Contrary review on SMR
Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:18 pm
If you love everything Sid Meier, I guarantee you will hate this review.
I have played to death nearly every Sid Meier's title since the very first version of Pirates! In particular, I've worn out all of the versions of Railroad Tycoon (of which SMR is essentially RT4). Each version had improvements that I enjoyed, as well as some changes that I didn't think improved the game all that much, if at all.
As far as I am concerned, SMR is the worst of the series. It has been soooooo "dumbed down" that it has lost all of the elements that made the tycoon series of games appealing. About the only real improvement is the graphics -- and as someone else on this forum mentioned, there is already enough "eyecandy" in the marketplace. Give me a game with so-so graphics but with a lot of "meat to chew on anytime!
Specific complaints (not necessarily in order of priority):
1) You can't even name your own railroad, as you could in every previous version.
2) No ability to survey routes in depth as you could in previous versions. Instead, you just sort of swing the cursor around from Point A to Point B and live with what the AI comes up with.
3) No variety in the architecture of your stations, as was available in previous versions.
4) No ability to place additional signals, to better facilitate two-way traffick, as was available in previous versions.
5) No differentiation between the player's finances and the railroad's finances, as was available in previous versions. (Historically, some Robber Barons deliberately bankrupted their railroads while making themselves rich in the process. Then they used their ill-gotten gains to start up another railroad.)
6) Reduced ability for "creative finance". No more bonds. No ability to short sell opponent's' stock. Your only option for quick cash is to sell your own stock.
7) Loss of assets when you merge railroads. Like, if you spend millions of dollars to buy out a competitor, you wonder what happened to the 25 million dollars that had been in that company's treasury at the time of acquisition.
8 ) Monumentally stupid AI opponents. Like, while you're busy buying up their stock, they sit on huge treasuries with enough money to buy you out 5 times over.
9) No ability to determine your own starting location, as was an option in previous versions.
10) And why, after having worked out the process in three earlier versions, are we still limited to only three opponents? Historically, the playing field was huge, and there were scores (if not hundreds) of railroad startups. How can we reflect that playing arena when at most there will be only 4 competitors?
I could keep on piling on complaints, but these 10 should suffice to make my point: SMR is less of a game than any of the earlier versions. In this day and age, improved graphics is a given for a new game. Improved mechanics and interface should also be a given. On a new version of a game, the player should be given more options, not less. The only reason why this game was released that I can ascertain is that the company needed quick cash and they knew that there was a huge cadre of gamers out there that would buy anything with Sid Meier's name on it.
My apologies in advance to anyone that is offended because I've blaphemed their sacred cow.
I have played to death nearly every Sid Meier's title since the very first version of Pirates! In particular, I've worn out all of the versions of Railroad Tycoon (of which SMR is essentially RT4). Each version had improvements that I enjoyed, as well as some changes that I didn't think improved the game all that much, if at all.
As far as I am concerned, SMR is the worst of the series. It has been soooooo "dumbed down" that it has lost all of the elements that made the tycoon series of games appealing. About the only real improvement is the graphics -- and as someone else on this forum mentioned, there is already enough "eyecandy" in the marketplace. Give me a game with so-so graphics but with a lot of "meat to chew on anytime!
Specific complaints (not necessarily in order of priority):
1) You can't even name your own railroad, as you could in every previous version.
2) No ability to survey routes in depth as you could in previous versions. Instead, you just sort of swing the cursor around from Point A to Point B and live with what the AI comes up with.
3) No variety in the architecture of your stations, as was available in previous versions.
4) No ability to place additional signals, to better facilitate two-way traffick, as was available in previous versions.
5) No differentiation between the player's finances and the railroad's finances, as was available in previous versions. (Historically, some Robber Barons deliberately bankrupted their railroads while making themselves rich in the process. Then they used their ill-gotten gains to start up another railroad.)
6) Reduced ability for "creative finance". No more bonds. No ability to short sell opponent's' stock. Your only option for quick cash is to sell your own stock.
7) Loss of assets when you merge railroads. Like, if you spend millions of dollars to buy out a competitor, you wonder what happened to the 25 million dollars that had been in that company's treasury at the time of acquisition.
8 ) Monumentally stupid AI opponents. Like, while you're busy buying up their stock, they sit on huge treasuries with enough money to buy you out 5 times over.
9) No ability to determine your own starting location, as was an option in previous versions.
10) And why, after having worked out the process in three earlier versions, are we still limited to only three opponents? Historically, the playing field was huge, and there were scores (if not hundreds) of railroad startups. How can we reflect that playing arena when at most there will be only 4 competitors?
I could keep on piling on complaints, but these 10 should suffice to make my point: SMR is less of a game than any of the earlier versions. In this day and age, improved graphics is a given for a new game. Improved mechanics and interface should also be a given. On a new version of a game, the player should be given more options, not less. The only reason why this game was released that I can ascertain is that the company needed quick cash and they knew that there was a huge cadre of gamers out there that would buy anything with Sid Meier's name on it.
My apologies in advance to anyone that is offended because I've blaphemed their sacred cow.