Having discounted nearly every aspect of Moon Tycoon, it is worth noting that the game has an indefinable quality that keeps drawing you back. "Construct building X" and "Harvest Y amount of Uranium" missions get old after a while, too. There are storyboarding problems, as well, such as finishing a challenge with the beginning allotment of materials months before the scripted story events catch up.
With no multiplayer option, no rival tycoons can be challenged and there are no aliens to eradicate, thus the lack of military conflict may bore some gamers. Questionable design issues include no difficulty levels for the 30-mission campaign, and a choice between only a single-player game or sandbox mode. Two basic soundtracks, "Ambient" and "Techno," are offered, but after extended play the selection of choice will be to toggle it "off." Moon Tycoon portrays the vacuum of space nicely, with sounds consisting of nothing more than the occasional meteor shower striking buildings, or any of the other 17 disasters waiting to happen. Camera movement is smooth, but the playing field is essentially a bunch of dull buildings on a dreary lunar landscape. Even the hovering ships are flat, though colorful. The rotating earth in the background seems to enhance the loneliness, and the buildings, blocky with only minor animations, fail to offer any contrast to the dullness.
The moon, however mysterious and dangerous, is still a dead hunk of rock, and every level is played on a square patch of ubiquitous gray. The trite story furthers the missions, but isn't engrossing.Īs bad as the story is, though, the graphics are worse. Fu Chan, your first officer, drifts into space after inspecting a radar anomaly, and returns barely alive years later, with a possible alien abduction mystery in tow. President Little is a whiny, incompetent back stabber whose son is no better. From that point, though, the story wanders with lame stock characters. The science fiction plot has some basis in reality, as Helium 3, a real-world element found mainly on the moon, is considered by some experts as a possible solution to the inevitable energy shortage facing the world.
Only by balancing business and the rigors of space will you become the ultimate moon tycoon. Four types of industries, each with unique strategies, include research, tourism, production, and mining. approved pioneer group, you must not only deal with the harsh environment of the moon, but also with the agency's craven, bureaucratic leader, President Little. The Earth's population has devoured the world's fuel supply, but the crisis can be averted when a rare isotope used in fusion, known as Helium 3, is found in abundance on the moon. It adds nothing new to the genre, but offers enough to make you sneak in an extra session here and there. Moon Tycoon, despite blocky graphics, basic sounds, and a familiar story, is surprisingly addictive and given half a chance, may work its way under your skin.