Chartwars

Chart Wars is a rare and unique simulation, with extremely few rivals in the genre. In this simulation you get to be the manager of a record company, who controls hundreds of peoples in an attempt to get the best musicians, singers, and bands behind your label, and then make these artists as famous as you can, so increasing your own revenue.

Even though it is a DOS game, it is not old at all.

The artists with which you have to deal are contemporary ones, starting with Eminem and ending with Carlo Santana; pretty cool, don't you think?

To have success in this game you should (maybe even MUST) have even a little knowledge of the music field, at least to know the artists. Plus, as in other simulations, you'll have to make difficult economical decisions, which can easily screw up the budget. So, beware!

As the manager, you control several departments, who take care of different assignements. To be more precise, you choose the people who take part in that specific department, and not it's activity itself. The departments vary from the Public Relations one, to the Talent Scouts, which can be invaluable when you are short on cash and don't have enough money to recruit that mercenary of a Britney Spears!

Besides keeping an eye on your departments, hiring proffesionals and all that, you get to sign contracts with the artists themselves, often having to beat at that other rival companies, like Sony or Polygram.

Then, you get to organize tours, launch records, promote singles, and all this with one single intention in mind: To get as rich as you can, and to climb your label to the first position of the Top Charts.

Even though it might sound too complicated, it isn't. The interface is very intuitive and logical, and you'll know it by heart in less than 10 minutes of play.

The game is text based, and it is controlled by keyboard, but I can't say that this influences the gameplay much; a mouse would make little difference in this kind of game. The sounds are nonexistent, but who needs them? Just play a MP3 of the band you're controlling in Winamp, and you'll be ready to roll. As hard as I try to think, I just can't find any complaint or "should have had" for this game. So:

All weighted, this is a must have for people addicted to music and/or simulation games. Go get 'em! 5/5