IGN removes 2/10 Football Manager review and apologises

Believe it not kids, but there are other websites on the internet that feature gaming, besides your beloved DarkZero. Possibly the largest of these is evil-corporation-owned IGN Entertainment, whose US arm recently posted a scathing 2/10 review of Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 (Football Manager to non-Yanks).

Understandably, the gaming community was outraged at such a high-profile review that completely missed the point of the game, and subsequently IGN were forced to take down the review and issue the following apology:

“We missed the mark — that’s the only way to explain why we’ve pulled the U.S. review of Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 off our site.

After seeing the community feedback and having more editors look at the title, we agree with the readers that our original review didn’t give Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 a fair shake. Unfortunately, our critical analysis of WWSM ’09 focused more on what the author wanted it to be rather than what the product actually was.

We review games at IGN based on their own merits, and agree that it was unreasonable to compare WWSM ’09 with action-oriented sports titles like FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer. Because of the unfair comparison, we have deemed the review unacceptable and have removed it from the site.

We extend our sincerest apologies to both SEGA and our readers for the mistake and confusion.”

As the review has been completely removed from the tubes that comprise the internet, sadly it is no longer viewable, but here are a few choice cuts.

Here the reviewer misses the point of a football management sim: “Yes, the depth of management in this game is impressive. But, it’s not impressive enough to make up for the fact that you aren’t actually playing soccer.”

And then he compares the game to others of a different genre: “There is no traditional gameplay to speak of. I couldn’t imagine why anybody would prefer Worldwide Soccer Manager to FIFA 09 or Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.”

He also criticises Football Manager for limiting the player to simply managing a football team. Which is kind of like criticising Forza Motorsport for limiting you to simply tuning and racing cars: “As far as traditional gameplay goes, there really isn’t any in Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009. Apart from managing your roster and coaching your team, there really isn’t anything to do at all.”

IGN have also said to “Look for an updated and more accurate relation of IGN’s view of WWSM ’09 sometime in the near future.” Alternatively, you could read our glowingly accurate review of Football Manager 2009 right here at DarkZero, the only site you can trust for your gaming reviews 😉