Football Manager 26 Review: Unity Engine Brings Massive Overhaul

After being suspended for a full year. Sports Interactive has finally released its long-running companion game, Football Manager 26, with fans expecting to see a change and make up for lost moments. But the big question that both players and the development team have been asking lately is how to make the game even better.

And the big change was the switch to Unity, which allowed us to see a change in terms of better and more varied animation detail when in the game. Who has ever thought that the picture is not much in the previous part? This time, we will see better details. Scoring goals, rejoicing, or even dribbling, we will see it all.

In addition, it is important to have a system that can see the details better. It also allows us to see the transformation of the statistics of participation in various games to reflect the reality even more. No more sticking to the numbers shown in the game. Because we can see more clearly which players are involved in the game. Even though the numbers are shown to be neutral.

While it may not be as close to perfection as many people expect, overall, it must be said that this installment is worth the wait for the lost period and will definitely be the beginning of what will follow in the future.

[Review]

• Overhaul with Unity
• Make your page accessible from one place.
• Full of details
• Still forgetfulness of days and times

Overhaul with Unity

In the memory of many people. People who have been through Football Manager before. I have to admit that it is a game that focuses on the freedom to access the details of managing a football team that is difficult to match. But what is a weakness and makes it a game that is accessible to everyone is the graphics during the match, which at first were only 2D images and later moved to 3D.

But in this round, what has been changed from the use of Unity has resulted in the weakness being closed. With the visual details during the match, starting from the opening of the stadium. The queue and even the fans who cheer in the stadium have been added in terms of detail, equivalent to other football-themed games.

The transition to 3D is a new one, and the choice of viewing angles is quite varied. This allows players to have a different experience of managing a team, seeing the details of each player we choose to see if they can do as set or not. It helps to make decisions and better align with the statistics that occur.

The movement posture looks natural. However, if we talk about the realism of the player image, we still cannot expect it to be on par with other football games because we have to admit that other games focus on us as the main control of the players and the manager mode as an add-on.

In addition, a UI for displaying player status within the team in 3D mode has also been added. This provides real-time information on which players are playing well or poorly, allowing them to react and manage from one place.

Other details during the race, such as speed, viewing angle, or the use of Dynamic mode for highlight display, are also available.

Make your page accessible from one place.

One of the things that is both a plus and a note for the Sports Interactive team is the matter of adjusting the UI screen in the game. If anyone has played in the pre-2015 installment, they will find it to be detailed to a certain extent, but after 2020 onwards, everything has been added and adjusted quite a bit.

In the latest installment, too, we can understand that the team wanted to overhaul and improve the details within the game, but it seems to be too much to overhaul everything inside the UI screen. I can assure you that just the first screen should be blurry for a while.

If you think about what is presented, we can understand that the team wants players to be able to see the details of the information in different parts from a single page, helping to reduce clicking into menus such as the Squad page that shows the details of everything from players, plans, injured players, etc. Youth teams and more on one page.

This kind of screen, if viewed as a good thing, is that you can see all the details and reduce the search for menus to enter different parts, but the disadvantage is that the player has to adapt again, as if the old things we are used to have been moved to another place. Anyone who remembers the numerical values that used to be at a certain point for 5 years may not be able to find them now because they have been moved to another part instead.

If you want to add a menu that is active to the shortcut page called Portal, you can do so, but don’t add too much because it will eventually become a page with no more practical details and it will turn out to go back in the loop to find the menu you want again.

In the early stages of the adaptation, some may think that the details that have been added should make the game more accessible. But after a while, you will find that things have changed and details that have been added or moved. And these details will invite players to stay with the game as before.

Full of details

Aside from the redesign of the UI, what has been added to Football Manager 26 and that will probably decide whether players will continue or go back to the old installment again is a matter of small details. This is a part that has been added continuously lately.

If you have played in the old installment, you will find that within one day you may be able to finish at least one season. In the later stages, the opportunity to do that began to decrease. If you don’t set up a special assignment for the team. You can rest assured that you will never be able to finish the season in one day.

Press the Space Bar button to continue. It seems that it is impossible to go on anymore because the day has not yet passed, there will always be various events or tasks for the player to respond to. Talking to the team, talking to the media, and even talking to other team players are constantly being added.

If anyone likes or is lost in answering in order to continue the discussion, it is guaranteed that there will be an endless event that will cause an endless response. That’s why the game in this installment seems to slow down and take more time.

And if anyone says that if that’s the case, let the back-of-the-house team take care of it, then it must be said that it is not as easy as the previous installment that was thrown and we can press the Space Bar for a long time without any interruption.

These are important questions as to whether Sports Interactive should remove certain details or downplay them and focus on the player experience instead.

Still forgetfulness of days and times

Football Manager 26 is a stronger return by enhancing the experience during matches, with naturally rendered 3D visuals. The screen displays details that are adapted to be accessible from one place, and it still stands out from other games thanks to its large database, giving players an experience that cannot be found in other games. Although there are some things that need to be adjusted, it is a common thing that we have always encountered in this series of games. Supports Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox platforms

Finally, I would like to thank SEGA for their generosity and support for this game. As for what game will be next time, please stay tuned…

For more information and to order the game, please visit: [Click]