For the uninitiated, Football Manager 2012 is the latest installment of the popular football management simulation. The game, as the title suggests, sees you take charge of your choice of any club from over 50 leagues around the world. You control everything a manager does from picking the team and tactics, to training routines, transfers and a hell of a lot more. All the information you need form players’ height, weight, skills and abilities, to league tables and stats, is presented in screen upon screen of information, all on hand to equip you with the knowledge to manage your team to the achieve the goals set out by the board. So if you have always wondered how you would cope with the pressure of managing Xavi, Villa and Messi at Barcelona, or fancied starting from lowly Millwall in the Championship and working your way upwards - this is the game for you.

Before I start giving my opinion on the game, I should admit that I am a Football Manager tragic, having played the game in a variety in incarnations of the Sports Interactive franchise for over 17 years. I can fully understand the instances of the game being cited in three divorce cases, the contributing factor behind numerous sackings and expulsions, to wives coming downstairs in the middle of the night to find their husband, in suit and tie, giving a press conference. Put simply this is a game that consumes, enveloping you in its snare that one more match will turn your form around, or the “I will save it when I next win/lose/draw” mentality that can see a quick half an hour session before bed turn into a nine hour marathon. Seasons only interrupted by that place you go to during the day, who gives you money for turning up and thinking where to best spend your money in the Transfer Window.

As always the type of game you play, starts with your first choice. Who to manage? Taking charge of Real Madrid or Man City will see you with a hefty transfer budget and a strong squad but with expectations that match, so anything but silverware could result in you handing in your sheepskin coat and heading back to the job centre. Start in the lower leagues and you may be afforded more time to put your stamp on a club but your clout and finances will also be suitably reduced. Fancy starting closer to home? The A-League is there in full with Emerton and Kewell and all the other transfers in place for the new season and the marquee player system has been refined.

Despite many a reservation and scars from previous attempts I’m giving King Kenny the boot and taking the reins of my club, Liverpool. First stop is the player squad screen to check all the players are in place. Don’t worry if you are unfamiliar with your team, you are not alone. Your assistant manager has compiled a Team Report to give you a handy overview of the top performers in your squad in every position. Similarly, after assessing the shortfalls in your squad you may wish to fill the gaps and dip your toe in the transfer market, your backroom staff will have filtered away any unrealistic transfers to make your job that little bit less complicated. With only a stingy £2 million to spend it is apparent any forays into the transfer market I make will be of the shoestring variety or funded by my own player sales. You do have the option of going cap in hand to the board and even issue an ultimatum if they refuse, however I feel I should probably try and build up some faith on the pitch beforehand. Despite this the board, with a little convincing by the manager, do loosen the purse strings to bring in Landon Donavan; a player they feel will help the club move forward and a signing I feel will dovetail well with Luis Suarez behind Andy Carroll in a fluid 4-3-2-1 formation.  

Once your new signings have been made, formation and tactics have been decided, it is game time. A lot has changed since the old days when your imagination was vital as text commentary and a 5-minute possession bar was all you had to guide you through the games. Come match day a 3D match engine shows you how your instructions are being followed, if your expecting photorealistic graphics then you will be disappointed, but it is well suited to the needs of the game. Whether you use this to painstaking watch every moment, seeing your instructions played out on the pitch or just view the goals to give your imagination a rest, it’s up to you. In game changes are more seamless then ever, with the ability to give ‘shouts’ from the sideline, changing your approach depending on the scoreline or your assistants interpretation of how they game is playing out.

As exhibited in how much of the actual games you choose to watch, the ability to play the game to a variety of depths is one of its strengths, you can really decide how much detail you want to go into. Don’t get me wrong, this is a far from a casual game, the minutiae detail you can go into is unfathomable from building relationships to agents to creating individual training assignments for groups of players. However should you feel your time is best served away from the training field and lies in scouring the foreign leagues for the next superstar, then you can leave training, press conferences, even picking the team to your assistant manager and devote to your time as you see best. 

With a claim of over 800 new features in this version you soon get the impression that this is anything but an annual cash in. Changes vary from the subtle tweak to the game changing. A tutorial now exists to guide you through navigation of the screens and will certainly be an essential starting point for the newcomer. The ability to add and remove leagues once the game has started is a most welcome addition. Not so welcome but still “necessary” for realism sees agents playing a part in contract negotiations, with them quickly becoming as loathsome and obstinate as you would expect. The interaction element between your players, staff and press is one of the key elements that add to the experience and help elevate the game above the trawling through spreadsheets of figures to an emotionally rich experience. From arranging a team meeting, holding a team talk or a one on one meeting you can select the tone of your messages, ranging from Calm to Aggressive. This gives you the chance to both decide the type of manager you want to be while also adapting your style to the player and situation in question. When holding a meeting with a player or team, they will react and respond accordingly. Like most elements this is not to be used lightly, my attempts to be a no-nonsense, Louis Van Gaal-style manager, equal part feared and respected, backfired when the first two slightly disgruntled players who came to me, left with rock bottom morale and demanding a transfer.

The interaction is definitely a great addition, certainly feeling more like a conversation rather than the issuing of a memo. However you can soon feel a little restricted and frustrated by the options it gives you. At the end of the day for all of the detail and options it all counts for nothing if you don’t feel your actions have a causal effect, for the most part the game succeeds in this part, but occasionally you do feel that whatever changes you make that your impact is minimal. Perhaps this is a further signifier of the realism, feeling the acute frustration a manager must feel when his actions are not followed. It is also very easy to get lost in all the options at your disposal; you will certainly have to have a few seasons under your belt before you feel completely at ease with how you play the game. The game can also be unmercifully harsh and I’m not just saying that as my contract with Liverpool was terminated after 12 games, 9th in league and with a net transfer spend of only £3 million. It undoubtedly is not a game that pulls punches or tries to make things easier for you with exaggerated budgets and a lenient boardroom, where as this certainly makes any achievements even more satisfying, it can prove quite a struggle to get there.

As a fan of the series it would not take much for me to recommend this game to dedicated football fans or people who have stayed away from the game for the few years. However I would stop short of recommending this game to all. If you’re after instant gratification, or looking for a way into football, then your effort and money is probably best spelt elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong you don’t need to be a statto to enjoy the game, the support offered and the various levels of complexity afforded, ensure that anyone can play the game. However to truly get the most out of the game does require a certain commitment, an understanding that sacrifices will have to be made, whether these be time, relationships or just like a football fan the acceptance that hope, frustration and despair are just as important as success. No, the heart and soul of this game, and it previous installments, cannot be measured in leagues and cups won, but in the moments when you realise the game has you. The times when you realise you have missed both lunch and dinner; the times when you find yourself cheering as loudly when you score as when your ‘real life’ team scores; the times when you start self harming after a string of bad results (okay maybe the last one is just me). But this game certainly has the ability to draw you in to that degree. Perhaps with the level of detail it can take a bit longer to get there, but once there the new features, particularly the player interaction element, ensure it can be as an absorbing and engrossing experience as any other in gaming and certainly as close to football management as the majority of us will ever get.