Franchise Hockey Manager 3 Reviews

I never really played any hockey manager games before, the closest thing being the Be a GM Mode in the EA Sports NHL series, so i was really surprised with the depth and customization the game had to offer. Being able to play in the CHL, europe and even in the asian leagues was so new and amazing to me, and its awesome to see your prospects develop into Elite players or to just sign some really great veterans (KOVALCHUK IS A GOD IN THIS GAME). BUT, after the first hours of learning and progressing through my first years as a GM, the whole amazement was gone and it was clear that yes, there are some real issues with saves crashing, ridiculous trade offers by AI GMs and Owners with no patience, that so many GMs and coaches are fired right in the first months of the season. So yeah, it maybe a little too much to ask for full price for a game that feels half-finished, but it is really fun nonetheless. Btw, the UI is REALLY terrible, the devs should look into that asap.

If you like playing GM Mode in the EA Sports NHL series, then this is the game for you. Now it has some small negatives, but if you do not mind a few hiccups then keep on reading. What makes me happy about this game is the depth in the expansive hockey world this game features. There are many features i wish NHL games had in their GM Mode, and this game delivers in that area of depth. Simple things like renegotiating contracts mid season, and no trade/no move clauses are a very nice thing to have. I love the scouting in this game, and you are able to see what a player has for season stats to give you a general idea of what they may be capable of, which of course the NHL series does not have. Being able to command a national team for me puts the cherry on top. Back to negotiating contracts, it is nice to not only be able to select the length of contract, but fluctuate how much money the player will make each year, so front loaded contracts are a thing! If you are really into statistics, this game has got your back. The game has many advanced stats such as Corsi. As well they are active on the forums and are constantly working on updating the game. There are so many more things, but it would take too long to write it all out. Now, for the negatives. The games can have a tendency to crash, but if you have the game on auto save weekly, you won't lose too much work. People have complained about the UI, but I disagree and I believe its one of the better ones out there, easy to navigate. Now, I had a game breaking crash in year 4, and no matter what, I could not sim passed a certain day, buuuuuut, the developers are very helpful on the forum and I wrote a post, uploaded my save on there File Server, and in 3 days they had diagnosed the problem, and saved my save file and it was playable again. So HUGE shout-out to the developer for being very supportive. To conclude: PROS: - Depth of game world - Scouting - Contracts - International Jobs - In depth statistics - Very helpful and responsive developers CONS: - Crashes (Although playable) TL:DR - Great game for anyone who loves sports sim games despite it's small flaws. 10/10: Would buy again and support small developer.

I have been playing sports simulations since the late 80s and basically buy all the newest versions of all the top sports sims out there year by year. I was excited when OOTPB announced they would be making FHM innitially, however i quickly dumped the first game. When #2 came out i simply ignored it, but decided to spend my hard earned $ on the 3rd edition. Personally i think this was a huge mistake, i have already deleted the game. For one, this is a poor mans version of OOTPB, which is by far a more furnished and finished product in every single sense of the word. Considering FHM has the backing of OOTPB, i am shocked how the layout is so poorly setup. The colors and layout are painful to look at times. Just looking at this game is irritating, clearly not enough time was spent on the design. The thing i hate most about this game in comparisson to OOTPB is their lack of editing and modding. If in that game you can basically edit everything, here you are very limited. In fact, you cannot even start a game without being forced to pick the NHL (i know that would be most peoples first option, but still). You cannot fiddle around with the teams and for some weird reason the game admin has decided to focus on a mode called Path To Glory which is basically even more limited to what you can edit and is slower paced, you cannot sim into the future like most sims allow you to do, which means a season takes a lot longer. On top of all that, the game has crashed on me 3-4 times and i barely have played the game. Possibly i am a little spoilt after playing OOTPB and Football Manager every year, but i am dissapointed that this game has not progressed a lot more since it's first induction. The only thing going for this game at the moment is that it's only real competitor is a hockey game which is basically running on an engine which is over 10 years old and even then, it is a pretty even competitor. Unless you are crazy about Hockey and love sports sims, i would refrain to buying this and buy a proper sports sim such as the 2 i mentioned above.

This is one of the best Hockey Sims I have ever played. I have purchased all 3 iterations of FHM and they continuosly improved year over year. The speed in which you can sim seasons compared to old versions of EHM is fantastic. The new international tourneys are a great add - the game can be a little glitchy at times crashing from time to time after running the game for a while (usually multiple seasons).

I really enjoy playing OOTP 18 (Out of the Park baseball 18) and this game is made by the same people. OOTP 18 runs so smoothly and doesn't lag/crash until your file size is so big that it could be a game of its own. This game, however, can't even load properly. I tried to set up a custom league with just TWO minor leagues. Just two! And it crashed while making the game (twice because I tried it again.) I can see why this is only half of the price of OOTP 18. I tried doing a historical league but it crashed too. I made another custom league with 20 minute OTs and simming the OT in game crashes everytime. I stopped trying to do that. The only way to ensure nothing is lost in this game is to save every ten seconds which removes the fun factor entirely. I still gave the game a chance after all of this by playing the "Road to Glory" mode. It started off well but then it randomly crashed in the middle of games, trades, and even the frickin' menu screen. This was a waste of money and I've never seen this combination of contrast between two games made by the same DEVs. I think they just had success with OOTP 18 so they used their brand to get people to buy this nonsense. Don't waste your money. Please. Save Yourself.

It looks a little bit more polished than FHM 2, but FHM 2, to me, has this game beat hands down in terms of creativity and enjoyment. The UI isn't very good, and the computer makes some really, really bad trades. FHM 2 had it's flaws, but I found it a better game. Also, the injury bug knocked FIVE of my players out for 4 months or more. I wasn't the only team with that problem. I also miss having the ability of multiple human GMs, something not in FHM 3. All in all, I would suggest waiting until the price comes down significantly on this before buying. I don't want to sound too harsh on them, as this game has potential, but it's not quite there yet.

Buffalo got Gabriel Landeskog AND a draft pick for Evander Kane. 10/10 would trade with Joe Sakic again But on a more serious note, this is a massive upgrade on the first two, bug-filled, installments in this series. For the first time in 10 years, I have a hockey manager game I really enjoy playing.

As a giant hockey fan, as well as an OOTP addict I was very excited to give this game a try. However, I have found there is still a lot of work needed for this game to be considered a realistic sim. Perhaps this game satisifes the average hockey fan, but for me there is a lot to be fixed. First and foremost are player ratings and positions. Too many players have terrible ratings (either rated much too low or much too high) and their positions are all wrong. I put hours into re-rating players and it still is hard to make accurate because of the numerous attribute listings and the uncertainty of their impact on overall rating and potential. Also in terms of positions, many forwards have center listed as their position when they haven't played one game in the NHL at that spot. Also, I'm assuming that LD and RD listed as seperate positions are in someway neccessary for the AI to set line ups because otherwise that totally complicates things and is sort of ridiculous. Off the top of my head, contracts aren't right. We often see a player being paid different amounts in certain years of their contract, but they still have a set AAV which becomes their cap hit. FHM missed the mark on this because then we have certain players (i.e Marian Hossa) already part way through their contract. Therefore, this game has not taken in to account their previous years and the cap hit becomes wrong for said players. Trading needs to be improved as well. Perhaps I would find it more acceptable with accurate player ratings but the AI is way out to lunch a lot of times. Finally, the player roles is a mess. Much too complicated and with too many roles to chose from (specifically you have basically the same role just described in 5 different ways). You also end up struggling to get good chemistry on lines and the only way to find it is by having a skater playing a role that is not realistic to their real life ability and style. In the end, a solid game for a new or average hockey fan. For myself, I want much more of a realistic game that I have become accustomed to by playing OOTP. I have high hopes for FHM4, but cannot reccomend FHM3 at this time.

I gave this game a try when i saw it on sale (50% off) but ended up asking for a refund. I loved the depth of the leagues, tactics, and mangerial/coaching options. The salary system also appeared to be very well done. Overall I can see that the game makes a solid attempt to deliver on its intention to be the most authentic hockey strategy game, however there are major downfalls that prevent it from reaching this goal. Most importanly, the user interface is extremely cumbersome. Whoever was in charge of it's development should be fired. clickable shortcuts to view important things like player attributes when setting lines are not present. Instead you have to navigate to a different menu to view what you are after (player ratings like passing ability, checkign etc.), memorize those and then navigate back again. This is really difficult to do and very time consuming. A useable interface is lacking in almost every aspect of the game. Imagine trying to assign scouts to free agent or minor league players without being able to see the individual attributes of your scouts. Unless you have them memorized, you have to leave the free agent/minor league roster, navigate back to personnel screen of your team, view the scouts attributes, memorize them or write them down, then navigate back to the free agent roster, repeat your search terms (I hope you memorized those too!) and then you can start assigning scouts to roles where they will excel. Tiring to say the least. Also huge amount of space in the UI are wasted. The player profile screen has a huge area dedicated to contentment and ability/potential which could easily be repesented by a small table, leaving space for more information on detailed ratings, stats, or anything else. It's frustrating to have such a great concept ruined by a lousy UI. If this UI is drastically improved I will definitely buy the game again, even at full price . I think the developers could achieve this by adding quick links on lines menus, popups in roster menus, and the ability to click on players to view their attributes when setting lines etc.

A great game needs a great villan. In FHM 3 that great villian is Jarmo "The Butcher" Kekalainen, General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets and low-down traiterous F*#$ing swine! You see, having never played a game like this one I decided to work my way up. I started with no job and accepted the position of General Manager of the Cleveland Monsters, assuming Cleveland was a low as a man can start. It apperared to be good job. Playing with the awesome tools at my disposal I spend the first hour assembling my roster into elite and dangerous line changes. Satisified, I advance a few days. Suddenly an email pops up telling me that, argueably the best player on the team has been called up. Dammit, says I. I'll have to spend another few minutes tinkering. So I tinker away and right the wrong done to my team. I advance another day, and not 1, not 2, but 5 players are called up. Now for a persnickety fellow like myself this sets my anus to clinching. Deep breaths are taken. But, downing a beer, I decide to wait until just a few days before my first game to edit the line up again, lest it become broken by more call ups. Then it happens. Both of my Goalies are called up. Now, Im not sure how deep your knowledge of Hockey runs, but I can tell you that, that position is somewhat important. Another beer goes down. I recruit the best goalie on the market. I assume he was recruited using a local add in the classifieds next to the guy selling an old ridiculous large aquarium and the lady selling Yorkie-poo's, because he has exactly half a star of talent, and one whole star of potential. It is at this moment I wonder why this is happening. Im not an evil man. I don't beat my kids nor do I call my fellow man, "bro". I try to do good in the world. I like to leave large tips and ridiculously long reviews for the products that I enjoy. Why is this happening? Then I found my answer. Jarmo Kekalainen the Columbus Blue Jackets GM was f*&%ing with me. How do I know he was just f^$%ing around. Because after over paying the leagues least talented goalie and updating my line ups two day before the game, this son of bitch sends 3 of the 6 called up players back. Only now each one of them is pissed the F*^$ off that his dreams of NHL glory were crushed and the take no solace is returning to the stately metropolis of Cleveland. So now I have some talent back, but said tallent does want to be there. My first loss is lopsided to say the least. It looks like the score of and NFL football game. I decide that I am not going to let this bring me down. I trade away all of my talented unhappy players for a goalie that isn't incompetent and 1 decent right winger. I win the next two preseason game and God Damn Mother F*&^ing Jarmo takes my God Damn Mother F*&^ing Goalie. He is kind enough to send back one of the ones he took. But that poor bastard is, of course, no longer satisfied with his lot as a Cleveland Monster and does, in fact, lose the next two games. So I have come to a decision. I will crush Jarmo. I am going to turn this nightmare in Cleveland around and get promoted to the NHL. And eventually I am going to replace his sorry ass in Columbus. Ill take the NHL's tiniest salary if I have to, but I will unmake everything that he has made. I will see him and his family on the streets. If he takes another job, Ill go and take that one too. He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up! 11/10 Would make a nemeisis again. PS. To the developer. That litte crown on the icon for guy with a coaching advantage...that...I have strong opinions about that... ***11/19/2016 Update**** HAHAHAAHAHA!!!! In the year 2023 The Columbus Blue Jackets finished 29th as I trimphantly lead the Florida Panthers to their second Stanley Cup. The fans waited anxiously for their beloved GM to accept a contract exension, but nay, I SAY NAY! He did not. He accepted the postion of GM and Head Coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets as the Blue Jacks abandoned Mother Fucking Jarmo like a pregnant prom date.. Why would the NHL's Top GM do such a thing? Because back when he managed the Cleveland Monsters Jarmo stuck it to his team without even sending over some KY to smooth things over. Here is where I will build my dynasty! But first, I'm calling up every player on the Cleveland Monster that might even almost be viable...because...I can! I love this game! I would also like address some the negative reviews posted here. If you are considering buying this game, you absolutely should. I have had 3 game breaking errors since I started playing. I literally could play no more and within a few hours of posting the error on the developer site they were fixed. The developer is VERY invested in this game and many of the negative issues that are being brought up can, have been, or will be corrected. While they are pubished by the same company that does OOTP Baseball, it a completely different team that made this game. I have had nothing but positive experiences here. And no I do not work for them. I post as Jubal Early on thier forums too, you will see me there.