FIFA 11 Manager Mode is changing to Career Mode

 Career Mode in a bit more detail

Here in the office I've been fortunate enough to get access to an early build of Career Mode (playing as a Player-Manager) and so far it is a big change from FIFA 10. Things seem a lot slicker and refinements in a number of areas are definitely noticeable. So far I've taken Man Utd to Community Shield victory against Chelsea, signed Chiellini and Thiago Silva to replace the ageing Ferdinand and had a bid accepted for Benzema although I'm still to confirm personal terms with the player. Yes, you did read that right, "confirm personal terms with the player". The transfer system is now a two-stage negotiation where you agree a fee with the club in question and then have to agree terms with the player themselves. I've already had the experience of the club saying yes and the player saying no (Higuain) as he didn't want to move country.

There are now a few more search options in the transfer market with you being able to search for a primary attribute and a secondary attribute and respective ratings for them.

The main interface has changed dramatically and now has the look of an online "news portal", a bit like www.premierleague.com. You have a couple of news stories on display working in rotation, league ladder and top scorers lists on the right, career rating on the bottom left and then your menu options top left. The associated screenshot highlights this layout and as you progress through Career Mode you will become more familiar with it.

When changing days between matches the calendar now has a daily view and will stop progressing if there is an important action happening such as an email from a team interested in buying your player or something from the Board. You can easily see when the cup matches are, friendlies, international matches and your standard league matches.  When you do get to a match and opt to Sim it there are a few new elements here as well. On the left of the screen you get both line-ups including substitutes and on the right you get a ticker updating you with important events from the match and a summary of key events from other matches happening at the same time. When you score, your players collect cards or get injured the left side of the screen updates with the appropriate symbol so you can easily see who has done what and who has been subbed.

On the side of injuries they are still there and have been tweaked as well. I got two injuries during the first match I simmed both of which were of different lengths; one 82 days and one 27 days. I got a news item on the main screen after the match telling me so and an email from the Coach drilling it in that these players would be unavailable and that I'd need to change my team selection accordingly. Injuries can also happen after matches, I played the Community Shield against Chelsea and got an email notification after winning that Rooney would be unavailable for a period having picked up a knock. Overall there are three types of injury; those that happen but aren't severe enough to sideline a player (stats reduced but can still play), those that sideline the player for a short period as they are unfit to play and those major injuries that can put a player out of action for months.

I'm still getting to grips with all the ins and outs but so far the changes that I have noticed are great and I'm enjoying playing it in the office. Look out for another article in the near future once I've guided Man Utd to victory and started a career as just a Player.

 Player growth does happen, I had a series of emails from the coach telling me that a player had improved, and those that were getting older were losing their overall rating (Giggs went down by a point over the course of the season). I also got emails telling me that a player had hit form and suggesting that I should include them in my line-up for the next match or give them a bit more responsibility. On the player growth screen you actually get comments from the coach like“Has reached his potential, isn’t going to grown anymore” or “could develop quickly if given game time”.

Given that this is completely new code and doesn’t borrow from FIFA 10 there are a couple of things that have been stripped to ensure that this fresh start for Career Mode lives up to expectations. For now there are no training options, or those to improve your stadium, negotiator, coaches etc. One of the new elements when it comes to budget and transfers though is the “Budget Allocator”, you can change the proportion of your budget allocated to transfer fees and to player wages based on a sliding scale. So I may start with a 80/20 split with £50 Million to spend and £200K wage budget, change the slider to 60/40 and that may be £40 Million to spend and £250K wage budget. This gives some flexibility if you are trying to buy specific players but haven’t got the wages to cover it, or don’t need the wages and want a bit more free cash. There is a limit however, when doing this you get the notification this is only available 3 times so you need to make your decisions wisely.

Playing Career Mode as a Player

Having flirted with Player-Manager I thought I better get to grips with what it is like in the Player Mode, what was essentially Be a Pro Seasons in FIFA 10. For this I created my VP, the fantastically named C. Elito and joined Arsenal for a bit of a change. I got the option to take long socks or short socks, shirt tucked or untucked, ankle tape or no ankle tape and a few others when creating my VP and I think I can go back and change them at a later date if I get bored of how he looks.

When I jumped into the friendly matches before the season started I had a 0/8 rating as a “Prospect” and was given the opportunity to play all the matches to show the Manager how good I was. Things didn’t quite go to plan, I managed to get reasonable ratings but didn’t score in any of the matches so my rating stayed at 0/8. I did however get an email from the coach telling me that one of my team mates had been injured in one of the friendly matches along with notification of how long he would be absent for, quite a nice touch I thought.

Moving to the first game of the season I was picked to start against Man Utd playing alongside Fabregas and Co. The game ended in a draw, 1-1, with Fab scoring a penalty I created by bustling my way into the box but overall my performance wasn’t great. After the match I got an email from the Manager letting me know that although I played well I wasn’t yet ready for the limelight and that I wouldn’t be playing the next match. I advanced through the days and had to sim the next match, and the one after that, and the one after that so much like in real life, if you don’t take the opportunities presented with both hands you will spend time on the sidelines watching. I need to make sure that next time I get to play I score a hat-trick and then see what the Manager has to say.

Other bits and pieces

I’ve also dabbled with the pure Manager element of Career Mode and this leans quite heavily to what you experience in Player-Manager however the playing element is a little different. You can still do transfers, select the team, alter the formations and have the board challenges to go against but when playing matches you control the whole team as you did last year. There is also no option to create a player or VP and have them as part of your squad. I guess this is where the line is drawn between the 3 elements of Career Mode. Player Mode you can play as your VP, get accomplishments and develop aiming for individual and international glory whilst Player-Manager you have the stresses and strains of management whilst also being able to develop a VP if you want to. All 3 have playing options in them but they each differ; Player Mode has you playing in the BAP camera mode controlling just your VP or the full team, Player-Manager has you playing in a traditional camera view (although you can change it) and who you control depends on the management decisions you make, put yourself in the starting line-up and you will only control yourself, leave your playing self off the starting 11 and you can control the whole team. As a Manager you control the whole team in the traditional kick-off style.