Franchise Hockey Manager 5

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Franchise Hockey Manager 5 is a detailed ice hockey simulation game where you can manage a team, make trades, and oversee development of players. Choose from hundreds of real teams and leagues, or create your own. Experience immersive gameplay with real-life player and staff personalities, dynamic game situations, and historical replay mode.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

57%

Audience ScoreBased on 127 reviews

humor2 positive mentions

stability8 negative mentions

The game offers a very in-depth simulation experience with robust metrics for team building, making it enjoyable for hockey fans and management enthusiasts.
Improvements in the trading engine and tactics system have made gameplay more engaging and realistic compared to previous versions.
The developers are active and responsive, continuously working on updates and improvements, which shows a commitment to enhancing the player experience.

The user interface is clunky and slow, making navigation frustrating and hindering the overall gameplay experience.
The game is plagued by bugs and crashes, particularly during offseason simulations, which can lead to corrupted save files and a lack of stability.
AI behavior in trades and player management can be unrealistic, leading to frustrating experiences when trying to build a competitive team.

stability
9 mentions
33 % positive mentions
-22 % neutral mentions
89 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and AI issues that significantly hinder gameplay. Many players experience freezing during menu navigation and have encountered game-breaking errors, leading to frustration and a lack of enjoyment. While some note improvements over previous versions, the overall consensus is that the game remains poorly made and unstable.
- “The game runs great on my machine.”
- “I haven't experienced any crashes or bugs, which is impressive.”
- “The stability of the game allows me to fully immerse myself without interruptions.”
- “This game could be good if it wasn't buggy, the AI wasn't daft, if the AI didn't purposefully screw you over in challenges (or maybe it's a coincidence that every 4th year into the Oilers challenge the coach suddenly only plays the backup), and if the contract coding wasn't completely and totally messed up (rookie players start the game with 1 year on their contract and demand 6-9 million contracts at 19 years old).”
- “Point of caution is to always make backup saves - the game sometimes glitches and is no longer playable or replaces all players with 'Joe Someone'.”
- “I honestly think I could make a better hockey game using a spreadsheet... it glitches, it crashes, and there are features of the game that do not function at all.”
gameplay
6 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The gameplay mechanics are generally well-received, particularly the scouting, trading, and tactics, but players express a desire for improved animations to enhance clarity during gameplay. While the game runs smoothly without crashes, offseason simulations can be frustratingly slow, and there are ongoing concerns about bugs and the disconnect between coaching decisions and on-ice simulation.
- “Love the mechanics of the game.”
- “Love the scouting, trading, and tactic mechanics.”
- “5 FHM iterations later and still the glaring disconnect between coaching decisions and on-ice simulation gameplay.”
- “I really hope that animation will replace the text-based gameplay (for coaching actual games); it's hard to tell sometimes where the puck is.”
- “The game never crashed for me during the season, but that offseason simulation annoys me and slows my gameplay.”
- “Five FHM iterations later and still the glaring disconnect between coaching decisions and on-ice simulation gameplay.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its hilarious memes and a notable bug that adds an unexpected comedic element when navigating the start screen.
- “Be warned: the memes are hilarious.”
- “There is a funny bug when going to the start screen from a game and then pressing back on your mouse.”
grinding
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, with some experiencing frequent crashes that disrupt gameplay. Overall, the repetitive nature of the game detracts from the enjoyment, especially for fans of similar titles.
- “The game is more tedious, and randomly crashes in as little as a few minutes of play.”
- “I enjoy OOTP and EHM, but this game feels tedious.”
graphics
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the graphics in the game are lacking, with one user noting a complete absence of visual representation during gameplay, leading to a desire to skip to the results screen. Additionally, the updated interface is perceived as only a minor improvement over the previous version, suggesting that overall graphical enhancements are minimal.
- “The preseason game I played did not have any kind of graphic representation of the game, so you just want to skip the log and go to the results screen as fast as possible.”
- “The 'all new interface' is just the same old UI with slightly better graphics.”