British soccer manager games were (more or less) all based on the same concept - start your team from the lowest division and fight your way to the top and Premier Division is no exception. But that is where the typical things end in this project.
Made in AMOS Basic, a simple tool, the game does not look great (like most of the AMOS productions), the player parameters are simple, the match engine is almost non-existent, the managerial options are simple, but yet Premier Division was worth to know due to well chosen elements. We run our team from bottom of 3rd Division and through training, transfers and a bit of luck we can reach the top, which is not the Premier Division, but international division in which we play against clubs from different European countries.
The other first element that is worth mentioning is the use of random events that change the outlook of the game - each week we can be surprised by new sponsorship deal, IRS audit or even the news that one of our players was diagnosed with health problems that will never allow him to play again. Part of that element is the transfers system - unfortunately we simply can’t just visit transfer list and buy the player we want, instead each week there are up to 2 purchase offers. The players available are chosen randomly, so sometimes they will outside our budget limitations or they play on a position we do not need any more players. On one hand it is a flaw in project, but on the other is adds a random element to the game - we can buy decent player one week and week later there is a great player available that we could have bought instead, but that’s life for you...
There is also a quite surprising element in the game - instead of playing the typical soccer manager game we can choose to play Monopoly-like board game with football themes.
A very simple game that lacks a lot of elements, but through good planning Zeppelin Games created a soccer manager that is addictive and entertaining despite its obvious flaws.
Premier Division gameplay video
