Championship Manager 2007 (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.1 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Phil Elliott
• Reviewed on: 04/02/2007
• Released on: 03/16/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Championship Manager 2007 (PlayStation 2) Review

The PlayStation 2 probably isn't most people's idea of a perfect platform for a football management game. However, in the past couple of years such games have gained a foothold on the console, and Eidos' Championship Manager 2007 actually does a good job of providing a relatively authentic experience.

Championship Manager 2007 is split into two sections, consisting of the more open-ended traditional CM game, and a set of challenges that require you to fulfil certain objectives in tricky situations--for example, leading Aberdeen to Champions League glory, or getting Crystal Palace promoted to the Premier League. All of your attempts will be rated, and your points tally will be viewable in a chart alongside some world-famous managers of the past.

Before you get to that, however, you'll need to make sure you have enough room on your memory card to save your profile. The file is over 6MB in size due to the amount of information contained in the game, and you can have only one saved game per profile active at any one time. This means you'll need to clear most of a standard Sony memory card, or, unless you have a bigger card, invest in a new one.

Whichever type of game you begin, the interface is the same. There's an awful lot of information to take in with Championship Manager 2007, and so the game is split into a series of screens, each focussing on a specific area of the game. For example, the squad screen lets you look at your players' profiles and assign them positions, while the training screen gives you the opportunity to micromanage the various fitness and technical regimes for each player at any given time in the week.

While these initial screens are cycled through using the L1 and L2 buttons, many have further pages to them, and these are accessed with the R1 and R2 buttons. Often they give you more detailed information on a certain area, so a player's profile, for example, will have one page that details his statistics, another that shows his contract details, another that lists past performances, and so on.

To begin with, this whirlwind of information is pretty overwhelming, but you get used to it within an hour or so. The process is made easier because at any time, while the start button continues the game from any point, you can also view a screen "map" by pressing the select button. That gives you an overview of how the pages are linked, and makes it easy to jump from one body of information to another.

Once you've decided on which team to become the manager of--something which will inform the difficulty level of the game based on board and fan expectations--you've got access to pretty much everything a real-life manager would expect to have. There are masses of teams to choose from, with 26 nations playable, some of which have up to seven league tiers. Once the game has started you can't manage clubs from other nations, but you can move within the divisions you've selected. Inside the game itself you can buy and sell players, work on new tactics and formations, and interact with your squad members on a regular basis. Much can be left to your assistant manager if you'd rather not get your hands too dirty, including contract renewals and the organisation of preseason friendly matches.

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