Total Club Manager 2003 - PC

The dominance of the mighty Championship Manager looks set to be shaken as big player Electronic Arts offers a contender to its crown. Carrying the face of everyone's favourite (bar Sunderland fans, maybe) footy manager, Sir Bobby Robson, Total Club Manager 2003 offers practically everything anyone could want from a football management sim.

Not ones to do things by halves, EA have secured full rights to the FA Premier League, the French LFP and the German Bundesliga amongst the 43 leagues and divisions it has on offer. They have also included all the 45,000+ players from the 2002/03 season.

Guiding their chosen team to victory (or shameful relegation) players have complete control, both on and off the pitch, managing such matters as player training schedules, transfers, player tactics and club finances.

As well as the usual array of menus, statistics, tables and tactics, present in most management sims, Total Club Manager 2003 places the emphasis on the word 'total', via its new 3D match engine. With each match being rendered in full 3D, players can stand at the sideline and shout orders to the players, the effects of which are visible on the pitch. Substitutions can be made and tactics can be changed in real-time, making for quite an authentic experience.

To keep things up to date with the goings-on in the real world of football, a database editor has been implemented, which can be periodically updated with downloads from the game's official website.

To call this game comprehensive would be an understatement. Very little seems to have been overlooked, making for an absorbing and faithful representation of football management. With a release date before that of the hotly anticipated Championship Manager 4, TCM2003 could prove to be quite a competitor.


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