With Franchise Hockey Manager 11 on the horizon and with the nudge of a fellow fan, I am finally writing a review of my 562 hours in this game.
In short, this game is incredible. I’ve played EHM for years as well as Football Manager, College Football Dynasty, International Basketball Manager, etc. and despite some rough edges, this series can finally stand on its own merits.
As for details, here is my long form review. Mind you, despite the sheer number of hours I’ve spent in this game, there are things I still am not a master of, and, as was the case with the “Special Ability” box in players profiles, there are things I’m learning even after so long at the helm of my favorite hockey club.
I’m going to start with the things that either I outwardly disliked or found a nuisance. First, the 2D match engine. I was so excited for this feature and graphically, despite its simplicity it really pops, but it is janky AF. You’ll see players stop on breakaways, you’ll see two goalies in the net at once, and all sorts of other small annoyances that added up to me ditching a feature that I was pumped for. I’m hopeful that these issues are ironed out now that the engine has had some time on the burner.
In regard to the jankiness of the engine, there is an option to sim your games or the entire league in classic or 2D. I know 2D for every team can slow the game down, and after seeing the engine in action, I decided to stick to classic for hopefully more realistic stats. A much anticipated feature that I never use.
Secondly the UI and the graphics. The UI doesn’t bother me personally but it takes some getting used to and there are some aspects of it that will forever be irritating. Depending on what screen you are going to or coming from, backing in or out may just decide to not work properly. There are also all sorts of quirks to the menus, and one thing to keep in mind specifically is that RFAs aren’t always under the “unsigned” tab. Sometimes you have to go to “protected List” and sort for the guys with no contracts. Just little stuff like this adds up fast. That being said, I’ve played lots of management games and strategy games with many different UIs, so it isn’t a turn off for me so much as minor gripes.
As for the graphics themselves, the menus look fine, the logos look sharp, and the 2D match engine, as mentioned before, pops. But the player models, oh my goodness. Limited facial features, haunting eyes, and wearing goalie helmets straight out of NHL ‘99, they are a complete eyesore. Same for staff. You can get picture packs from the Workshop, but I like to play deep into careers and all the players are generated by that point, creepy dummy faces and all.
Speaking of going deep into career mode, the slowdown that I eventually ran into became unbearable, and I am unsure why. Admittedly, this could be on my end, but as the years go by things such as the free agent list or the staff list start slowing to a crawl, making shopping for offseason talent, arguably the most enjoyable part of the game, horrible. Why does this happen? I don’t man, I’m not a scientist.
Now for the good stuff and there is lots of good stuff!
If you are a tactics nerd you have a myriad of choices for individual behavior, line behavior, who plays which style (i.e. "Crease Clearing Defenseman, or Dangler) line tactics including forechecking, backchecking, zone and man coverages, etc. Really, the tactical options are too many to list and they work well.
Scouting, drafting, and development are all top notch, which is why as a management game, this game is great despite its previously mentioned warts. With scouting, I’ve seen a lot of complaints about weak drafts, but it seems that players continue to get better and can even show potential changes through their little 5 star meter, once their professional career begins. I have had great luck with scouting and drafting talent by reading the reports and looking at the advanced stats for players. The stars are a rough estimate, but they only tell part of the story and I am usually riding with what my scouts are telling me.
As for the draft itself, you can leave the draft in real-time to make a trade, although it feels a little detached. Teams don’t make moves as the draft goes on and there is no clock. I’m cool with the no clock thing, but in other hockey sims you would see trades happen between rounds, making the draft a more dynamic experience. Still, I love drafting and development, I just wish the draft was even better.
One last thought on judging players abilities. Not only are your scouts a great help, but you can go so deep into advanced analytical stats that you can try and play moneyball style, which is quite the experiment. The level of statistical detail in this game is top tier, and I tend to watch stats more than star ratings, leading to me having dominant D-pairs with 1.5 star guys on them. That level of analytical depth cannot be overstated, it makes this game. Being able to win without the best players by getting players for specific roles is the most rewarding experience for me.
The trade AI is wonky sometimes though, but I find if you put players on the block and then wait, you can get some fair deals for both sides. Shopping players is nice when you want to dump somebody for a 7th rounder but the computer can be duped into giving up too much to the player. This is a common problem in management games in general though, so it’s up to you to abuse it or not.
As for the gameplay, the classic match engine seems to put up realistic stats, and players tend to settle into where they would be in real life. Once you're so deep you are only playing with AI players, keeping an eye on all the numbers becomes more important, as you can’t just assume a player is good because you’ve seen them on TV. But yeah, I personally haven’t noticed any statistical anomalies. The offense does well I guess but the league is trending in that direction anyway.
One thing I would like to see is being able to adjust league penalties and fighting without sacrificing achievements. I have Matt Rempe damn near in the running for a Lady Byng no matter how I set up his tactics. This is due to a setting in commissioner mode that sets fights per game. Being able to adjust these two things year to year would allow players to keep their leagues within current trends, without giving up those sweet sweet achievements.
In conclusion, Franchise Hockey Manager 10 is an amazing hockey simulation. It shines in the departments of drafting, scouting, and deep analytical statistics.
The tactics system is solid and extremely in depth, should you choose to coach yourself.
Statistics for the most part, simming in classic mode, are accurate, except for fights and penalties. The 2D match mode is too janky for me but I can’t wait for them to build on it.
Despite its difficult UI, awful player models, and generally less than fantastic time trying to find what you are looking for, you will get used to it and when you do, you’ll find the best hockey sim on the market underneath that muckedy-muck.
GO BRUINS!
