
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform PC Genre Management Publisher Enlight Software Developer Enlight Software ESRB E (Everyone) Released Q2 2003

- Features some good gameplay for management-types - Campaign mode is an actual campaign - Sandbox mode lets your imagination go nuts - Lots of options - Useful camera

- Some holes need to be filled - Overlapping menus take a while to get used to

Review: Hotel Giant (PC) Review: Fast Food Tycoon (PC) Review: Skateboard Park Tycoon (PC)
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Restaurant Empire

Score: 8.0 / 10

My dealings with the restaurant culture extend as far as reading Kitchen Confidential and getting a tour of McDonald’s when I was seven. As such, I can’t vouch for Restaurant Empire’s (RE) authenticity but I can say that RE is above average when it comes to the tycoon/management genre – and way beyond Hotel Giant released last year, also by Enlight.

RE looks very similar to Hotel Giant (HG), which had a Sims-like view to the action but in complete 3D and using a great camera. This reliance on an established engine freed up the designers to pack RE with features and tons of detail I’d never given much thought to; however, like HG, RE can get buried in menus, making any newcomer feel overwhelmed with the amount of control they have (even with the complete tutorial).

Besides building each new restaurant in your empire from the ground up, you have to hire, train and fire staff, organize your kitchen efficiently, and establish a menu to attract a specific clientele. Players also have the chance to take their chef to an Iron Chef-like competition. If they win, the chef’s prestige increases. In turn, this means more customers for the restaurant that chef works at. This feature adds a level of complexity not found in tycoon games. But one of the most compelling aspects of RE is optimizing your restaurant configuration to maximize efficiency. Having great food is one thing, but if you can’t get the food to the customer fast enough, they won’t enjoy it as much. However, you’ll have to repeat this process

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many times over with each new restaurant you open. There’s seemingly no way to copy a successful restaurant and plunk it down in a new location. I can understand having to change the décor to suite local taste, but having to arrange everything again and again got on my nerves after a while. My restaurants tended to have a similar layout when I came up with an optimal plan so a template option would have been much appreciated.

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There are two modes of play: Sandbox and Campaign (with 18 “missions”). The Campaign puts you in the greasy apron of Armand LeBoeuf who has just taken control of a restaurant from his uncle. There’s a story present, which is light on drama but at least there’s something to push you forward. This is in sharp contrast to other tycoon games, which feature zilch story and instead become meandering experiences with no clear direction or interesting events. RE one-ups the tycoon genre because of the story and different things to do (i.e. the cook-offs). Sandbox mode lets you go nuts as there are few restrictions, but after a while, because of the lack of direction, you may lose interest.

Although RE does a lot right, there are still some “holes”, including how the staff is handled. I’ve always assumed that a server’s mainstay is tips, not the wages that are often just above minimum wage. In RE there are no tips. This means they rely on you and if you pay poorly there’s a corresponding drop in service levels. As a result you have to pay them more when in real life they would just get canned.

Restaurant Empire may not grab everyone, but those that like management sims, dealing with the minutia of number crunching and furniture placement, and still enjoy The Sims will have a good time with it. It’s not perfect, but for the tycoon genre it’s near the top of the heap.

- Omni

(June 8, 2003)


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