Published: Wednesday, 5th November, 2008 08:30
Geo-Political Simulator
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EVEN before you factor in the credit crunch, being Prime Minister is more of a thankless task than you'd think. The long hours, the constant political backbiting, is it any wonder more people strive to win the X Factor than the highest office in the land?
The not-very-alluringly titled Geo-Political Simulator is surprisingly good fun though. The title makes it sound quite dry, but it's more engaging than it sounds. You get to take control of every aspect of the state - from the political system to the economy, education, the environment, you can start wars, enact laws - and the whole scenario is constantly evolving with a set of developers making changes as the game continues.
You can't help but be impressed by the scope of things you can get your hands on. You can be head of state of almost any country in the world - with all the foibles and social, cultural and political issues facing it at the moment pretty much dropping into your lap when you assume control. This is all well and good, but it can be mind boggling. You are surrounded by ministers, but they are all a bit rubbish - never before has the adage 'if you want something doing properly, do it yourself' been more apt.
But that brings its own problems. If you go down the popularist path then yes the people'll love you, but lobbyists for big business might decide the best thing to do is to get rid of you. And if you upset the military... Well let's just say I've been on the end of a military coup and it's not pretty.
This is more heavy going than The Sims, and there are glitches. The tutorials aren't as helpful as they might be and some of the characters seem veritably dithering - one minute they're sending you messages congratulating you on what you've done, the next you're being ousted for it.
That said you can't help but be impressed by the sheer scale of this and it's educational too. If you're a fan of this kind of game then you could do a lot worse.
And if you've ever thought you could do better than George Bush, now is the time to take the helm of the States. Just watch out for the pretzels.
Four stars out of five
* Geo-Political Simulator is out on November 10th.
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