Football Manager 2016

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 141 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 88 out of 141
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 141
  3. Negative: 24 out of 141

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  1. Xstream
    Jul 31, 2016
    1
    This must be the most frustrating and most annoying FM to data. Have been playing since CM '93/Italia, but the last few editions made me lose my interest. I feel a passenger in this game. Out of control, just following the story as it unfolds. There seem to be no tactical depth left other then formation, some shouts and a ton of statistics that are hard to figure out and don't seem toThis must be the most frustrating and most annoying FM to data. Have been playing since CM '93/Italia, but the last few editions made me lose my interest. I feel a passenger in this game. Out of control, just following the story as it unfolds. There seem to be no tactical depth left other then formation, some shouts and a ton of statistics that are hard to figure out and don't seem to reflect what i see in the 3D engine.

    Team talk, the super boring and never ending repeating press talk that still isn't adding anything of value or immersion to the game, have way too much impact on the performance of your team. So your team is much better on paper than the opponent, on a roll, but because i make one wrong comment they lose all morale and ability to pass a ball over 2 meter? Suddenly they behave like imbeciles? And it's not an incident. It's the "law" if you choose the wrong team talk pretty much. There's no freedom in approaching this. So why even offer it?

    In the simple version you don't have the teamtalk (yay!), but then you even feel less in control sadly when things go sideways since that tactic side of the game is the weakest to date in FM history. Nothing seems to make sense to me using these "Shouts".

    The 3D engine in general is much better then before, but still far away from anything realistic. Playing on the highest leagues seeing players frequently unable to pass a ball back to their keeper, run the ball over de sidelines or other imbecile behaviour is just plain annoying. In fact, that the 2D view still is the most valuable says a lot about the lack of improvement of the 3D engine. Because come on guys, it's been years to improve. Like i've been saying for years: just work together with Fifa or PES to get anything going. This is just pointless.

    I just miss any feeling of control. I have to cope with the 101 psychology that FM put into the game. Being different from that view seems to be always wrong and it's still the same multiple choice as years ago. Just learn the system and follow the rules FM gives you. I'm trying to get it - which is hard, because it's sometimes far from what i consider logical. The bottom line is that you just look up the "rule sheets" from the community to "crack the code". It's far from what once was a fine Football Manager.

    Tactics have been rendered down to plain shouts. Which would be fine if it gave you some feeling of control, but it's agian more of trial and error until it "clicks", which is just the same as the slider era, without any real logic. How come i have towering defenders that keep conceding goals from crosses by losing headers and setting more pressure and a highter line, even though they are slow as sh*t and don't even have high position or anticipation rating, seems to be working much better? It's just hopeless. A quest to "the click". Not common sense. And any good idea can still be rendered completely unsuccesful because of a wrong answer on a press conference or team talk. Because ofcourse, all of your professional players (and yes, my squad has a "professional" character), are a bunch of babies in this game and turn into complete imbeciles after 1 bad comment.

    Also i seriously hate the micromanagament this FM suddenly adds. And i don't mean in terms of the usual slider management and that stuff, but application issues. Why do i have to reset all set piece takes after i load a saved tactic from the same team? Why can't i not load any set pieces files (ffm files) etc? There are serious bugs in the game, and it's almost a year and a lot of updates later. Very annoying. It would give me so much more patience by a much more improved interface and functionality.

    Worst of all, if you have issues there is nobody from SIgames willing ot listen. My account was from the forum was gone, it existed, but it didn't send a forgotten password mail. Creating a different account i wasn't able to report bugs and stuff. Just a circle i couldn't break. So i gave up, and the game as wel. No fun, at all!

    Anything with the set piece managing is just very annoying and very badly done. I keep tweaking it. Especially if you change a lot due to the insane high amount of injuries. It's like a never ending micromanagement cycle before you can start your next game. It makes the game and the gameplay flow so slow.

    I'm just very dissapointed. I've purchased all versions to date, haven't played most of the latest editions, and gave 2016 a serious go, but it's just not fun anymore. It will be my last FM untill i read more possitive feedback from the community (because i'm luckily not the only one dissapointed). Most of my friends and group i used to play with lost interest by now.    … Expand
  2. paranoid77
    Jan 20, 2016
    2
    Since a fan&player of this style games since championship manager 92/93, every new year it advanced we arrived FM 16. But, is this the best? Of course no. Since FM14, sigames take control from you and give it to itself. Every new version of the game, your control and given tactics are less and less. Just buy player and put pre defined player roles thats all.
    When tactical sliders gone,    Since a fan&player of this style games since championship manager 92/93, every new year it advanced we arrived FM 16. But, is this the best? Of course no. Since FM14, sigames take control from you and give it to itself. Every new version of the game, your control and given tactics are less and less. Just buy player and put pre defined player roles thats all.
    When tactical sliders gone, your hands are tied up, you are not free to create your tactic, especially when individual tactics.
    I think when they made the handheld version and online support for this game, they take too many constant for this game, its easier for them to manage but they couldnt do this well too.
    Play FM 13or FM14; these are the best. After FM14, they all pre defined tactical game.
    And; dont think about the graphics and visiuals about this game. İts nonsense. FM is not a PES or FIFA. New generation players dont understand the sprit of the game this game dont need visiuals(stadiums,supportars,weather condition, etc etc). SI try to attract new generation players.
    To SI; improve the game not visiuals.
    Finally, there are lots of things to improve the game but they are in the wrong way.
    Dont buy this, play FM 13&14, you will be very much satisfied.    … Expand
  3. DirtyDeeds4Free
    Jan 27, 2016
    0
    90% of score for this game is a people passion for football, SI product itself is a clumsy buggy game with poor and outdated match engine, developing it is a best job ever- same **** great sale every time
  4. thj1188
    Nov 13, 2015
    4
    BUY FM15 WITH UPDATED DATABASE!!! I love football manager I really do but like most yearly releases you struggle to see the value of purchasing the what is 90% the same game year after year after year. And I am afraid it is even harder this year, The much boasted create a manager feature to put it gently is garbage not many options and when I tried to put myself in the game well I lookedBUY FM15 WITH UPDATED DATABASE!!! I love football manager I really do but like most yearly releases you struggle to see the value of purchasing the what is 90% the same game year after year after year. And I am afraid it is even harder this year, The much boasted create a manager feature to put it gently is garbage not many options and when I tried to put myself in the game well I looked like a very dodgy regen with a creepy smile to be honest I preferred it when I could put my own picture in. A lot of things have been tweaked apparently but after 20 hours of playing can't say I have noticed any. Glaring problems such as the match engine players being badly animated with players seeming to float across the pitch with out moving there legs and goal players doing stupid things, yes I know we get the odd howler in football but it is not this bad.

    Yes I am being harsh with this review and score but I love FM and want it to do better and hold it to a high standard all the way back to when I was playing when I was 13 signing Freddy Adu. To sum up I do not see any value in this installment and my big gripe about general laziness and minimal effort being put in remains from last year e.g same questions in interviews where we they have not even bothered to change the wording is dam lazy where such minimal effort has gone in every where else.

    Final thoughts: A lazy effort and I am dissapointed if you are a fool like me you will buy it every year then moan then buy it next year but if you are sensible buy FM15 and download a custom database for the latest transfers.    … Expand
  5. tstc79tt
    Nov 13, 2015
    0
    Still not fix the old issue since 2014 Match Engine Dumb defender and some glitch Goal keeper

    also unrealistic score result &

    and most of all Injuriesssssssssssssssssssssss PLayerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
  6. enf
    Mar 4, 2016
    0
    Nothing changed really from year to year. Absolutely nothing realistic, in lower leagues especially. I played with England level 23 database, took a team from very bottom, where only grey players in the squads. First season was great, only one lose, over 20 goals in 16 matches from my striker. But next season starts awful, despite nothing really changed in level of rivals, same greys. 3Nothing changed really from year to year. Absolutely nothing realistic, in lower leagues especially. I played with England level 23 database, took a team from very bottom, where only grey players in the squads. First season was great, only one lose, over 20 goals in 16 matches from my striker. But next season starts awful, despite nothing really changed in level of rivals, same greys. 3 loses in a row, 3 goals in 10 matches by same striker with same tactics. It must looks like a senior squad with professional league experience against kids without even football school. Do you think irl that kids have any chance? NO! Even if 1000 matches in a row would be played. But in this arcade **** game this kids can eliminate you, forwards with 4 finishing and 5 pace can easily score hat-tricks against your defence with much more technical, mental and physical attributes. Same with forwards, when they can't score from 10-15 shots in a match against keeper with 3-4 average skills and same defenders. Absolutely ridiculous, this match engine have no future, it must be created from very beginning. So sad that this game have no real rivals. Developers just don't give a **** use same crap like last years, make some cosmetic fixes, update database - make money! But despite this, the game starts with a tons of bugs and unplayable before the big update. Just ****… Expand
  7. blackbird1
    Mar 13, 2016
    0
    good. no licensec for most of leages no faces nor eal badges BORING every old EA FM Manager was better!
    this game is only playable if you download 40GB of faces and fanmade badges and you need to update this Regular its a joke
  8. jackriley2312
    Dec 23, 2015
    1
    I got this game today and have activated and downloaded it to steam, everytime I try to open it loads slightly before going off and skipping back to my desktop. Did anyone have this problem and if so how did you solve it?
  9. FREDJIM
    Apr 11, 2016
    0
    As a veteran football manager player I find this game shockingly bad. It seems the 3D match engine has got worse and all control has been taken from you. Not much has really changed like every year and somehow the game is more buggy than before. To charge 35 pounds for a re-skinned (which also looks worse) version of the previous game is beyond a joke and I expect better
  10. SoulBackUp
    Aug 22, 2016
    3
    Even though I enjoyed most of the 2016's features, the cheating a.i is getting worse. If it is a cup game, I dont even play it. I know I'll lose. In matches I'm strong favourite! After defending a set piece, ALL MY PLAYERS simply RUSH FOWARD to midfield, but one stays behind, so the opposition can have 4 entirely free players staring at my keeper... While my team has 78462 ccc's, allEven though I enjoyed most of the 2016's features, the cheating a.i is getting worse. If it is a cup game, I dont even play it. I know I'll lose. In matches I'm strong favourite! After defending a set piece, ALL MY PLAYERS simply RUSH FOWARD to midfield, but one stays behind, so the opposition can have 4 entirely free players staring at my keeper... While my team has 78462 ccc's, all blocked, missed or fantastically saved by their keeper. And if the opposition is slightly stronger than me, it's 4-0 by half time. Defenders simply dont run when chasing long balls, and the opposition strikers gets it and goes for a easy one-on-one with my keeper... Of course, none of those happen with the opposition... And only in cup games, league games are clear.… Expand
  11. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    2
    Football manager barely changes anything and republishes their game for full price. Greedy cheap basterds. The game database is great, but if you play for long enough and understand the mechanics the game becomes easy to beat, because it requires little adaption to the opponent and the scouting system is easy to game. There is also always some game breaking problem, such as crossingsFootball manager barely changes anything and republishes their game for full price. Greedy cheap basterds. The game database is great, but if you play for long enough and understand the mechanics the game becomes easy to beat, because it requires little adaption to the opponent and the scouting system is easy to game. There is also always some game breaking problem, such as crossings working insanely well.… Expand
  12. Gamercritic777
    May 12, 2019
    0
    I have been a fan since 2002. I skipped 2015 so i must say 2016 has better graphics than 2014. That is all that is better. 2016 is a juggling contest between, randomness and unexplainable tactics. When you are losing, simply reload the game and the outcome will be different. You can go through the whole season unbeaten following this advice. Just rinse and repeat. Its a joke. Worst FMI have been a fan since 2002. I skipped 2015 so i must say 2016 has better graphics than 2014. That is all that is better. 2016 is a juggling contest between, randomness and unexplainable tactics. When you are losing, simply reload the game and the outcome will be different. You can go through the whole season unbeaten following this advice. Just rinse and repeat. Its a joke. Worst FM ever.
    As it is so random there is no way to get a feel of whats better, change tactics? why bother. It won't make a difference, the game result is scripted from the start.    … Expand
  13. johanb
    Jun 28, 2016
    0
    This game is so **** **** sometimes. I win 3-0 against Manchester City (3rd place in BPL) and then the game after i lose 4-0 to bloody Aston Villa (19th place in BPL)

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best PC Game of 2015
90
#90 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
34
#34 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 16, 2016
    60
    As usual, it's a great sim of football manager. But this time it differs from previous episodes almost in no respect. [Issue#260]
  2. CD-Action
    Feb 4, 2016
    90
    Redesigned interface and wealth of various small improvements make Football Manager 2016 much more accessible to newcomers without sacrificing even a bit of its astounding depth. [01/2016, p.64]
  3. Power Unlimited
    Jan 27, 2016
    81
    The franchise hasn’t changed much since 2014, or 2013 for that matter, but there’s a reason actual football clubs still use Football Manager as a scouting tool: its realism. Trading tens of thousands of incredibly realistic footballers will simply never be boring. [jan. 2016, page 082]
See all critic reviews »