Skip to main content

Championship Manager 2008

Promotion contender?

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Football Manager or Championship Manager? If we were to judge these two on merit and quality alone, then the choice would be simple. Football Manager 2008 remains superior to Championship Manager 2008 in virtually every department, possessing a level of detail and realism that the CM series simply can't compete with, hardly surprising when you consider that Sports Interactive has had an almost fifteen year head start over Beautiful Game Studios.

But how about we approach this from a slightly different angle? No, CM2008 can't go toe to toe with its greatest rival in a straight scrap - most notably when it comes to realism - but what it can do is offer you something a little different, a little easier, something a little more instantly gratifying.

If you're looking for a hardcore management experience then you may as well stop reading right now, because you won't find it here. While CM2008 is rooted in reality (its extensive collection of leagues and accurate player stats are testament to that), its team building and strategic depth are relatively shallow compared to FM. Take control of one of the world's larger clubs and chances are, you'll be amassing trophies in no time. While success may be slightly harder to come by when managing smaller teams, at no point will you feel like your tactical talents are being tested to the max, meaning that if you're looking for an easier, less detailed and more accessible version of Football Manager, you could well have found your match here.

After choosing your team (if you like you can simultaneously manage a national team), you're given the option of boosting your transfer funds with a Club Benefactor feature. The extra cash that this generates perfectly complements a transfer system that actually gives you a fighting chance of buying the players you want (unlike in FM). Granted, it's not the most realistic of approaches, but if you've always wanted to fill your team with superstars, you can. Transfer negotiations have been improved since last year, allowing for more flexibility and haggling, ensuring that wheeling and dealing is now more gratifying than ever before.

Navigation has also been improved, with a wealth of information at your fingertips and most screens just one or two mouse clicks away. There's also a brand new overlay that appears during match highlights. This great new feature helps you keep track of the morale and fitness levels of your players, along with any tactical changes that your opponents make.

ProZone is a great tactical tool, but you'll rarely need to use it.

Perhaps the most radical match day overhaul is the way players move. The rigid mini bowling pin-shaped players from last year now possess far more character, leaning forward when sprinting and skidding along the turf when tackling. You'll also see them jump, jostle and dive.

Watching match highlights is pretty entertaining, with excerpts providing some thrilling passages of play, if a few too many goals from set pieces and one-on-ones. However, the same can't be said for the real-time engine, which still feels quite artificial and rarely evocative of world-class football. Players tend to stick to predefined zones a little too much, while it's not uncommon for your strikers to score unrealistic numbers of goals throughout a season.

Your tactical changes appear to have a far greater bearing this year than they did in CM2007 and you'll find yourself leaping out of your seat with unbridled joy as an inspired substitution sways a match in your favour. However, it's rare that you'll need to change things around too much once you've found a winning formula, and it's not unusual to be able to play through an entire season with only minimal strategic tweaking along the way.

Player stats are on the whole, very accurate.

This is a game that can have you feeling exceedingly good about yourself in a very short amount of time, especially once your trophy cabinet starts filling up at a rate that'd have even Mourinho feeling inadequate. However, it's also hard to shake the nagging feeling that it's all a bit too easy. After your second or third all-conquering season, you start to wish there was more of a challenge, and it's here that Championship Manager 2008 really begins to show its cracks.

Once you've bought all the best players, won all the trophies, raced through a few of seasons and basked in the glory of it all, there's very little else left to achieve or experience. Training has been simplified and you can now train your squad members to play in a variety of positions, which is a welcome addition, but team talks are so limited and repetitive you wonder why the developer even bothered putting them in, player interaction is also threadbare and media involvement is minimal.

Then there's ProZone, the game's top notch match analysis tool that dissects each game and allows you to spend hours studying every player's contribution in minute detail. In a game like Football Manager, this would be an invaluable tool. But here, where victory is fairly easily achieved and tactical changes are often minimal, ProZone proves about as useful as a snow machine in the Antarctic.

Training is straightforward, but at least its simplicity means you can concentrate on winning trophies.

Which brings us back to our original point. Championship Manager or Football Manager? The choice here is a simple one. While they may look very similar, contain many of the same options, players and leagues, they play very differently. If you're looking for an all-consuming management game, where every player's instructions are paramount to winning a game, where transfers are the long-winded and often frustrating affairs that they are in reality and matches look and feel just like the real thing, then Football Manager is your best bet.

If however, you're after a management game that's highly accessible, requires only a modicum of tactical tinkering, allows you to buy the players that you really want and enables you to enjoy instant success and thrilling match highlights, then you should certainly consider opting for CM2008. And while the entertainment levels are likely to drop off fairly quickly, your two of three seasons of success will fill you with the kind of warm glow that few other management games can provide without the investment of endless hours of your life.

7 / 10

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com