I have long been a fan of management games, starting with the old Football Manager on the ZX Spectrum, and shares games are a particular favourite. City Trader manages to combine highly intricate number crunching with some rather splendid graphics - unusual, since most games of this nature are heavy on the text. It is an extremely complicated game too; and as such, there is no way you could pick it up and be playing a real campaign quickly. The tutorial is thorough however, and rapidly takes you through what you need to know to play effectively.
The game takes place in four main areas: the virtual desk, which is your "central command" headquarters, your base from where you shall take over the world. Next comes the stock markets (watch out for the graphics of people waving frantically!) where you do the buying and selling. The action then moves to the offices of your financial empire - employ bright young stars to help you own the world. Lastly, there is the pub, where you glean snippets of info and do shady deals. It's a good game, highly addictive, and you don't get thrown into Shanghai jails if things go wrong!
2nd January 2004
