Football Manager 2024

It was never going to be a revolution, but you feel the new features on and off the pitch.

Its improvements might be slightly overshadowed by the more extensive overhaul coming next year, but this latest and last iteration brings the best version of its match engine yet, a superbly refined set-piece creator, and, finally, the ability to transfer your saves.

While the console edition of Football Manager 2024 is admirable and certainly serviceable for those who can't play on PC, it's tough to recommend thanks to how stripped back it is by comparison. Entire features are missing, and navigating through menus is a slow, frustrating chore. This is a subpar port that's fine as a gateway experience, but it's hard to look past its flaws - especially when the grass seems so much greener across the way.

Is Football Manager 2024 Touch on Switch the best way to experience the franchise this year? Probably not, in light of the various other versions and platforms available. However, it is a solid version of a strong entry in the series, with the convenience of being on Nintendo's marvellous little machine whether you want to play on the go or pop it up on the TV. It strips away some of the immersive depth from the 'main' version on PC, but adds interesting nuances of its own while keeping the experience snappy. If you can figure out the quirky physical controls, along with how to get your 4-3-2-1 formation humming, you can sink plenty of hours into this one.

Being a last huzzah of the series before its great evolution, Football Manager 2024 Touch is the definitive version of the franchise's current formula. Refining past mechanics, adding new features and overhauling its engine, the title ends this cycle with a flourish.

FM24 by its very nature is more of the same and that isn't in itself a criticism. Indeed, Sports Interactive would likely argue this final love letter to 20 years of the series is the culmination and last hurrah of what they have been building up to over the last number of years. Fans returning to the series will either find the presentation a comfort blanket or more of the same, depending on their point of view. Changes to the ageing match engine breathe new life into watching the spectacle play out while the emphasis on the greater power of agents in wheeling and dealing in the transfer market adds a layer of complexity that spices things up. There are also overhauls to set pieces and increased focus on player's individual targets and development. Despite all that though, it does feel like the natural stepping off point of the series to go in a slightly different direction before things get stale and it therefore isn't surprising that FM25 promises a 'new chapter'. It will be exciting to watch where the series goes in the coming years.

Football Manager 2024 still sufers from ample issues in interface, visuals and music department. But if you are a die hard fan of football, you will enjoy managing your favourite football club down to the smallest details.

Football Manager 2024 is the usual and immense sports management that has delighted football fans for years. While waiting for the announced revolution next year, the current edition is confirmed as a chapter of mere transition: as always, there is no lack of content and the small changes are extremely precise and timely. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the series has arrived at the long-awaited moment of turning a new leaf. While we wait to find out what's cooking in the Sports Interactive studios, the 2024 edition will satisfy all aspiring coaches.

Football Manager 2024 Console Edition continues to shape the formula on consoles, but it still falls far short of the PC version. Simplifying some tasks and content has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it allows for faster and more agile gameplay, ideal for enjoying the experience on consoles. On the other hand, it leaves in the way deeper functionalities in some essential areas of the franchise, such as scouting or chatter during games.

SEGA and Sports Interactive give us a strawberry-flavored treat to rid us of the bad taste from the previous edition, along with a good number of improvements that will please most veteran players. Despite everything, they will have to consider whether they want to make the leap. If you haven't played for a couple of seasons or are a newcomer to the franchise, welcome to the true king of sports.