Championship Manager: Season 01/02

This was the fourth and final version of the Championship Manager 3 game engine. The basic gameplay is as ever - take control of a football team (literally thousands are offered, from 26 leagues) and aim to make them the best in the country and then the world.

Your players are depicted via a huge selection of statistics, covering their abilities, histories and performances (in each match they are rated out of 10; average ratings to 2 decimal places are among the stats saved for every one of the 30 seasons you can play for). A huge number of preset tactics are available, and each player's individual role can be customised for each area of the field. The transfer system allows you to scout for players all over the world and sign them permanently or on loan, with other clubs trying to do the same, and bidding for your players. You choose training schedules for each player, and watch their performance change as a result.

As well as updating the player and team data to account for transfers and promotions / relegations, a number of new features are included in the game. The transfer system changes in line with new EU rules limiting the length and binding nature of contracts, you can compare player stats side by side, and send players away for rehabilitation. There's also more interaction with the club's owners and the league officials. An extra challenging option of Attribute Masking is added - this results in obscure information being hidden, and requiring more scouting to discover.