Monopoly Tycoon

Rating:
Summary: Decent game for sim enthusiasts...
Review: This isn't a bad game. I tend to use the full range of stars for reviews, so truly fantastic items get fives. Threes don't mean the game isn't worth your time, it just might not be your taste.

Positives: A well thought out spin on the classic monopoly game. All the elements are there. Railroads, properties, color groups, hotels, and of course, monopolies.

Looking for a competitive game that won't drain your whole afternoon? Want to know exactly how long the game will last? This game can be played with definite limits. A plus for those who have time windows to play in.

Differences: The game isn't so much about controlling the whole gameboard (in this case a city) or driving others to bankruptcy. Instead, you play against others in a race to complete the goals of the scenario. This might be overall sales, empire value, or election to mayor. Some scenarios do pick off players one at a time (in a Weakest Link style fashion), but this doesn't mean that player went bankrupt, just that they were in last place in some fashion when voting was conducted in the town by its "citizens".

Negatives: Marketing fluff - This isn't really a sim, but a complex game. To call this the world's first competitive sim isn't anywhere near the mark. Rollercoaster Tycoon is more of a traditional sim, and Simcity more so. This is definitely a souped up boardgame that is complex enough to require a computer to model it. Second complaint, this game has nothing to do with Rollercoaster Tycoon (Chris Sawyer). The folks at Deep Red have made a great game, but the association by the publisher ("brought to you by the folks who brought you") is plain irresponsible. That's like saying Activision "makes" Quake.

Depth: The game seems to have a lot of different strategy. I have gone down several paths to win scenarios. In other words, I don't feel like I've played the game out, yet. The Computer AI is challenging, but doesn't seem to practice the same depth of strategy I do. You get the feeling you can manipulate it. Online play may be a key here (haven't played online as of this writing).

Overall, I find this game fun and challenging, with enough variation to allow for subtle strategy changes mid game. Some people ARE reporting lockups and freezes on the community boards, but its unclear whether something is really wrong with the code itself, or these are jsut isolated issues. I myself am not dropping a warning on this for game stability.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't like it at all.
Review: I enjoy Sim games so much that I got this game for my kids last Christmas thinking they would really like it since they love Monopoly.I was wrong. This game needs a doctor because something is definitely lacking. It wasn't what I thought it would be at all.I think the fact that the challenge is a short amount of time is what was the worst aspect of it.

Rating:
Summary: Fantatsic Game!
Review: As with all games you can not please everyone. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. It is hours of fun. There are so many things you can do. It is similar to the Monopoly game we all played as kids, but it has lots of twists to it. I am glad that this game was there to entertain those of us that enjoy a challenge. Thanks to J&R Music and Computer World for having it also.

Rating:
Summary: Underrated Little Gem
Review: There is in computer games (as everywhere) an attempt to mine existing licenses for extra cash. That's why you get things like "Clue: The Movie" and "Lord of the Rings: The Dental Floss". The results of this are often tedious and atrocious, keeping the wrong elements while discarding the stuff that might be fun. Developer Deep Red has gotten it right with "Monopoly Tycoon" by keeping the property names and a few key concepts of "Monopoly" and combining them with business simulation concepts and real-time action as found in "Roller Coaster Tycoon".

First thing to keep in mind is that this is NOT Monopoly-The-Board-Game nor even Monopoly-The-Computerized-Version-Of-The-Board-Game. It's a Real Time Strategy game, and time moves rather quickly. It requires far more "twitch" than, say, Roller Coaster Tycoon or Trevor Chan's marvellous (but far more complex) "Capitalism" series.

It's also a business simulation: You can buy property, build hotels and apartments, and even the railroads and four utilities (Gas Works and Telecoms are added to the board game's Electric Company and Water Works)--but most of the time you're surveying the people of the city, building businesses, and adjusting prices when your competitors try to undercut you.

A few things make this work: A good selection of scenarios with different goals; pleasant, fully 3D graphics which capture the flair of the board game, AI which does a pretty good job of thwarting the obvious plans, and brevity, brevity, brevity. You =can= play a long game but the scenarios are mostly on the short side and it's possible for a game to swivel back and forth between players rather dramatically.

The titular "monopoly" itself carries over nicely from the board game: With it, you can build hotels AND it allows you take over a competitors' businesses. (You can do that without a monopoly, too, but it's drastically more expensive.)

There are downsides: the overall coolness of the 3D presentation is offset by the rather bland building graphics (where every store more-or-less looks like every other), the musical score consists of one short-ish (albeit good) track, the vital data you need to get to quickly is spread out in a couple of places--and this seems to stem from the developers' desire to make the game a little harder--and some things about the mechanics are not entirely clear (again, perhaps from the same desire to make the game harder).

But, all-in-all, as a short diversion, Monopoly Tycoon is pretty sweet. It's a shame that a sequel is so unlikely.

Rating:
Summary: Clever, Cool Game - Visually Appealing w/Great Graphics
Review: I read a number of rave reviews of this game and was excited to try it. I didn't get it for Christmas AS REQUESTED so I bought it for myself for my birthday. I love Monopoly and I became a SimCity 1.0 junkie back in college 13 or more years ago.

The only real "Monopoly" aspects of the game are the names of the places, the different types of property and the colors associated with them, the different characters and the idea of added power when one owns all properties of a given color.

It is mostly a SimCity type game, very well thought out. I would call it an "economy" simulation. The simulation mainly consists of you polling the citizens in the game, determining what service(s) they want and meeting those demands. You do this within constraints of space, distance and budget.

I played it for an afternoon and enjoyed it. It didn't "grab" me and suck me in, however. I hope to pick it up again and play some more however I won't be surprised if it gathers dust like so many other games I have tried.

Rating:
Summary: Good idea stiffened by formula
Review: A little one-noteish, if still addictive. The premise sort of smashes Sim City with Monopoly imagery, which is kind of cool, except the game unfolds in a linear, scenario-based way; you can't just go hog-wild and start building a city/financial empire until you're broke against computer (or online players) ina free-form environment. You always have to do it in terms of scenarios with goals, so you end up doing the same thing over and over again until you can beat the level you're on just so you can go to another level that makes you have to do something similar, just in a bigger box. I can't believe nobody over at Infogrames didn't think, "gee, maybe somebody will want to just start from scratch and play against a bunch of players (computer or otherwise) and see who can break the other players." That's what we do with the board game...why wouldn't we want to do it here?

The game engine is sound and the graphics are okay, but there just isn't enough to do ghere outside of the box. Hey Infogrames: "Think outside of the para-dig-em!"

Rating:
Summary: 10 minute long scenarios is tedious and not fun
Review: Step into the real world with a new and highly competitive version of Monopoly. This is not competitive like you roll the dice, see where you land, buy the property, then build houses once you get a monopoly. This is a game where at any given second you can lease a property from the city (where then it goes to auction instead of you just buying it) or you can build a residential or retail area without owning the land (you just rent it). It makes for some interesting things, such as someone will build lots of buildings on rented land, then another player will buy the land out from under them. Once you start enjoying the game, then it unfortunately ends, because this game goes in scenarios, not full-length games (like playing a demo that cuts off after 10 minutes). Its also very tedious, because it's the same city over and over, so you basically go build the same stuff over and over. The scenarios sound basic (make 100 sales, earn $3000 profit in one day, reach an empire of $20,000, have the most money by 1945), but they are difficult at times because the game does not offer insights as to how to complete the scenarios. There are nice smooth 3D graphics to the game, but the tools to create buildings are troublesome.

Rating:
Summary: Monopoly Tycoon is a misleading title
Review: The game works like this: You are given ever increasingly difficult goals (eg. make x amount of dollars by the end of three years) and you build up your ability level. Sort of. It is more of a mission-driven game than a classic tycoon game, which is why I think the title is misleading.

So my critique is: It is not really a tycoon / simulation game at all. You do not get to keep the properties you build up, though you do get to pick the colors, style, and quality of the buildings - which is a little pointless given that you lose the buildings at the end of the level. The game should be cumulative - the board game certainly is. The game does have good graphics, but I find that they only mask an uncomplicated and boring game. It is really unimaginitive, and doesn't inspire creativity at all. Other tycoon games are a better bet, and I would recommend Railroad Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or possibly Maximum Capacity: Hotel Giant, for something truly challenging and engrossing.

Rating:
Summary: I like it
Review: don't ask me why ohters are giveing it 3 stars, it has good graphics, sweet gameplay, and a fun but hard single player! I haven't played online but what I have heard of it it sounds fun!

Rating:
Summary: so dull so boring....
Review: Let me explain this game.... however bizzare it may be.
Basicly you are some business tycoon building shops, renting different businesses, and getting rich. Perhaps some 60 yr old retired business man may enjoy this, but definately not the general public.
However, it still has a good side.... starting shops, apartments, ect.. but that becomes boring and repetitive after about 1-2 hours. Definately not worth more than $5