It takes some time to get used to but it is a unique game it its kind with a mix of management, strategy and tactics. Although the manual is quite comprehensive you have to discover a lot of things yourself. Not all information is handed to you on a silver plate like in other games. This explains the steep learning curve and I admit that the first time I played it (back in the nineties) I also gave up on it after a fairly short amount of time. However, not having all solutions for various problems spilled out to you from the beginning is actually quite realistic and eventually more fun. For instance the game shows the (intended) relationship to other gangs under the diplomacy tab, but does not show the relationship between the other gangs. Some players would see this as a game deficiency and would call it poor game design. However, the relationship status between other gangs can be gathered indirectly. For example when your gang was left relatively in peace the past week (not a lot of other gang members entered your area of control and no (or very few) attacks on your gang members or buildings took place) while the newspaper reports a lot of cassualties and damaged buildings you can quite easily guess that the relationship between other gangs is not going too well. Via the 'recent events' filter on the map you can even see where the violence took place. The names of the victims in the newspaper reveals which gangs were involved. Does this mean that you have to memorize or write down the names of all known hoods and the gangs to whom they belong(ed) to? Certainly not, with the report of the last week (rolodex) you can see which (dead) hood belonged to which gang. With all this information combined you can "paint" yourself a pretty good picture of the diplomatic situation. The lack of a relationship indicator between other gangs is therefore not a game deficiency. This relationship between gangs you have to deduct yourself by making links between various sources of information (clipboard, newspaper, weekly reports, map) which is much more realistic than constantly having a "relationship indicator" at your disposal. This example illustrates that the game is much deeper than it looks. By using common sense and asking yourself the question "how would I solve this in real life" you can find your way around various such "problems" or supposed "deficiencies". For instance the manual does not really explain how to locate the enemy HQs. With some common sense also this problem can be solved although it will take some time and patience. The fact that you have no complete control over your gang members (eg. some of them start shooting while you'd rather they did not or are running away in a wrong direction) could be frustrating at times but is in fact more realistic. In real life you would also not have full control over your gang members and what they are doing at each moment of the day. Realizing this makes you reconcile easier with the game mechanics. Of course this should not prevent you from trying to minimizing certain risks. In this particular case you can reduce the problem a bit by recruiting hoods who are more "intelligent" or assigning tasks which better fit less intelligent hoods. The list of examples can go on and on. The tutorials are a good starting point but they only lift a corner of the veil. To really start learning the game and discover all the possibilities I would recommend reading the manual, starting an easy game (by giving yourself the maximum amount of money at the beginning and putting the other gangs in "PASSIVE" mode) and using the P (pause) key a lot. The game will still be challenging for newcomers. A combination of the strategy and management of this game and the graphics and controls of L.A. Noire could be a potential blockbuster. To conclude if you like a 'management' type of game and you are willing to put some time and thought into it, this game can be very rewarding and you should buy it. If you don't like puzzling things out yourself, if you want to have complete control or if you are looking for an action (shooter) game, I recommend to look elsewhere.
