Football Manager Handheld 2008 Review

Over the past few years, we've been amazed that the Sports Interactive team has managed to cram the best bits of their Football Manager game onto the PSP. As you'll probably know, we're quite fond of the series here at TVG and this year's PC/Mac game is no exception to their proud legacy. However, it did gradually evolve the series more than it added any revolutionary and unique new features. Likewise, much of the same can be said about this year's PSP offering.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

Getting the chemistry of your team right in Football Manager Handheld 2007 was a bit like trying to juggle water balloons. For example, maintaining an average rating of above 7 for one of your players was particularly difficult, while finding a striker that consistently found the net was nigh on impossible. Whenever one of your sickeningly overpaid pretty boys did get on form, however, it took the slightest nudge (such as subbing them in the 60th minute) to put them back into a goal drought.

This isn't a criticism by any means. Indeed, Football Managers of years gone by have been criticised for being too easy. On the contrary, it made edging nearer to cup or league glory that bit more exciting (and devastating if you lost). In which case, we're glad to see that the same rock hard gameplay has returned for Football Manager Handheld 2008. What has also returned for this year's title is the 'on the go' format. Transfer offers and work permit responses take less time to get back to you than on the PC/Mac game, while the interface has been simplified for more streamlined play.

As you'd expect, FMH 2008 has nowhere near the detail that the main FM game does. The stats have been slimmed down to the bare essentials, there are fewer playable leagues and the databases are much smaller (though not so small that searching them for talent isn't a challenge), and don't expect any 2D match engines. In this sense, FMH 2008 is much the same as last year's game and you certainly shouldn't expect any advances in these areas. There are, however, a few minor tweaks that enhance the experience for the avid PSP gamer.

Keeping The Old While Bringing In The New

So, what exactly is new this year? Well, there's the inevitable change in the default skin's design, which changes the colour scheme to FM's red, blue and silver 2008 colours. You'll also notice design changes throughout the interface but this doesn't really affect the gameplay, so let's get down to business with the more substantial features.

Much like with the main FM game, you'll now get a lowdown of the various positions that a player can play in and their strengths in these positions. For those not accustom to the feature on the PC/Mac game, it's basically a breakdown of all the possible positions on the football pitch. The positions that a specified player can perform in are then illustrated on the breakdown, with different colours which represent whether they are natural, accomplished, unconvincing or awkward in that spot.

Not having this feature last year was a real drawback as you could've been positioning one of your players on the left side of midfield, when their natural position was in the centre behind the strikers - because their position description was attacking midfielder left/centre, you would never have known. Having this detailed breakdown now avoids this difficulty and so, as a result, you'll find it easier to form a cohesive team unit.

New to the match engine are 'Latest Scores' from other games going on at the same time, as well as a 'Live Table' that shows what changes will accrue to the league table from ongoing matches as long as the scores stay the same. This gives the match engine that sports centre feel and it's a nice touch of detail to what is otherwise a fairly old-skool engine by FM/Champ Man standards.

In an attempt to bring closer interaction between the manager and player in FMH 2008, you can also speak to members of your team individually in either a public or private setting, giving positive or negative feedback. Again, it lacks the detail of the pre-match, half-time and post-match team talks in the main FM game, but it's certainly a welcome addition to the PSP game which edges it marginally closer to the full experience. You can also demote players to your reserve team, although this reserve team isn't actually available to interact with. It is useful, however, when you need to open up some squad space but don't want to sell a player and pay off the compensation required to terminate their contract.

You'll also notice other useful additions to the interface, such as the ability to check the contract details of a player who's been given to another club on loan. In FMH 2007, you couldn't check these contract details of players who were out on loan by default when you started a new game. This was frustrating if you needed their services but were unsure when they'd return. Now you can check how long their loan is, although it's a tad frustrating that you still can't recall them if needs be.

There's also a tab under each player which allows you to check their availability for the next game, giving details of injuries and bans that they might be hindered by. It's a cosmetic touch at best, but it can help you make a judgement call if a given player is in the final stages of rehabbing an injury. The final minor addition is that of Player of the Month awards. This lets you see who's on form in other teams around the league, while it's also a useful tool to find up and coming talent from lower leagues.

Where's My Chalk And Blackboard?!

We're generally pleased with SI retaining last year's winning gameplay, while adding details throughout the game. However, one thing that continues to frustrate us is the constrained formation interface. There is still only a pre-set list of formations to choose from in FMH 2008. This lack of tactical freedom in the formations was our biggest criticism of last year's game, and so it remains this year. We concede that it must be difficult to translate the control system from the mouse on a PC/Mac, to the face controls of the PSP. Unfortunately, as it is, you rarely feel that your formation is exactly as you'd like it. SI: in the unlikely event that you're listening, please give this a go for next year.

Finally, as you might expect, the graphics and sound are pretty much non-existent. In fact, as with last year's game, the sound is limited to clicks when you're scrolling through menus. Graphically, it's a bit like an incredibly pretty spreadsheet. But then, we wouldn't expect much more than this from a Football Manager game on the PSP.