Monopoly Tycoons gaming premise is an experience that combines the
basic concepts of Monopoly (real estate control and competition) and Sims (personal
control of city zoning and economic development). The game introduces the competitive
aspects of Monopoly where various players work to control the economic future of their own
corporation with the sim, and where the player directly sees the impact of their business
decisions. Monopoly Tycoon uses several different scenarios to enhance the gaming
experience. Daily profits, sales numbers, and political popularity all provide color to
the traditional sim experience, and help decide which player "wins" a particular
scenario. While the single player game is quite entertaining, the multiplayer option
provides for the most excitement. Here, players can hearken back to the games of their
youth, wherein they were able to use their business prowess to utterly crush their
opponents (this usually being translated as crushing their younger siblings). While
multiplayer opportunities are a bit limited at this point, it will be the definite selling
point for this game in the future.
Another of the biggest sellers for this game is the very interactive 3D
viewer. The camera angles and viewer in Monopoly Tycoon allow the player a sense of
immersion in that is rare, especially for Sims. The game encourages players to be very
involved with their corporate holdings, down to the individual business level. To assist
in this involvement, the game lets players to zoom in and view individual buildings on a
3-dimensional basis. The controls for the camera while in this viewing mode are quite easy
to control and are actually very interesting to use, especially when looking at a building
during a particularly busy shopping time. While this view control is not essential for
game play, it does allow for an increased sense of realism and contact with the game.
Another major selling point for the game is the AI, which allows for
intuition and player choice. In many such games, the player is forced to follow a pretty
linear path to meet the requirements for a given scenario. While some of this does surface
in the game, especially in the form of reminders and suggestions from the game as to
business placement and management practices, the game does allow for a free hand in
deciding exactly how and when to implement a business strategy.
The AI rewards players for careful zoning decisions, such as placing a toy
store near a school or a bookstore near a university. I was also impressed with the way
the game tried to create a realistic feel in the ebb and flow of business. For example, I
would place large newspaper stands near each of the major railroads at the beginning of
each scenario. The game would not recommend this move, but intuition said that commuters
would traditionally purchase a newspaper on the way to work, especially early in the
morning. In each case, I would be pleasantly surprised at how well these enterprises would
do and the amount of income each would generate. The AI, in this case, allowed for
realistic reactions on the part of consumers, rather than trying to force the player to
conform to a predetermined course of business.
However, for all its positive aspects, there are reasons for the three star
rating I give this game. The primary reason for this rating would be the gaming experience
itself, which seems very cluttered and confusing. While the idea of a sim is to try to
provide as many opportunities for interaction and control on the part of the player, the
control system for Monopoly Tycoon seems to be trying to go in too many directions at
once. It seems that the player is offered the position of store manager, franchise owner,
and corporate magnate all at once. Indeed, according to the manner in which the game
progresses, a player is supposed to be able to direct operations on a store to store
basis, altering prices of stock as well as controlling inventory levels. At the same time,
the player is expected to control expansions into new services and provide new products
for consumers on a city-wide basis. On top of all this, the player is also expected to
control expansion, in terms of real estate, in order to control areas of the city and
block these off from opposing players --or at least to profit from the work of those
opponents.
While individual parts of the game might prove interesting and challenging
hence the proven success on the part of Sims in general the overall game is
just too much. Games become tedious when the player is forced to control so much all at
once. The game begins to take on the feel of a real job rather than a game, and its
a job that doesnt prove all that appealing or lucrative in the end.
A major cause of the difficulty with this game comes from the control
interface, which is a bit overwhelming. As was mentioned earlier, there are several hats
for the player to wear during the game. With each hat, the player is presented with a new
level of controls to provide information and ways to manipulate the game. The player has
to switch quickly between the City, Block, and Building interfaces to access commands and
control the progression of the game. As a result, there tends to be a lot of clicking and
searching to find the exact controls needed to effect a specific business decision.
Admittedly, this tends to heighten the realism of the game; it also reinforces many of the
reasons why I have decided not to pursue full time employment in the entrepreneurial
sector.
Another reason this game scored low was based on the tutorial, which does not
really encourage experimentation or allow players to acclimate themselves to ideas of
play. While there are several chapters included in the tutorial that cover all the aspects
of game play, actual control on the part of the player is limited to following the
instructions of the tutorial about where to click. While this is useful in learning where
everything is located, it limits the players ability to see how things really work.
The tutorial seems to try to just push the player through the introduction as quickly as
possible in order to get them into actual game play. While my normal opinion is that
nothing replaces actual game play, the controls and level of game play are so intricate
and quick that the lack of practice makes the game seem confusing and eventually boring.
Many of the really interesting details are lost on me because I cant appreciate why
they are so important because the game has rapidly gone beyond my appreciation, and I
dont really understand what is going on.
Nevertheless, the intuitive gameplay keeps Monopoly Tycoon from being a
complete bust, and fans of sim games might find it a little more enjoyable than I did. The
presence of a multiplayer mode also adds a little life to the title, but the confusing
interface, difficulty multitasking the games many requirements, and a limited
tutorial keep the title from having broad appeal.
Clayn Lambert (11/08/2001) |