LMA Manager 2002

"*Throws Pad On Floor In Frustration*"

Make no mistake- LMA Manager 2002 is a great game, but it is so freakin' difficult.
And as we know, 'Difficulty leads to confusion,
Confusion leads to hate,
Hate leads to suffering.'

The problem is, no matter which tactic you try, you always seem to lose at times, even if your team rating is higher than that of the opposition.
Take this as an example- I was playing as Bayern Munich.
I had a team rating of 8/10.
The opposition, Inter Bratislava had a rating of about 4.5/10. So I played the match, and guess what, I lost 3-0.
Fair enough, I'll just adjust my tactics to suit their style of play. Well la-dee-da, I've lost 5-0 this time.
Now picture doing this over, and over, and over trying a different combination of tactics each time until... success!
A tie! Oh wait, you lost in the penalty shoot-out.
Over, and ,over, and ove...
You get the picture. To be fair, this doesn't always happen, but when it it does I hate it.

Anyway, I'll get started on the review proper.

Graphics (8/10)

The matches themselves are quite good looking, although some of the players run about like stiffs, and the faces are almost invisible.
The menu screens, don't look that great until you realise that there are some nice animations behind them, turnstiles behind the stadium menu is a nice touch.
The graphics are quite good, there just isn't that much variety.

Sound (6/10)

A few beeps, a drumming track and Gary Lineker.
Just kidding, the commentary is suprisingly good, unlike the stiff disjointed commentary on ISS Pro. It does go astray sometimes, like when a player makes a run and misses the net entirely (we're talking 20 feet here) and the comment you get is 'Ohh, it could have gone in' or 'Anywhere else, and it's a goal' There is only one music track in the game, though, and you only hear it at the starting menu.
Overall, the commentary is good, but the music is almost non-existent.

Gameplay (7/10)

Ahh, time to go back to my difficulty-bashing.
But first, a rough outline of the rules.
Basically, you become the manager of a football team (If you don't know what football or soccer is, either you're American or need to see a doctor(no offense intended)
and your job is to lead them to glory, or send them crashing and burning.
You are given a choice of over 700 teams, from many different countries. There are two main single-player modes,Full Game or Challenge. Full Game is a free mode, with no real specific objective other than to do as well as you can (Or as badly) and Challenge is objective-based, with specific scenarios to choose from (ie:Avoid relegation, gain sponsorship, win a cup etc) these are the toughest part of the game.
But, as I've said, the difficulty level on either mode is almost stupid, it's as if some matches are fixed so you lose. I've had a team with nearly a 10/10 rating, by transfering all the best players to my team, and I lost to Fulham Town, with a rating of about 4. And my tactics were almost perfect, even if I shout out tactics during the match, the team don't seem to follow them. The A.I is very slow sometimes. My goalkeeper had some of the highest stats I've ever seen, and yet he didn't move as the ball was kicked past him from about 10 yards away. But if you don't let that deter you, you'll get to see a great game slightly flawed.

Lifespan (10/10)

Near infinite. Try getting all of the cups, getting a 10/10 rated team with top stats, winning every league and completing every challenge.

Overall (8/10-Not an average)

After a while, I liked this, but be warned,it's not for those with a short fuse. I'm actually not easily aggravated, but... oh CRAP!!!!! I've lost again.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/02, Updated 08/13/02