Football Director

Copyright : Cult | Reviewed by : G464

I used to play Football Director as a young kid and I absolutely loved it. The thrill of promotion, the heartache of relegation. My mother used to have to rip me from the computer. But what?s it like now?

Basically it?s a typical Amstrad football managment sim. Starting in Division 4 you need to work your way through the divisions to eventually win the league and the cups. You can do all the usual stuff in buying and selling players, expanding the stadium and hiring and firing staff.

Graphics

Easy, quick caption review - there are none. Everything?s in ASCII. The layout of the screens is good with all relevant information at a glance and it?s easy to get around the menus. However, that?s it.

Sound

Even less sound than there is graphical content. Not even whistles during the matches.

Gameplay

Now here?s the killer. I remember being totally addicted to this game, but after playing a number of other sims there are quite a few holes coming through. It?s still as compelling for me, but with a more critical eye there are a number of faults. Firstly, your formation is stuck to 4-3-3. No variation is allowed. Secondly, if your team gets too good (is that ever possible?) the computer moves the game up a level so that your opponents become even stronger which can be frustrating if you?ve got a team together which is just a little bit better than "easy" but not up to "normal" standard.

I?ve also been playing it on an emulator and, as the game comes on tape, there?s no way of saving games to my PC (although you can just take a snapshot of the CPC?s memory and save it for later). The matches take quite a while to get through too, although with most emulators you can overclock the processor to get these done quicker. It?s also quite a thrill to watch the clock ticking up towards eighty and you?re one-nil down only to get two in the final miunutes and win.

However, if anything I?m still hooked. I?m still playing season after season trying to make my team better. I think though, if I?m being honest, there are better sims out there (like Striker Manager by Cult) and, although a fun game to play, I think you need to be that sort of person to really enjoy it and get into it.