14 DAY TRIAL // 
Fans can make Liverpool into a consecutive three-time winner of the Premier League, with a Championship League trophy as a bonus. A determined and detail-oriented player can take Fulham to the top in three years. A challenge asks gamers to win the biggest leagues in football and all the continental competitions in five years. All of this is achievable in the excellent Football Manager 2022, as long as players invest enough of their time and attention.
The game was developed by Sports Interactive, with SEGA handling the publishing duties. I played the game on the PC using Steam, this being the most complex version of the experience. On the Nintendo Switch, as well as on Xbox consoles and Game Pass, players can get a more streamlined management sim. FM 2022 also has a mobile version, with less featured detail, offered on both Android and iPhone.
The idea behind the game has been the same since it was named Championship Manager: pick up your favorite team (or choose one that’s interesting to play with or one of the many challenges designed by the community) and then lead it as well as you can for as long as you want. The game continues to deliver an incredibly complex database that incorporates all the leagues from the big nations of Europe but also potential action in more exotic places like South Korea or Romania. There are so many possibilities that it is impossible to try all of them out in one year.
The mechanics of Football Manager 2022 haven’t changed significantly. The player has to pick a team and choose how it will act on the pitch. The manager can handle the training, personal interactions, transfers, contracts, financial matters, and more. Gamers are also free to delegate aspects of management that they don’t find appealing or seem too complex. I tend not to deal with training in most of my saves and there are plenty of people who only want to interact with transfers and the actual matches.
The game is better when engaging with all its aspects because it shows just how complex the modern game of football is. It also gives gamers the ability to take even obscure clubs from low divisions and lead them to glory, as long as they micro-manage almost everything. I tend to stick with bigger teams that have problems or unique opportunities. This year the likes of Barcelona, Newcastle, Ajax, Bayern, Juventus are likely to attract a lot of attention. But any club choice that the player cares about can deliver extraordinary moments, thanks to the complexity and realism of the overall simulation.
The biggest under-the-hood change for Football Manager 2022 is the animation systems of the match engine. The commitment to real movement for players leads to more realism, which translates into more tactical difficulties and more options. It is easier to understand how to better coach a player or improve the setup for a position based on the match action. Coupled with some tweaks to the tactics it also makes hard counter-pressing less of a cheat tactical setup (vertical tiki-taka with good overlapping might be currently a little too powerful). Players tire quicker and it’s more important to manage their effort via tactics choices and by building squads capable of rotation.
Transfer Day has also received a makeover in Football Manager 2022, adding more tension and a few new options to one of the glitziest days in European football. I tend to make deals earlier in the pre-season, so I am less impressed by it than by the big new Data Hub section of the interface. It is filled with info and can help even someone who doesn’t like to look at data improve a team.
The new elements of FM make it a better game and a more immersive experience as long as the player is ready to invest quite a bit of time. It can take seasons to reach impressive performances with some teams and a season can take tens of hours to get through for a thorough player. I love the time I spend with the series every year but I’m sure that some players might balk at the time-sink aspect of the game.
Football Manager 2022 might look like it only offers a slight improvement over previous installments when it comes to presentation, but that massive animation tweak is keenly felt when watching matches. It ain’t FIFA but it’s actually nice to just lean back and watch two teams play virtual football. The movements, reactions, interactions, are all more organic. FM 2022 also does a good job when it comes to information delivery, although the interface cannot help but feel encumbered, given the sheer number of options. The match sounds continue to be one of the few weak areas of the presentation. Queue up your favorite sports-related podcasts to provide a soundtrack.
The Good
- Upgraded match engine
- More balanced tactics
- Data Hub info
The Bad
- Full seasons take a while
- Some transfer weirdness
- Limited sound design
Conclusion
The only downside is that it takes a lot of time to move through a season, even when choosing to delegate some duties and without watching too many full matches. Football Manager 2022 is engrossing and fun but its very depth can be a problem for any player who wants to try as many clubs and ideas as possible.
Review code provided by the publisher.
