	Champioship Manager
	Developer: Gusto Games Publisher: Eidos Release Date: Out Now Players: 1	Words By:
Ahhh… Championship Manager, possibly my most favourite series of PC games ever and ones which have I have wasted literally months of my life on. Strange when you consider I am not in fact a football fan and don’t even know what offside is! – The problem however is that this is NOT Championship Manager even though it is called “Championship Manager” - it’s a long and boring story and not one I feel needs to be included here. What I will say is that I tried desperately to base this review purely on how well this game plays, and not on any allegiance to the PC series. Firstly Eidos should be given every credit even for just attempting this – it’s a game which has always been notorious for needing plenty of system memory and for a game with very little going for it graphically has always been a nightmare to run. The transition to PSP seems to have been handled with care and attention. One of the biggest problem with many a PSP title so far has been the loading times, and it was a concern how bad they'd be with a game which in the past (on the PC) you have been able to go and make a cup of tea during match updates. I am pleased to say that the loading times here are great – never more than a few seconds and even when creating new games it's all done very quickly. The interface for the game is also top notch – Championship Manager makes full use of not only the wide screen of the PSP but also of all of its buttons. Numerous short cuts are assigned to allow quick navigation around the various screens and access many of the features available to you. There are a few problems with the interface though – I feel more like I am nitpicking by this but it did make the game less enjoyable for me – it's mostly down to just how much information is available. As with the PC game there is LOADS – every player, manager, scout, club and country has stats attached to it and to get the best from the game you have to analyze these and use them to your advantage. On the PC it was easy – everything was just one mouse hyperlink away from your fingertips – everything linked into everything else and it felt seamless. On the PSP though no amount of shortcuts has helped it feel anything but clumsy. It never feels natural and even after many hours (and seasons) play I still struggled at times to find info I needed. (in fact it took me the best part of an hour or more just to find out how to search and buy players)... The biggest problem for me however is how hard the game seems. It's also the main reason why I have scored the game a 7 rather than an 8. Now I know this is a hard one to test and taking charge of a side in Division 2 is going to be tougher than a Premiership side but the match results often feel more hit and miss then anything else. One of the big joys of CM has always been creating a killer tactic, getting the players to use it with and then going on and doing well. Here it often feels all too random. At times it's as if the tactics and players make no difference. Playing as Manchester United I arranged a few friendly home games with different teams. Some I won, some I lost. But it was the results and the teams that surprised me. A 6 – 0 win over Chelsea was met the following match by a 5 – 4 defeat against Boston! - And yes, I had used the same players and tactics for both matches. It happened too often for me to put it down to me being rubbish. A review of the match commentary also hints at the randomness – on the PC this would highlight what you were doing right and wrong, but here it's not so straightforward. Constant commentary about just how well my players were performing and running rings around the opposition was often met by the other team scoring a goal out of nowhere. It really has been a difficult game to review – never did I feel that I was having the fun with this as I have had with the PC versions, the constant niggle of unlikely losses really did not help, because I never felt like it was ME making the achievements as I do on the PC. On the other hand Eidos have done a fine job with cramming this game onto the PSP – the database of players, staff and clubs is as big as it ever was. As it stands, Championship Manager is the best of its type available – for the time being. A worthy buy for any fans of the series and if the randomness thing could be sorted then it's certainly one of the best PSP titles currently around.

Best Bits
- It’s Championship Manager
- Great loading times

Worst Bits
Navigation can be awkward
- Wins and losses appear random
- DON’T turn the music on


by: dUnKle