CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2008

On the surface, Championship Manager 2008 looks to be an improvement over last year's effort, playing at a higher resolution with a slicker-looking interface, but underneath this gloss, the gameplay fails to satisfy. To live out the dream of being a football manager, you take control of one of any number of club teams and--simultaneously, if you want--a national team, with the aim being to win all the real-life competitions your team faces. Teams and competitions come from leagues across the globe, with most countries having at least their top two leagues represented, and some, such as Italy and England, having five. You pick the team each week, negotiate transfers, settle contracts, oversee training, and have a certain amount of control pitch-side on match days.

The most obvious change on match days from Championship Manager 2007 is the representation of the match itself. The 3D match engine is similar to last year, with players represented by coloured vertical cylinders that jump, slide, and fall in a more convincing manner than before, but while the engine is watchable, the play itself doesn't feel quite right. Little things, such as the regular occurrence of goalkeepers scoring their own goals from corners, do make the games seem much less real, and in a game such as this, it's those little details that make the difference.