REVIEW
By Oliver Platt
Big Shot 2 – The Chairman, launched in conjunction with MasterCard’s ‘Witness History’ Uefa Champions League campaign, allows football fans to take control of their own virtual club on Facebook.
Players control everything from choosing a stadium to selecting a manager and team with the opportunity to win prizes throughout this year’s Champions League.
After creating their club, players need to allocate resources wisely in order to choose a stadium, manager and team within budget.
Big Shot 2 is like a more personalised form of fantasy football. Selecting a stadium, your first task, can define the club, as your three options range from a huge arena with big moneymaking potential to a small, more intimidating ground that reinforces home advantage. I plumped for the middle option, which, while giving myself a bit of both benefits, obviously limits the impact of each of them.
Selecting a team and manager can admittedly feel a little arbitrary, with only valuations to guide you. There are some important decisions to be made, however, most notably getting the balance between quality and squad depth just right.
Due to my autocratic tendencies, I appointed the cheapest manager available as a token gesture. I would be picking the team and tactics anyway – building around a defender called Dennis ‘Berker’ Serker (unfortunately he seems to be the only player with a nickname), we won our first three matches by narrow margins, our cautious approach apparently paying off.
As matches are played and more ‘Big Bucks’, the game’s currency, are acquired, the squad can be strengthened with more expensive signings, although players are limited to five actions per week, so this isn’t a game that you will be spending hours on.
With the added score prediction contests, Big Shot 2 is an enjoyable way to add a bit of friendly competition to this year’s Champions League among your Facebook friends.
The ultimate winner – that is, the person who accumulates the most ‘Big Bucks’ over the course of a season – will win tickets to the 2012 Uefa Champions League Final in Munich.
Rating: 4/5
Play Big Shot 2 | The Chairman here