Get your thinking cap on for commanding a kingdom

A COUPLE of weeks ago, I was bemoaning the lack of strategy games for the PC these days. It seems that some of the biggest games publishers in the world agree with me because first Microsoft and now Electronic Arts have moved to plug the void.

Anno 1503 was a massive smash in Germany where the market for strategy titles is still buoyant.

Set in the year 1503, it's a massive title and a real challenge. If you are new to the strategy genre, it might be a good idea to start with something a little easier.

Still, at least there's a decent tutorial mode to help ease you into things. Although there's plenty of action, it's no Command & Conquer. Instead, your brief is to build alliances and form trading partnerships to build your finances and extend your influence.

This, in turn, allows you to equip your army with better weapons and gives you a better than average chance of overcoming any enemy when the time for diplomacy is finished.

It's addictive stuff and once you are underway the game's size makes it a tough task to look after every facet of your kingdom. I found myself scrolling through screen after screen of information just to keep the locals happy.

At the moment, there's no co-operative mode but Electronic Arts promises a multi-player mode will be implemented in a batch due to be released later this year.

F1 CAREER CHALLENGE Publisher: EA Sports. Platforms: PS2, PC. Price: from £39.99.

IT MUST be tough being a games designer on a massively popular series like the EA Formula One titles.

Every year, sometimes even more often than that, you are expected to come up with a game that represented the very best of your efforts less than 12 months earlier. The pressure is always on but there are only so many ways to create a race car simulation. As the saying goes, you can't reinvent the wheel.

So it has been with the EA F1 series. The games reached a plateau shortly after the PS2 went on sale. Since then, all we have had has been a series of seasonal updates and a few minor gameplay tweaks. The core of the game has remained pretty much the same.

Until now.

For the 2003 season, EA has torn up the team-sheet and created a brand new game from the ground up. F1 Career Challenge has about as much in common with its predecessors as the Williams FW15 did with the Brabham fan car (i.e. not a lot).

Instead of casting the player as an existing driver, the new game allows race fans to play out their dreams by actually entering F1 as themselves.

The core of the game is the career mode where you start out as a rookie taking his first steps on the rungs to F1 stardom. Just like the real sport, before you can even think of taking part in your first F1 race, you need a super licence. To earn your licence the game requires you to complete a series of tests. Each one must be completed within a set time and without leaving the track.

Once you have earned your place in the big league, it's time to hone your skills. Initially you'll go testing. This gives you a chance to learn the car, the team and the circuit.

Then it's on to the race proper - practice, qualifying and, beyond it, the main event.

Sadly, official practice doesn't follow the new rules where the drivers have just one flying lap to get a grid time. Instead, you have half an hour or 12 laps to post a decent time.

That's because the career mode starts in 1998 and finishes in 2002. Does this mean we can still expect another F1 seasonal update before the end of the year? I reckon it does.

The race itself can be as easy or as hard as you think fit. The game can be configured to help keep your car on the track or switched into full-on simulation mode whereupon it is a true test just to get your car to the finish.

The game awards you points for doing well, even if you're with a bunch of no-hopers like Minardi; these can be traded for car improvements.

But that's not all. EA has introduced something called "winning cards" - special rewards for completing in-race tasks, which can help boost your team even more.

For me, these were just an annoyance. I wasn't interested in overtaking loads of cars in a short time just to be awarded a "winning card", nor was I too bothered about the hot zone, which makes parts of the track glow red (eh?). I just wanted to win. Period.

That aside, the career mode is different and challenging. The historical aspect (all the cars are accurately modelled from each of the four seasons) makes this an F1 fan's dream and there's always the "quick race" option for those armchair racers who can't wait to get stuck in.

Published: 11/07/2003