Player of the Year

Based on the English FA and with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), this Krisalis manager/action game is probably one of the most underrated football games ever.

Updated and upgraded version of Manchester United: The double, Player of the Year has in common the interface, and the well known Tacti-Grid tactics system, now on version II. Now what's about the game... you have two options for the season mode: Player and Manager. As player, you must make your way from the Div. 3 or the conference to the Premier League, and become the "Player of the year". You can put yourself on trade, and start controlling the team you are selling yourself to. However, you don't improve with time, so unfortunately if you buy a couple of good players for your position, you'll be sidelined in no time.

As a manager, you have exactly the same options, except you don't have yourself as a team member. And can't change team, either. The "arcade" part of the game is almost brilliant, with the fans all dressed in the home teams' colour, with just the top end with the away fans, the gameplay, although get easy soon, manages to combine simplicity and defectiveness without making the game look terribly shallow. There are 4 players models altogether (from fair headed to black - so no Abel Xavier look for anyone), shirts are perfectly recognizable (and each team has up to three kits), you can configure weather, referee stricness and all the usual stuff in find on similar games.

Basically, POTY is another game that seems not to be tested at all, and at best, an incomplete beta of a product that promised a lot more, but failed, and due to too many bugs and easiness of play when you get a couple of talented players. Is not a priority unless you want to try all football games ever done.

Review By HOTUD