LMA manager games started back on the ps1. They were never as involved as other football manager sims, but to be fair it was never aimed at the same market. The LMA series is aimed more towards the casual football manager. If you need to know what your potential new signing's favorite breakfast cereal is, and spend real time days searching for him, then this is not the game for you. If however you wish to search a very comprehensive transfer market, looking for crucial things like tackling, passing, and shooting, and still have time to go to work and date girls, then this may be more your half time orange.

Gameplay:

At the start of the game the choice is given to take control of a real league team from anywhere in Europe, or start a new fantasy team which you place into a league of your choice. If you choose a real team, then you are thrown straight into the role of manager. You get to make some major changes to the club, such as sack the whole team of assistant managers, scouts, physios etc, and pick your own team of helpers. Or you can select that this is all taken care for you automatically. I feel that the game is simple enough and selecting this option simplifies it all too much. What is the point in playing this genre of game when someone else picks your team, your signings, and even the shirt sponsor? The option is there to do any of these things automatically, and you may choose to do so. I opt for the team training to be done automatically, but everyone is different, so having the option to do so is nice.

All of the leagues that one would expect are present, all of the U.K and European leagues, and if searching for players then you have access to tons of teams from around the world, including Africa, Asia, and South America.

The controls are a major plus side to the game. One can maneuver around the text based pages with ease, due to a intuitive control system, that uses the bumper and trigger buttons to their best effect. If you want to move from your team roster to club finances it is just a couple of button clicks away.

To start a new team is fun, because you get the chance to pick a new kit, new stadium, and various other things that are associated with running a football club. This for my liking is a better way of playing LMA, and always has been. I feel that Codemasters have not done enough with this element of the game. The choices one gets are simply not enough. For example choosing a new kit for your new club. There are several pre-rendered kits to choose from, which for the old XBOX, was acceptable, however with next generation gaming, and more importantly next generation prices now here, I believe that giving complete control of kit design is not asking too much. This can be said of all of the other options on the design club mode. With games like Gears Of War, and Splinter Cell, now putting the 360 firmly on the consul map as the best, I don't think that a little kit design mode for LMA, would have been too taxing for the coders.

Graphics:

The graphical side of the game can be quite frustrating at times, with players watching dead balls. On the other hand it can be more beneficial to your team watching the game live as you can by the press of a button change team tactics on the fly. So if you are having trouble breaking through on the wing, you can give the command to get your players to concentrate on the central attack. The option of formation changes, is given too, but could be quite a risky move during a match, especially if your team have been trained in a certain style of play.

The game match engine is adequate, but not overly impressive. The players are very rigid and the fluidity of movement around the pitch is not next gen enough for my liking. However with that said I find that I only view the major cup ties or big league games via this graphical interface, and go through most of the game by using the quick match option that takes 30 seconds to work out a result. Which it seems to do quite fairly; for example, Southend United will beat Manchester United, but only once in a blue moon.

Audio:

Sound is as you would expect for a game of this nature so using your own custom soundtrack might be advisable here.

Longevity:

The achievements seem a bit hurried and not thought through. All of the points are given for winning league trophies, or cups. This just rewards people for choosing to manage the top clubs to get an achievement. I feel it would have been more varied and rewarding to give the points for winning the 2nd divisions, or a player getting a hat trick, or even harvesting a player from his youth to maturity as top scorer in the premiership. This would be more difficult and rewarding than picking Chelsea, changing nothing and winning the F.A cup.

Live is a bit of a let down too, in the latest edition I would like to have seen live leagues, and cups. Not so, what is actually on offer is a lame one off friendly which leads to nothing. To make the jump to next generation needs live leagues and cups or else it is not next gen. There is an update if you go live which brings the game into touch with this season's new signings, if this will be repeated every year is questionable as I'm sure we will see a LMA2008.

Overall:

To compare this game to the other major manager sim would be quite unfair, as that is clearly aimed at the gamer that has time to spend trawling through list upon list and menu upon menu of facts and figures that may add to the experience, but takes an age just to get through one weeks worth of managing. If you want to play that sort of sim, then go buy it on the pc and geek away. If however you want a game with plenty to do, but still have a life outside of gaming then LMA should suit you just fine.

LMA2007 formula does not differ vastly from the previous titles, and to be fair does not push the 360 to its limits, this could have been done on the old box. Value for money is very good, this is not a game that you will finish in a few hours, there is hundreds of hours if you want it. Overall this is still a good game that you should buy if you like to dabble in football manager games, if however you have the time to spare and the patience, then I would suggest you opt for the Football manager.