While many "tycoon" games put players in charge of a single business or industry, this one has them to taking over an entire city -- and one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world, at that. Well stocked with famous Big Apple landmarks and events, the game focuses on the spirit and history of New York City itself. Budding virtual tycoons can seek fame by running a hot night club or a chic restaurant, or they can work on high-profile projects such as the Macy's Parade, the Statue of Liberty, or even the mighty skyscrapers that define the famous New York City skyline.
Rome wasn't built in day, but pick up Tycoon City: New York and you will find the nice people of the Big Apple had a much easier job of raising their fair city from the ground. The premise of Tycoon City: New York is a very interesting one, sure it has been done before but I believe this is the first time the Tycoon series has ever gone to such a scale. In the game the famous city that is known the world over has been knocked to the ground and you are tasked with raising it back to the skies. The fun part of the game comes in the form of you being able to rebuild the city any you want.
In the game's main mode titled "Build New York" you are set the task of recreating the world's most famous city from the ground up. From the outset you are lead into this daunting task with a nice tutorial mode which sets out to teach you the basics of city building which will really help you out when things get tough as you advance deeper into the game. It should be mentioned that the game's interface is up there with the best seen in strategy titles. After this short tutorial you are as tossed into the action and placed in Greenwich Village where orders starting flooding in. You now must pick certain buildings and place them in different areas over the district. Of course as any budding city planner knows you can't just go around plonking any old city down wherever you like and thankfully the game helps you to make these decisions wisely.
The game places a great importance on the placement of your buildings and you can gain certain bonuses if you place buildings in areas the game deems to be correct. For example, all good cities need a high quality shopping district and if you place loads of these types of shops together you will get greater rewards but placing too many of the same type of buildings together can also be detrimental. The number of buildings available for placement is surprisingly high and many of them bear a resemblance to structures you would see in the real city. Some real life buildings pop up in the game as well.
What else is there for us to talk about? Well sadly not much, as that is all the game really does. In other games of the same genre you may be familiar with having to take care of some crime, natural disasters or some another accident that take place on you city but in Tycoon City: New York you get none of this. All you do is build a structure to get some money to build a bigger building to get a little bit more cash then rinse, wash and repeat. The game tries to mix things up by giving you certain missions (build certain buildings) which lead to more money and at times the city holds events such as parades, but none of these are really challenging in any way. More variety (or a rather large expansion pack) is sorely needed!
Graphically, the game is stunning when played on a capable machine. Once you have created a nice big city then whatever angle you view it from looks great, the city also manages to feel alive all the time thanks to the great engine Deep Red built the game around. People always seem to be on the move and something always seems to be happening when you play which is a feeling you don't get with some games of the same type. All objects in the game are very well textured and lit ever better which also helps to give all the objects depth. The animation also seems to be well done with all characters in the game moving in a realistic but lively way. You also have the option to zoom out very far to take in the whole city you have built but you can also dive right down to street to see all the little details you have place in your city. In terms of audio, the game does ok by adding a few little tunes you could hum along to. Also, loads of characters in the game are voiced and a few of them have some intriguing one-liners that could raise a chuckle from most people.
Overall
All in all, Tycoon City: New York is an entertaining game that sadly contains too many downfalls to keep it from been as good as it could have been. Weirdly the biggest fault is that the game can get very repetitive, very quickly. This is surprising seeing that you are supposed to be in charge of a big bustling city but after only a few a hours play you will probably start getting the urge to exit the game a look for something else to entertain you. If you do still feel like you must play the game it is best experienced in short bursts, just don't expect this title to be as addictive as some of the other god games out there. Even though you are re-building the city that never sleeps the game give you little reason to stay awake beyond midnight.
People who downloaded Tycoon City: New York have also downloaded:
City Life, Trade Empires, SimCity 4, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, Ski Resort Tycoon, 8th Wonder of The World, Railroad Tycoon 3, Virtual Resort: Spring Break
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