FourFourTwo Touchline Passion

The Good
If you have tried to play UEFA Manager, the biggest thing here is simple: Stability. This time it's perfectly possible to play a couple of hours without being booted back to the desktop for some programming oversight.

One of the most important features in UEFA Manager was the youth team. In here, it works still just as fine, and they become crucial in under-budget teams. At the end of the season, a 3/4 rated player should be worth enough to keep afloat for a few months. If the team is lucky enough to produce a couple more, it's a cheap way to get a decent signing for the next season or have the older players sold to make room for them.

The Classic and Legends modes are quite novel, and while they are somewhat limited (only one season, no trading), it's still a great way to waste a few hours. Getting the chance to coach some of the best players in the 1980s is a chance that can't be missed.

The interviews are quite interesting, although should happen often. A leading coach should even have mid-week interviews, but that's not the case - One at the start and one every now and then when the full match is seen. The pre-match talk also improves the overall presentation of the game, and is makes a great change from the sterile look of games such as TCM 2003 or Championship Manager.

The Bad
UEFA Manager had a fantastic interface that was very effective. While 442 includes pretty much the same options in the same place they were before, but the smooth interface was replaced by what it seems to be a Photoshop learning course with all those bevels. And not only it looks worse, but also feels incredibly bloated and heavy, which is another problem in the game. The game drags itself a lot, turning the once pleasant 3D match attending experience into a battle between the CPU load and the player trying to reach the options with the mouse. And the 3D match isn't that good, anyway.

Other problem is the transfer market. Veteran UM players will recall that, other than including in player offers, it was impossible to sell top rated players as the other teams made incredibly high offers and later pulled out. While the problem does not exist anymore, there are far too many teams that pull out of concluded deals without a problem, leading to failed deadlines. The option to force a deal ("sitting at the table", basically) before the end of the transfer window is also a bit troublesome. And by not having a way to change numbers (!), each new player is given the lowest number available, so a forward with a 1 or 2 and a goalkeeper or defender with 10 or 11 is perfectly normal.

Career mode is far from being perfect. There are no contracts, so a manager must wait until the board gives clearance to leave the club before attempting to jump to a higher-level team, which isn't all that likely to happen - to head for new pastures, usually the manager must resign, which takes a dent on the reputation. The 10 year limit on the freeplay and career modes also comes as a bit of a downside.

Finally, the game has some problems with names, particularly when it comes to Portuguese players. V. Martins, P. Rebocho, A. Sousa or R. Bernardo are all players well known for those following the Game, but not many people know V. Baía, P. Ferreira, Deco and R. Quaresma by these names. Edit them, you say? Can't. After the "powerful editor" fiasco in UM, Bubball decided not to include an editor. Even if that is understandable, it does not make the absence acceptable.

The Bottom Line
While I've focused more on the bad than on the good things, FourFourTwo is a solid managing game for all that matters. The youth system works fine, players can all be improved by training, the transfer market works in a realistic fashion (except the pulling off) and it features nine leagues to play in, with the extra of scenarios, classic and legend modes

Comparing to UEFA Manager, it is hard to rate FourFourTwo better or worse. The first could use the stability, real names and interviews, the second the interface, overall CPU lightness and some options missing. Both are "bit-more-than-average" games that could use a third in the series to combine the best of both worlds.