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| May 25, 2012 |
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Capcom E3 2009 Preview
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Collider Goes to Activision for a Preview of the new WOLVERINE Video Game
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Shot Who in the What Now?
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Pinky Ring Wearers of the World, Unite!
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Videogame Trailers: TERMINATOR SALVATION and GI JOE – THE RISE OF COBRA
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| ARCHIVE -
VIDEO GAMES REVIEWS
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Video Game Review –‘Tycoon City New York’
3/17/2006
Posted by Frosty
Review by Dave Murphy
Several years ago, the Sim City franchise was born, and with it came a slew of competitors who have mimicked the original Sim City Concept. Tycoon City New York does not stay very far from the original Sim City’s game play. This single player PC product was created by Deep Red Games, who have made several other successful games in the genre (Monopoly Tycoon, Sea World Tycoon) and is published by Atari.
Gameplay
This game puts you in control of the small fortune as you begin business as a real estate tycoon in New York City. To keep things simple at first, the player begins modestly in Greenwich Village. With the assistance of some in-game characters (with accents familiar to those who watch “The Sopranos”), it is pretty easy to learn how to navigate and begin building within a 3-D New York. You are not alone in claiming space - as an up and coming tycoon, you will face competition from New York’s historic tycoons. Pedestrians who traverse the city provide clues to their needs, and hopefully the player has enough cash on-hand to satisfy. For instance, locals may have a high need for socializing – which sounds like building a bar is in order! What type of bar you build is up to you – blues, lounge, singles, coffee, and many others are available. Once your building is built, it will require upgrading to attract customers. Every building is rated in three areas: appeal, satisfaction, and beauty. To keep customer satisfaction at your new bar high, you can purchase a bouncer upgrade. To increase appeal, you can purchase a rooftop sign upgrade. And for beauty, it is necessary to plant trees and bushes. A well upgraded building keeps customers happy. The game will present what it calls “Opportunities” which really are challenges. For example, “Build two apartment buildings in Tribeca”. By completing opportunities, the player acquires money, and advances through the game. With perseverance, a player can unlock the entire city. There is also something called “Prize Opportunities” which are quick challenges for bonus landmark bonds which are used to purchase famous New York landmarks.
The game play is presented in full 3-D and allows the player to fully control the camera. Several icons will display on the screen depending on what you are currently trying to do. Statistical data is available both in text and visually by clicking on several of these icons.
This game enables you to produce a staggering variety of buildings, and the upgrades for each are numerous. A player should be able to learn the basic tricks of successful building about half way through the Greenwich Village district. Once I was at that level, I found it quite easy to progress further through the game. While Opportunities help move the game along when they are available, there were many times when no Opportunities were present and I was playing the game looking for things to do. The better moments in the game are when you interact with the citizens directly and help prepare for such events as a Halloween Parade (which you can actually watch as it occurs). But unfortunately these events are few and far between.
Graphics
Minimum system requirements on this game are quite high for a sim game: Pentium 4 1.8 GHZ with 512 MB RAM, and a 64 MB videocard with T&L. With such requirements I was anticipating a visual treat. Unfortunately, the games visuals do not live up to the hardware necessary to see them: for the most part the textures and overall graphics are average to below-average. Pretty much every building and street has a “like new” look throughout the game. Being a native New Yorker, I have walked these same streets many times, and I never recall the city being that clean…. I was surprised to find some choppy frame rates within the game even though I have hardware with twice the necessary minimum.
Sound/Music
This game primarily uses ambient sound throughout the game. For example, if you zoom into the front of a pet store, you will hear the little critters inside making noise. You can even hear the citizens talking about what they think of your business – perhaps they will say “they have everything I want”, or on the flipside “this place is a dump”. Clicking on individual citizens also will usually bring an amusing comment. These sound effects are well done. Unfortunately, during game play there is not much music to be had beyond that heard when you are zoomed in on a bar or club.
Final Words
Tycoon City New York has some interesting elements of game play, but unfortunately there is not enough depth in the game to keep the player immersed in the experience. It also seems the game lacks the level of polish most games receive in the last two months of development. In fact, I experienced two game crashes which I have rarely, if ever, experienced with other games. At the time of this review, there is no available patch for this game – I hope Atari and Deep Red resolve these issues. I would recommend this game to the tween and teen crowd who should buy it when the game drops to $20 from its current $40 price point.
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