Review by Mr Pinkerton - The fall of Championship Manager has been one of the most heartening proofs of the power of developers in gaming history.

After a disagreement with publisher Eidos, original creators Sports Interactive parted company and created the rival Football Manager series.

The latter was an instant success, while Champ Manager experienced an equally meteoric fall from grace.

After Eidos failed to even release a new entry in the series last year, you could've been forgiven for thinking they'd given up on it entirely.

Instead, they've instituted a complete overhaul and for the first time created something that can bear prolonged comparison with Football Manager.

In part, that's because it's a very different game - one that has time for visual niceties and proper tutorials.

Although it's never been confirmed, the great Championship Manager schism is believed to have come about because of Eidos' desire to add 3D graphics.

This is the first time that Eidos' obsession with the feature has made sense though with a new graphics engine that looks impressively authentic.

It still makes no difference to the gameplay, but the other improvements, such as the ProZone analysis tool, do.

In one or two of areas the game can genuinely be said to better than Football Manager - with a new scouting network both more realistic and more satisfying if you unearth a hidden gem.

The set piece editor also works extremely well and the range of tactical options before and during a match has never been better.

The real-time training though is spoiled by a lack of feedback.

Almost all of the game's most serious problems can be blamed on a lack of feedback for the choices you make.

If you manually check through the stats you can usually trace the results, but when the game manages to keep it a secret that your entire squad hates your guts you know something's wrong.

Overall, though, this is a real phoenix from the flames and will hopefully prove that competition is good for all.

IN SHORT: The best Champ Manager for over half a decade with a few features even Football Manager should envy.

PROS: The scouting network and real-time training are great ideas. 3D graphics add to the atmosphere.

CONS: There's a uniform lack of feedback for even the most important actions. Navigation is still flawed.

SCORE: 7/10 Out: Now (UK)