I started a league with Barcelona recently and I just can't put it down. My previous track record with FM2009 left me completely puzzled as I tried valiantly, but failed miserably in progressing with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Wolves . I was almost at the end of my tether but fortunately my faith and excitement has been restored all because my invincible Barca side continue to progress.
The story so far….
I'm still in my first season having played 31 league games where I have just been crowned champions, an impressive twenty three points ahead of Real Madrid in second place. I can barely believe it myself! I can also boast that I have a Spanish Cup final to look forward to and I’m still in the Champions league at the semi final stage having beaten Shaktar and Lyon in the knockout stages.
It's been a phenomenal season which saw me lose two of my first eight league games against Osasuna and Numancia but I have only lost 1 league game in the last 23 matches! My current record in the league is played 31, Won 26 , Drawn 2, Lost 3, which I am pretty chuffed about.
Tactics
I play with the default tactic FM2009 assigns to Barcelona from the start of the game (4-1-2-2-1) but I sometimes mix the front three up effectively setting up a 4-1-2-3) formation.
Key Players
If I were to pick a top three it would have to be:
Leo (CB) has been immense achieving a high 7 average rating. The young Brazilian defender has formed a solid partnership with tutor Carles Puyol and has kept the talented Gerard Pique and experienced Gabriel Milito watching from the bench.
Xavi (CM) has scored some vital goals and put in some inspirational displays in the centre of midfield. His contribution from set pieces has been impressive and his distribution from midfield sees him as the clubs assists leader
Bojan (CF) hasn’t been as prolific in front of goal as senior strike partners Samuel Eto’o or Thierry Henry but the young Spanish striker has scored crucial goals every time he has deputised for the injury prone pair.
Best Player in the World? Not on my watch…..
I started a league with Barcelona for one, very obvious reason….Leo Messi but I have been disappointed with his contribution. I’m not sure if I am using him wrong – even though I play him in areas he is ‘natural’ – but he just doesn’t do a great deal in matches to reflect his amazing stats. He has had a few long stints out through injury but so have other players and they have performed on their return to fitness, but the same can’t be said for Leo. In around thirty appearances my ‘star man’ has managed a woeful (for his calibre) average match rating of 6.5, contributing only three goals. Boooooo...
Injuries, Injuries, Injuries!
My only gripe, and it’s a small one is that I have had an unbelievable stroke of bad luck with injuries which has spanned the whole season. Several key players have been out for long periods but I have been fortunate enough that my Barca squad has enough depth to cope without Leo Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Yaya Toure, Eric Abidal and Dani Alves all at the same time (I kid you not!). When I consider the bad luck I have had with all these injuries it only leaves me more baffled as to how I am still doing so well. I have no complaints though – long may it continue.
Transfer Activity
At the beginning of the season I looked into bulking up a few areas as Barca don’t have the depth and class you would expect. With Gabriel Milito out for several months I decided to invest in a young centre back. I scouted a Brazilian defender called Leo and snapped him up for £7m, which turned out to be a great buy as he has been one of my most consistent performers.
The other area I wanted to strengthen was to have a decent keeper to deputise in the absence of Victor Vales. I opted for Valladolid’s highly rated 19-year-old keeper Asenjo who has been my cup keeper who has played a vital role in getting my Barca side into the Spanish Cup final. With seven league games to go with the Championship already in the bag I will be using Asenjo in order to keep Valdes fresh for the Champions League.
I took Arsenal’s Alexandre Song on a season-long loan to give me an extra option in the middle of the park. Song started the season well, scoring two goals in my first two league matches but has been in and out of the starting xi since rotating with Rafeal Marquez and Seydou Keita in the anchor role.
My last bit of transfer business was snapping up young Brazilian Gerson, who will join my squad in two season’s time when he turns 17 years of age.
Summary
I now have seven league games left, a cup final and the prospect of being three victories away from bringing the Champions League back to the Nou Camp. Now I remember why I love Football Manager.
If you’re still here, thanks for reading.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Resident Evil 5: Played and Tested....
'Zombies, zombies and more zombies....lock and load'
Format: PS3 for this feature but also avaliable on Xbox 360.
Resident Evil 5 is the fifth installment of Capcom's popular horror series but this time around the latest title doesn't quite have that tingly and eerie Resident Evil feel. That's not to say that Resident Evil 5 isn't a great game - it looks amazing and it plays well on both the PS3 and XBox 360, but if you were hoping for a white-knuckled-heart-stopping-jaw-dropping horror experience, Resident Evil 5 may not quite feed your cravings.
You take on the role as Chris Redfield and his partner as they tackle a virus outbreak in the depths of Africa. In true Resident Evil form, the entire civilisation Chris and his partner are exploring start to get sick and eventually turn into arregresive zombies with a hunger for fresh meat, that's you!
The aim of the game is to blast your way through several levels of zombies and other nasty beings mutated by the virus in order to find the origins of the outbreak. The weaponary in Resident Evil 5 is comprehensive as you have pistols, rifles and my favourite, a shotgun to repell the mutant horde. You and your partner pick up ammo and weaponary along the way which is stored in vases and crates throughout the levels. If your partner is controlled by the computer AI she can be useful, using healiong herbs when needed and giving you any ammo you may require. The AI works pretty well in that your partner uses ammo effectively and tends to be more help than a hinderence, which is not always the case with computer assisted companions.
The combat system works well but my only quarm is there seems to be limited mobility when attacking, which can be frustrating when you want to make a quick attack. I often found myself having to run into position shoot and then find another position as you can't run and shoot at the same time. Apart from minor inconvenience of limited flexibility in the line of fire the combat mode is alot of fun and blowing zombies to pieces will bring anourmous satisfication.
The environments and character models look outstanding as Resident Evil 5 really pushes the current gen systems to their limits. The voice acting is also commendable which gives a real Hollywood feel to the cast as well as a musical score which hits all the right chords to set an eerie and terrifying scene.
Summary
Resident Evil is a fine game, well presented in the all elements and it is an enjoyable action thriller....but it doesn't play like previous Resident Evil titles or have the horrific nature of its predessors. Capcom are known for delivering nightmarish scenarios and tricky puzzles but I didn't find myself hiding under my quilt once or adequetly challenged by the puzzles on offer, which as a puzzle novice myself, will certainly not challenge the hardcore puzzle masters out there. That may all sound abit negative, but don't lose heart. Res 5 is a great game, enjoyable and challenging throughout - I rarely lost interest in the storyline and simply sat back and adored the delightful visuals, strong character cast and gruesome enemies. Capcom seem to have taken taken a leaf out of Uncharted: Drake's Fortunes book as the games have many similarities, which is by no means a bad thing.
Format: PS3 for this feature but also avaliable on Xbox 360.
Resident Evil 5 is the fifth installment of Capcom's popular horror series but this time around the latest title doesn't quite have that tingly and eerie Resident Evil feel. That's not to say that Resident Evil 5 isn't a great game - it looks amazing and it plays well on both the PS3 and XBox 360, but if you were hoping for a white-knuckled-heart-stopping-jaw-dropping horror experience, Resident Evil 5 may not quite feed your cravings.
You take on the role as Chris Redfield and his partner as they tackle a virus outbreak in the depths of Africa. In true Resident Evil form, the entire civilisation Chris and his partner are exploring start to get sick and eventually turn into arregresive zombies with a hunger for fresh meat, that's you!
The aim of the game is to blast your way through several levels of zombies and other nasty beings mutated by the virus in order to find the origins of the outbreak. The weaponary in Resident Evil 5 is comprehensive as you have pistols, rifles and my favourite, a shotgun to repell the mutant horde. You and your partner pick up ammo and weaponary along the way which is stored in vases and crates throughout the levels. If your partner is controlled by the computer AI she can be useful, using healiong herbs when needed and giving you any ammo you may require. The AI works pretty well in that your partner uses ammo effectively and tends to be more help than a hinderence, which is not always the case with computer assisted companions.
The combat system works well but my only quarm is there seems to be limited mobility when attacking, which can be frustrating when you want to make a quick attack. I often found myself having to run into position shoot and then find another position as you can't run and shoot at the same time. Apart from minor inconvenience of limited flexibility in the line of fire the combat mode is alot of fun and blowing zombies to pieces will bring anourmous satisfication.
The environments and character models look outstanding as Resident Evil 5 really pushes the current gen systems to their limits. The voice acting is also commendable which gives a real Hollywood feel to the cast as well as a musical score which hits all the right chords to set an eerie and terrifying scene.
Summary
Resident Evil is a fine game, well presented in the all elements and it is an enjoyable action thriller....but it doesn't play like previous Resident Evil titles or have the horrific nature of its predessors. Capcom are known for delivering nightmarish scenarios and tricky puzzles but I didn't find myself hiding under my quilt once or adequetly challenged by the puzzles on offer, which as a puzzle novice myself, will certainly not challenge the hardcore puzzle masters out there. That may all sound abit negative, but don't lose heart. Res 5 is a great game, enjoyable and challenging throughout - I rarely lost interest in the storyline and simply sat back and adored the delightful visuals, strong character cast and gruesome enemies. Capcom seem to have taken taken a leaf out of Uncharted: Drake's Fortunes book as the games have many similarities, which is by no means a bad thing.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Played and Tested: Fallout 3
'Who ever thought post apocolyptic disaster could be so much fun.....'
Format: PS3 for this feature but also avaliable on Xbox 360.
Fallout 3 starts you from the very beginning, as a new born baby in the delivery room you are born a Vault dweller in a post apololyptic Washington D.C. From the off you get the chance to mould your character - choose your gender, appearence and skills. The skills you choose from the skills list will result in how certain elements work in the game, for example if you notch up your small guns skill you will be more accurate and inflict more damage with pistols. Or if you choose you want to be able to repair weapons, pick locks or become a master of barter then assign your points to meet your needs.
Now on to the game - after reeling through the years (in a short space of in-game time) from crawling on all fours as a baby, celebrating your tenth birthday, shooting your first Radroach with a BB gun, to taking your bizarre G.O.A.T exams you eventually break out of the vault in search of your estranged father. This is where the game really starts to take shape. As you step out of the vault for the first time and look out onto a derilict wasteland of suburban Washington D.C where everything looks eerie, tragic and disturbingly real you know your in for a treat. From here you are free to roam wherever the boundaries of the map take you, which gives you a lot of freedom and time to take in the visually brilliant surroundings.
In the wastelands you are on your own and with limited ammunition and a somewhat feeble clout you quickly have to search the all the possible nicks and crannys for additional fire power - especially when you are set upon by the less than friendly radio active wildlife.
The first settlement you stumble onto is Megaton, a disjointed community which happens to have an armed and undetonated bomb sitting nicely right at its core. Your initial task is to ask the locals if they have seen your father and for the most part they are as unhelpful as you come to expect from RPG extras but eventually you stumble onto some valued information, which takes your adventure right into the thick of the mayhem. Nice!
Summary
I am only a few hours into the game but already I have been impressed by what Fallout 3 has to offer. The game really captures the post apocolyptic environment in a realistic manner and gives you full access to the wastelands of D.C. The targeting system is top notch and it is highly satisfying bringing down super mutants and stripping them off all their weapons and ammo after. I read reviews that stated that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with Guns but - it's better!
Format: PS3 for this feature but also avaliable on Xbox 360.
Fallout 3 starts you from the very beginning, as a new born baby in the delivery room you are born a Vault dweller in a post apololyptic Washington D.C. From the off you get the chance to mould your character - choose your gender, appearence and skills. The skills you choose from the skills list will result in how certain elements work in the game, for example if you notch up your small guns skill you will be more accurate and inflict more damage with pistols. Or if you choose you want to be able to repair weapons, pick locks or become a master of barter then assign your points to meet your needs.
Now on to the game - after reeling through the years (in a short space of in-game time) from crawling on all fours as a baby, celebrating your tenth birthday, shooting your first Radroach with a BB gun, to taking your bizarre G.O.A.T exams you eventually break out of the vault in search of your estranged father. This is where the game really starts to take shape. As you step out of the vault for the first time and look out onto a derilict wasteland of suburban Washington D.C where everything looks eerie, tragic and disturbingly real you know your in for a treat. From here you are free to roam wherever the boundaries of the map take you, which gives you a lot of freedom and time to take in the visually brilliant surroundings.
In the wastelands you are on your own and with limited ammunition and a somewhat feeble clout you quickly have to search the all the possible nicks and crannys for additional fire power - especially when you are set upon by the less than friendly radio active wildlife.
The first settlement you stumble onto is Megaton, a disjointed community which happens to have an armed and undetonated bomb sitting nicely right at its core. Your initial task is to ask the locals if they have seen your father and for the most part they are as unhelpful as you come to expect from RPG extras but eventually you stumble onto some valued information, which takes your adventure right into the thick of the mayhem. Nice!
Summary
I am only a few hours into the game but already I have been impressed by what Fallout 3 has to offer. The game really captures the post apocolyptic environment in a realistic manner and gives you full access to the wastelands of D.C. The targeting system is top notch and it is highly satisfying bringing down super mutants and stripping them off all their weapons and ammo after. I read reviews that stated that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with Guns but - it's better!
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