izigame.me

Post release bit added at the bottom.

Beta Review: Si have just 2 weeks or so to release a polished and finished product, so I can only assume that the in-house build is massively different to this mess. From graphic glitches to input lag, the most unintuitive UI that the game has ever had & some good ideas so badly implemented that they could be the faultering steps of first year game design students, FM 2018 is quite simply not ready for public consumption.
I am at a loss as to why Si, year on year insist on breaking what wasn't broken and completely change everything for changes sake. If they had kept the UI and functionality of last years offering while adding the new and good ideas like dynamics, the medical centre etc. there would be a lot less complaints but no. FM2017 was clean and crisp with everything at the players fingertips. FM2018 has thrown this out and now what used to take one click takes at least three and most of the information that is actually useful is once again part of the FM mini game of hunt the info. As an example, during a match if you want to change your tactics or something in the tactic there is a tactics button. So far so good right? well no, as that tactics button takes you to a totally unnecessary screen that gives you none of the information that you actually need. What's more is that there is no hint at all as to how to get to the screen that you actually want. For those that haven't found it yet there is a small 'tactics' heading on that screen to the top right that looks like a heading and not a button, which in fact it is and pressing that gets you to the screen you want. So click on tactics, spend a few baffled minutes wondering how to get the stats you want, stumble across the hidden button and finally get to the screen that took a single click to get to in FM2017, and that's one of the easy ones to find. Good luck with setting scouts to do what you want. Here's a hint, the chief scout is set by default to allocate all scouting assignments and you need to change this before the game allows you to do it.
The new dynamics system is an excellent idea so badly implemented that it truly is a painful fun killer rather than the useful tool that it is meant to be, why? Because if you piss one player off, regardless of who it is you will lose the dressing room, at which point you may as well let your great aunt Mavis and her friends take to the field as they would have about the same chance of winning the match and not cost anywhere near as much as the tutu wearing prima-donnas in the dressing room. I imagine that this is something that Si will tune down by a large amount in time for release, at least I hope so.
The medical centre is a good addition and fills in the information gaps that existed in previous versions. It is functional and well laid out and it is refreshing to be able to say that.
In 2013 Si completely changed the match engine and it took until 2016 for them to iron out 90% of the bugs. They have completely changed it again this year and predictably it's a mess. Eye killing bright green grass, a tiny white ball that gets lost amongst the glaring & awful textures ( even on very high graphics settings ). Totally black players on some systems, terrible sound that persists even after the match has finished, bad decision making ( a feature of most FM titles ), 90% of goals come from crosses ( a problem that existed last year as well ), a bug where the team defending a free kick just line up along the edge of the area and don't bother moving when the free kick is taken leading to some stupid looking goals ( definately a bug so expect this one to be fixed for release ). Players that don't give a damn what you have to say ( you could be messi managing a non-league side and the players would still be disinterested in what you have to say ).
I do hope that the release version will address most of these problems but at the moment the game isn't worth the money and I suspect, as in previous years that it will not be worth it until the end of march next year after the final patch has landed. If you absolutely must buy this game then do yourself a favour and wait until April when you should be able to pick it up in a steam sale. If you are not desperate for the game then wait for FM 2020 when the match engine should be in a reasonable state.
The game is now out and..... It's pretty much the beta with a different version number. Hardly anything has been fixed but there have been some code changes. Some people are reporting that the game now runs smoothly for them but for each of those reports there is another saying the game now runs worse. There are now multiple crashes for some and there are still people that have not even managed to start the game. For myself I have checked out the release demo and found it wanting in so many areas that it isn't even funny. Miles should hang his head in shame and then resign, or at least take a step back to allow someone with a fresh outlook to take over. FM 2018 is the worst FM game by far and I urge everyone to stay away from it. Of course there will always be those that buy it anyway and I salute their dedication but stop to think for a moment. If the sales tank then just maybe that will send a clear message that they must do a great deal better. It will certainly cause Sega to start asking questions. So if you want a decent and fun FM for god's sake don't settle for this crap. 3 / 10 for potential.
Well, despite my misgivings I tried this game again after the january patch and it's still a complete pile of shit. It's obvious that this is no more than a draft version of what will eventually be FM 2020 or FM 2021 and idiots like us swallow it. I am fortunate enough for the cost of this game not to be a huge problem but I know that for many out there video games are a major purchase. Don't allow Si to take your money until they show you some respect and actually produce a game worth buying. still the worst game Si have ever produced apart from CM3 which was just a broken product.