint nor excite. If the animation system upgrade was truly universal then the score would be significantly higher, but even so the existing improvements add up to help increase the realism of the match engine. There's certainly no debate about whether Football Manager 2022 is worth the money, that's self-evident for a game that offers thousands of hours of gameplay, but you won't be missing out majorly if you continue with FM 2021.

Thanks to Zegetron for providing the review code.