If there is one thing you can rely on when it comes to the beautiful game, it is its unpredictability. Another surety in life is that when Eidos and Sports Interactive get together to bring us a further instalment of the Championship Manager series, they intend to go the whole hog and make it as comprehensive an experience as possible. So, how can SI and Eidos cram even more detail onto a disc, when their last Championship Manager outing was fit to burst with obscure players and enough stats to keep the average sports commentator happy? Simple. Just sling a load more league teams from the great footballing nations such as Northern Ireland, Greece, Australia and Finland into the mix, invite interactive media involvement from real newspapers, add a handful of extra tweaks to the gameplay, and the deadly striking duo of Eidos and Sports Interactive score again.
Championship Manager Season 01/02 for the Xbox is the management simulation equivalent of the cavalier football favoured by Kevin Keegan in his tenure as manager of Newcastle United in the mid-nineties. To use a well-worn analogy, no matter how many goals other developers and publishers may score, the CM series always aims to score one more. The difference here is that while 'The Toon' were sometimes fallible, Eidos and Sports Interactive never get it wrong.
A cursory glance at this updated version will reveal nothing new to the casual observer, but delve deep into the game and the subtle differences creep up on you. Before you know it, the pressure will be on. Players will be dropping like flies, directors will be on your back, and your e-mail inbox will be bombarded with (mostly unwelcome) messages. You really can draw a line between footy management games and real life, and it's testament to the pulling power of this genre that folks would prefer to spend their leisure time playing the part of a person who suffers the trials and tribulations of something so close to reality.
Girlfriends and wives beware, your Xbox-owning menfolk may not pay you as much attention as you'd like from now on!
Features
Completely re-designed interface to enable quick screen navigation and short-cuts using the Xbox controller
Choose to play the game with stats of new and unknown players hidden, with only players that a manager would realistically know about being shown. Scouting these players will reveal their full stats
The ability to compare two players at a glance
Scouting feature gives the manager the ability to get in depth analysis on the opposition including key players and team tactics
Increased Manager powers and interaction - Ability for managers to make notes on players in the game, approach the governing bodies to appeal against bans imposed on their players, issue the board with ultimatums and vice versa and send players away for surgery to repair recurring injuries
Detailed profiles and histories for over 100,000 players, managers, and coaches, compiled by Sports Interactive's growing global research team (which now numbers more than 500)
Escalating wages feature, reflecting new wage structures within football
Player Personalities - players will complain about not playing in their favourite position or thank their manager for being given a chance to play in the first team
Club Fines - the FA will fine a club if they have a bad disciplinary record or their players are involved in a brawl
In-depth media involvement - messages and feedback from local and national press
Twenty-six leagues will be playable
Full international simulation featuring all the major tournaments plus B-team and U-21 management opportunities
Full implementation of the brand new EU regulated transfer system
All the latest competitions, awards, transfer and disciplinary rules; the game begins in the 2001/02 season
