Tycoon City: New York

Platform: PC
Publisher: Atari
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail

My friend Julia is something of a sim connoisseur. She'll buy and play pretty much any sandbox-style game publishers see fit to squirt out. I, on the other hand, have a hard time remembering the last time I touched one. Probably The Sims. And here I am a guy who is payed to play games. I'm not ashamed that I play and write about certain genres more than others. And I'm not sure it's a requirement of a good critic. You don't see Roger Ebert reviewing porn movies. Well, at least not since the days of Russ Meyer you don't.

So it's hard for me to guage exactly how good a game like Tycoon City: New York. In the sad, sim-free vaccum that is my gaming life, it seems adequate. Every building comes with a handful or so upgrades -- so there's a certain level of customization and creativity each builder can put into a city block.

I was very impressed with the game's voice acting. There's a jovial New Yorker that holds your hand through the games opening tutorial. His Brooklyn accent may have been affected, but I still felt like he was actually talking to me; a feeling I get from games way more rarely than I'd like.

Tycoon City: New York ramps up with goal-oriented missions. As you develop your neigborhoods the game gives you targets to shoot for. Some residents request you build to suit their lifestyle. Another instance gives you a summer to upgrade a corridor before the Halloween Parade hits the streets. These optional directives are just the kind of thing that helps me stay hooked into a game. Throw me in a sandbox without some kind of directive and quite often I'll get bored. Especially if I can't blow stuff up.

I'm sending the game to Julia now. If she's got anything addtitional to report, you'll see it here.