Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13636 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sold Out Software
• Released on: 2006-03-03
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
Championship Manager 4 is the next generation of football management games, offering more players, leagues and competitions than any other title. For the first time ever in the series, Championship Manager 4 features a real-time 2D match engine enabling you to make tactical decisions as the action unfolds. Watch the whole 90 minutes in real time or choose to view crucial match highlights.

In addition, this version introduces a whole host of new management options and features to offer an unparalleled level of detail. Championship Manager 4 provides the option to fully customise the training of your team, enabling managers to assign specific schedules. Other new additions include an enhanced contract negotiation system, a more efficient, easy-to-use network game option and totally skinable interface. Developed in close association with former Republic of Ireland and Liverpool star Ray Houghton to guarantee ultimate realism, Championship Manager 4 is the greatest leap the series has ever taken.

Customer Reviews

Just one more match, I promise...
I started playing Championship Manager 2 with my friends when it was first released, and I have been hooked ever since. The idea behind it all is nothing new: you are to manage a club's economy, trade players and set up a team roster for the matches. Many games like this have been made, but none so comprehensive and detailed. The sheer amount of players available is simply daunting, and finding the best is no easy task.

CM4 picks up the baton where the previous game left off. Striving to make the game more and more extensive as far as the database is concerned, the producers this time created an in-depth archive of players from 39 leagues. Sadly, as I write this, the game is no longer up to date. Players have moved, and managers have the same. Chelsea don't have unlimited funds in this game. Yet, after so long, even after the release of CM5 and FM5, I find myself starting up a league back in CM4-land time and time again. Training, advanced tactics control and direct communication between you and the players almost make you feel like you're a real football manager, something the game's built-in addictedness rating will ask you to remember you are not.

There are several reasons why you should NOT buy this game, however. The 2D pitch, for instance, is revolutionary, but it also reveals some of the flaws of the match engine, such as the linesman's inability to separate on-side players from off-side ones when it comes to deciding who gets the ball, and there are other elements as well that you'd expect they could have gotten rid of by now. After all, this is the fourth game in the series; why are they still making these little mistakes? More notable, though, is the Stadium Expansion Bug.

In CM4, this bug prevents you from increasing the capacity of the stadia. You can nag all you want at the board and they will keep telling you they are working on expanding the stadium, but nothing ever happens. This prevents you from doing one of the things that makes the game so much fun: bringing up a small club and making it big. Without increased capacity, funds will forever remain scarce. The producer's failure to fix this bug produced an outcry from the fans, but it was to no avail. The bug was not fixed until the expansion, CM03-04.

THAT is the game you should buy.