Football Manager 2013 PC Games

Released on 02/11/2012

• Festive Gaming Getaways

  
  

  Five games ideal for escaping the Christmas madness

  

  As you'll no doubt be aware if you've walked down the high street recently, Christmas is coming. The season of hearty cheer, peace and goodwill to all. Except it never really works out like that, does it? Christmas can also be a hellish scrum of last-minute present shopping, fraught family get-togethers and children driven to insanity by toxic levels of sugar and chocolate.

  But don't fret! As gamers we have the perfect escape route at our fingertips. Fire up your console or computer, wedge a chair under the door handle and lose yourself in a game immersive enough to blot out the Yuletide yahoos outside. Thankfully, this season's blockbuster crop offers plenty of games with the sort of long term gameplay and enduring appeal needed to keep you sane until January kicks the door in. Here's our pick of the top five festive gaming getaways.

  

  Assassin's Creed III

  Formats: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U
  Out: Now (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), November 24th (PC), November 30th (Wii U)

  It's hard to believe the Assassin's Creed series has only been around for five years but it's quickly grown into a gaming giant, in gameplay as well as sales. This year's trilogy-capping epic promises to the be the biggest yet, an open-world romp through the American War of Independence that also brings to a close the modern day story of history-hopping hero Desmond Miles and his battle to escape the clutches of the Templars. With a vibrant rural community to build and upgrade, not to mention the prospect of commanding your own frigate in naval battles, this is a game with far more to do than just hiding in haystacks and stabbing people. And once you polish off the single-player story, there's the fantastic multiplayer modes - now so large they demand their own disc. Whether you want to roam the forests or battle online, this is a game that will keep you busy well into 2013.

  

  Football Manager 2013

  Formats: PC, Mac
  Out: Now

  Sports Interactive's evergreen soccer simulation has long been the gaming getaway of choice for footy fans everywhere. With its deep, intricate systems and canny knack for capturing the highs and lows, ebbs and flows of the beautiful game, it not only offers months of brilliant gameplay but also creates a compelling alternate reality where your sofa-bound frustration at real-world performance can be transformed into a vindicating "this is how you should do it!" sandbox, as you kick out the manager whose decisions cause you so much anguish and see if you can do a better job. This year's edition is even more detailed, but also comes with the much-praised Classic Mode, stripping the game down to the absolute basics and letting you power through a season in a few days. Perfect for some special alone-time while you wait for that turkey to digest.

  

  Halo 4

  Format: Xbox 360
  Out: November 6th

  We haven't been starved of Halo games, what with Halo: Reach in 2010 and the remastered Halo: Anniversary Edition last year, but the encroaching dark winter nights just haven't been the same without Master Chief, last seen drifting off into deep space at the end of Halo 3 in 2007. Well, he's back, and bigger and better than ever. Halo 4 marks the start of a new story arc - the Reclaimer Trilogy - and it offers multiple ways to spend those awkward hours between opening presents and trudging to bed full of pudding and sweets. A robust single-player campaign is also playable in four-player co-op, and the new Spartan Ops offers even more co-operative goodness, offering regular downloadable spin-off missions in a TV box-set style. And, of course, there's the multiplayer - one of the most rewarding and balanced online games around, now perfected and polished to keep pace with modern multiplayer expectations. This won't just keep you playing over Christmas, it'll keep you playing until Halo 5.

  

  ZombiU

  Format: Wii U
  Out: November 30th

  There's something grimly ironic about the fact that Nintendo's latest console is launching with a gruelling survival horror game alongside the expected cheery and colourful fare. After so many years of the Wii being the default family gaming system, fiendish souls looking to clear the lounge will certainly appreciate the ominous tone and brutal violence that ZombiU offers. Set in London after an undead apocalypse, the game uses the Wii U's tablet controller as a handheld inventory and survival kit, your only lifeline against the shambling, flesh-eating horde. The sight of brain-chomping British bobbies outside Buckingham Palace will scare grandparents away nice and quickly, but gory-minded youngsters may prove harder to shake off. The game's unforgiving difficulty - which includes permanent character death and the need to return to the scene of your demise and battle your zombified body to retrieve your backpack - should send them scurrying for something less taxing, leaving you free to endure the end of the world in blissful peace and quiet.

  

  Call of Duty: Black Ops II

  Formats: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii U
  Out: November 13th (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC), November 30th (Wii U)

  November is Call of Duty month in the gaming calendar, and this year's offering isn't short of new ideas. The single-player campaign is split between flashback missions set in the 1980s, and stages set in the technologically advanced combat zones of 2025. In these futuristic sections, you'll undertake Strike Force missions which will impact the direction of the story. The horrific co-operative Zombies mode now has its own campaign and supports eight players rather than four. It's in multiplayer where COD has earned its stripes, however, and Black Ops II promises to shake up the enormously popular formula more than any previous game in the series. In come multi-team matches, pitting three or four forces against each other rather than the traditional two-sided battles. Combat classes have been made more fluid, allowing you to pick and choose the abilities and loadouts that suit your play style, while the scoring system has been tweaked to encourage more teamwork and objective-based success, rather than lone wolf soldiers and constant headshots. It's shaping up to be the pinnacle of an already enormously successful series, and if you're planning on sneaking away for a few hours of digital carnage on Christmas Day, you certainly won't be alone.

  Published: 02/11/2012

• Review Roundup: Football Manager 2013

  Sports Interactive's hugely popular and insanely detailed football management simulation, the self-explanatory Football Manager 2013, is out on November 2nd and with 900 changes and improvements over previous games - none of which were exactly short on gameplay - it looks like it could well be the ideal entertainment for footy fans looking for something to keep them busy during the long winter nights.

  Eurogamer's review was first onto the pitch, delivering a 9/10 score and abundant praise. "The most detailed and in-depth management experience ever made" reads the review, which then goes on to reassure more casual players that the new Classic Mode makes the famously time-consuming game much simpler and more digestible.

  Gamespot UK's 8/10 review also singles out the Classic Mode for supplying a streamlined and fast-paced alternative to the depth and challenge of the main game. "The best example of the series yet," it reads. "Classic mode is arguably the biggest single addition the series has ever seen, and it speaks volumes about the self-awareness and skill of the game's designers that it works as well as it does on this first iteration."

  Even the mainstream entertainment sites seem besotted with the game. Digital Spy hands out a four star rating and declares Football Manager 2013 to be "miles ahead of its competitors with its sheer level of depth, sophistication and challenge."

  Ready to soak in soccer greatness once again? Football Manager 2013 is out from November 2nd, exclusively for PC.
  

  Published: 29/10/2012

• Football Manager 2013 - Preview

  
  

  

  For years now, Football Manager has simply been the only choice for fans of the football management genre. Nothing else has come close to rivalling the sophistication and depth offered by the series, and so its yearly versions - adding new features, cosmetic tweaks and extra layers of complexity each time - have generally been welcomed by the legions of bedroom managers that buy it every year.

  Over the last ten years - and particularly the last five - there have been voices of dissent, however. The game, felt by many to have been at its best around the turn of the century, has lost something as it's become progressively more detailed and time-consuming. Whereas half a season could once be completed on a rainy afternoon, now it can take that long just to get through a few weeks in the game. For most, particularly those who played the game as teenagers in the nineties, real-life commitments mean the stress and time it can take up simply isn't worth it.

  

  What Makes A Classic?

  In response to that, Football Manager 2013 marks something of a turning point for the series, with two distinct gaming modes offered for the first time. The full game carries on in the same vein as its predecessors, albeit with a considerable aesthetic overhaul and a new training system. It's the new game included with it, however, that's the real point of interest. Football Manager Classic, a streamlined and less demanding version of the game, could result in legions of those fans put off over the last 10 years finally returning to the fold.

  All of the most fiddly aspects of football management have been stripped out here, and the simplicity of the old games is back. If all you're interested in is buying a couple of players, setting the tactics and seeing what happens, Classic allows you to do this quickly and with minimal effort. A few clicks and you can whizz through weeks of a season - yet you can still enjoy some of the better features the last 10 years have brought, such as media interaction and the 3D match engine. It really does feel like the glory days of playing Championship Manager in a way that the full game can no longer offer.

  

  Four Games In One

  As well these two playing modes FM 2013 offers some much-improved multiplayer options, meaning not only are there more ways to play with your friends, but games are also much simpler to join and create thanks to its use of the Steam network. 'Versus' mode allows you to play your existing team in custom-made tournaments with friends, while the online leagues now work much better. They also offer points-based leaderboards for the first time, allowing you to judge your managerial career against the best in the world.

  Finally there's 'Challenge' mode, a simple but fun set of scenarios to choose from. Take over a team struggling in the relegation zone and save them with only 10 games to play, for example. Or try to maintain an unbeaten run until the end of the season. These are short, fun experiences, the likes of which Football Manager hasn't offered in a very long time.

  Something For Everyone

  All of this means that Football Manager 2013 will offer a huge amount for gamers, and no matter how they want to play, there's a style to suit everybody. Fans of last year's version who are happy to spend hours pouring over training routines and scouting networks will be satisfied, but for the first time in perhaps 10 years, so will those looking for something more relaxed and undemanding.

  Published: 24/10/2012

• Football Manager 2013 introduces Classic Mode

  
  

  Football Manager, the traditional time sink for footy fans everywhere, might just gobble up less of your life than usual this year. Football Manager 2013 is introducing Football Manager Classic or FMC, a mode which strips the game back to the bare essentials, enabling players with a little less time on their hands to get through a season is just eight to ten hours.

  "The introduction of FMC is a major step forward in Football Manager's evolution," explains Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson. "In recent years it's become clear that there's a large group of people who would like to play Football Manager, but simply can't devote the time required to get the most out of the game - in fact, now that they have families and other commitments, even some members of the SI team have found themselves in this position. We decided, therefore, to try to find a way to accommodate players with limited free time, without significantly diluting the experience. We believe that FMC achieves this beautifully."

  If you've got the hours to spare, however, don't worry that the game has been dumbed down for the masses. Classic Mode is entirely optional and the deep, intricate, all-consuming Football Manager experience is still there. "The introduction of FMC will not impact in any way on the game that they've come to know and love," adds Jacobson, reassuringly. "For those who still want the full, 'hands-on' experience, FM 13 offers exactly what they're looking for."
  

  Published: 07/09/2012

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