Giant Killers

"It might be the only management sim for the DC, but its not too bad!"

Finally, for all you football fans out there who (like me) adore management sims, you'll be glad to find out about Giant Killers. Although it isn't as deeply engrossing with the statistics as most Playstation titles such as FA Premier League Manager 2001 and the simply awesome LMA Manager 2001, it can still pull its own weight in the playability region. Giant Killers doesn't require you to do much in the manager way of things as I'll describe here:-
Good Points:-
Buy & Sell Players
Sort Out Individual Training
Select Your Best Suited Squad
Bad Points:-
Can't Loan Players
Can't Buy Overseas Players
Can't Arrange Stadium Building or Ticket Prices
No Part Exchange Deals Available
Players Don't Compete For International Squads
and they are to name but a few.
It does on the other hand contain three very similar difficulty levels, (Easy, Medium, Hard). The only difference being that on the easy setting, you can't train your squad. Although it does have an edge over current existing management sims due to the fact that you can manage a conference side. But a problem I noticed myself was that any conference side start with more money than Arsenal F.C.!!!! It is also extremely easy to build a world class squad because if you offer enough cash for a player in any division including the Premiership, he will come to you regardless or not whether you are bottom of the Vauxhall Conference!! I managed to but Emile Heskey with Rushden & Diamonds for £15 million and come top of the league scoring 178 goals. Heskey grabbed 108 of them!!! Other than all of that it can keep you interested for an amazingly long period of time. You'd have never thought that managing a conference side with ex-premiership players could be so fun. I also found out that if you have a young star under 20 with a rating of 38% or over, then keep him as he will grow into a very popular buy for premiership clubs as he evolves into one of the best players in the land. When you come into playing a game you get a screen full of writing guiding you through what's going on in your match-up which although sounds boring isn't that bad.
You can choose how much detail you want it to go into. It vaies from Low Detail to High Detail. With Low switched on it will guide you just through the goals, injuries and bookings made allowing you to get through a lot quicker. The other options tell you more about counter-attacks, missed shots or who passes the ball to who.
All this put together amounts to a good all-round management simulation that certainly stands up against other competition. Well Done to the Developers!!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/01, Updated 08/19/01