Franchise Hockey Manager 12

Has a lot of potential but falls short. It does check a lot of boxes but I do wish it was a bit more accurate on player ratings but the main problem of the game is trading. They make the dumbest trades in history and will also offer you pennies on the dollar. I saw an AI trade a 2nd round pick to the kings in exchange for Brandt clarke. I also did fantasy draft and got Crosby, after the first season he got 85 points. I tried to trade him and all I got as an offer was a 7th round draft pick... like really? I get he is old but coming off an 85 point season I was expecting a very late first round pick or at the worst a mid round 2nd pick.

Got a refund. Started a game and tried to set scouting and the assign scout to the prospects tournament did not work.. In fact none of the tournament scouting buttons work. I was on day 2 of the franchise. If there is already a game breaking bug before I even get to preseason, the game is not worth money.

Fundamentally solid game for those who are new to the franchise, but I'm giving this a thumbs down for the following reasons: - Adds virtually nothing noticeable compared to previous renditions aside from faster simming. - Crashes more often than previous renditions, especially when clicking on players/staff at certain times. - Features such as real player faces, goal horns, etc. still have to be modded in (devs aren't necessarily to blame, but still an inconvenience overall). - Random bugs such as when you trade for someone's rights, and it suddenly asks you to match their (nonexistent) offer. Or when I did a fantasy draft, and the game still thought that Hronek was on the Canucks years later. - Eventually, after enough seasons, you can't hire staff anymore because there's so many available that the game takes five minutes to load the list of free agents. As you can see, I've played the game more than I care to admit and enjoy it myself personally. However, it's simply not worth buying unless it goes on sale because it isn't worth the full price tag after multiple years of failing to overhaul much of anything.

Game processes extremely slowly which makes all the crashing and save file corruption even more infuriating.

There are so many AI bugs and behaviours, and inconsistencies in the UI that this is hard to view as a competent realistic NHL simulator.

I recommend this game and its historical mode but it has issues that need to be addressed. The good: Having the minor professional leagues of old is great. The effort to get more and more realistic is appreciated. What needs to be improved: All years before 1956-57 ought have penalties go the full two minutes regardless of how many powerplay goals are scored against. The Minor league rosters still do miss some players from time to time. The Affiliation system in the late 1960s for the Pittsburgh Penguins is messed up as they are given the Quebec Aces as a farm team which is Philadelphia. The Affiliation system in General is lacking as during the Original Six teams had multiple affiliates and this is not shown for example, in 1965-66 the Toronto Maple Leafs had the Tulsa Oilers, Rochester Americans, and the Victoria Maple Leafs. Montreal had the Houston Apollos, the Quebec Aces, the Cleveland Barons, and the Seattle Totems. Or post expansion, Pittsburgh had Amarillo and Baltimore. For FHM 13 I would recommend working on this.

This game is pure magic! The only way to save Oilers, at least in this fictional world