So, I am one of the fans that buys the game each year no matter what, but I am not biased. This is only the beta version (the full release will be launched in 4th November) .

First Impressions:

1. There is more information than ever, which is easy to access in the panels. Before and after each game you receive a report from your analyst in which you can find every information about the opponent. Yes, in the editions before you could only have a report about the next opponent, but not one after the match. Now, in FM 17 your analyst will compile a summary of the match after it's finished and you can see what went good / wrong. This saves you time of analysing each stat after a game. In my opinion this is one of the most powerful features of FM 17.

2. The game runs on 64-bits if you have a 64-bit OS and CPU. This is great because you can feel how fast and responsive the game is.

3. This might be a minor change / addition, but the new skin (the green one) is excellent. Easy on the eye, easy to read and pleasant even at night.

4. I've played about 20-30 games so far and I can really say that this match engine is good. No more overpowered crosses to the back / near post. No more unmarked fullbacks and ultra-concentrated game in the middle. I tried 4-5 different tactics (4-4-2 diamond narrow, 4-4-2 flat, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 wide and a strikerless one). Each of these tactics worked as you would expect it too.

5. Scouting not has a new option when you want to get information about a new player (Scout until full knowledge). Not a big deal, but it's a welcome addition.

6. The pre-season takes longer then before because you recieve more information and therefor, you access more information. Also, signing a player take a tidy bit longer because of the negociations and so is when offering a new contract to one of your players (in most cases).


Comparison to FM 15 and 16.

When FM 16 came out I was very excited because I loved the interface, the responsiveness of the game, even the way the font popped out on the background itself. In short, I loved it. The problem was in the match engine and I have to say that it was the biggest dissapointment I ever had in FM. The opponent was defending so narrow that it would leave acres of space down the flanks so your fullbacks were always unmarked. It was almost pointless to play an AMC because you would NEVER take advantage if his creativity since he will 90% of the situations just pass it down the flanks where were your unmarked fullbacks. The second issue was the overpowered crosses. Because of these 2 big problems I felt compelled to revert back to FM15 (which I loved). Now, FM 17 looks even better than FM16 and the match engine is very good (given the fact that it's only a beta). By the way, I haven't seen any major or big bugs in the game so far. FM15 was a very good edition which provided great functionality, a more than decent match engine, but it felt a bit laggy overall.


Things that I think need improving in FM17.

1. The player models in 3D on the pitch and the ball itself need some tweaking, minor touches. The ball looks a bit too bright and the player's jerseys seem a bit unclear if you use a distant camera (elevated).

2. The colors in Football Manager Light Skin need serious improvement. It has very bad contrast in every aspect. However, the dark skin and the new one (green) look very good.

Honestly, I am trying hard to think of "bad things" in FM17. After the backlash they got for FM16 match engine, the developers corrected their mistakes big time and they added a lot of new things upon that. Regarding the match engine, I think the progression has stalled because of the setback in FM16, but the good news is that now it's playable and really enjoyable. I hope you find this review useful.