 |
| In the Aerophobia scenario, your competitors can build planes but you cannot |
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Reviewed by: | Mark Goninon |
| Developer: | Chris Sawyer |
| Publisher: | Atari |
| Release Date: | 10 Sep 2004 |
| Time played: | 13 hours |
A Mixed Reception
Chris Sawyer's Locomotion is probably the closest Transport Tycoon fans will ever get to a sequel from Chris Sawyer. Released a decade after the original, the core gameplay is essentially the same: start a transport company from scratch, build trade routes, service those routes with planes, trains and automobiles (and ships), and make it rich. The engine does get an overhaul though as it is based on the Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 engine (a game released in 2002). When Locomotion was originally released, it received mixed reviews: Computer Gaming World gave the game a shocking 1.5 out of 5 stating that Locomotion felt like a "10 year-old game with a 5 year-old coat of paint" and Gamespy's review of the game wasn't much better awarding it 2 out of 5 stars as they felt it didn't feel any superior to the original Transport Tycoon. Gamespot were more forgiving with their assessment but even they only gave 6.8 out of 10 echoing comments from other publications saying the game was "nearly identical to its classic 10 year-old predecessor". Were contemporary publications just too critical of the spiritual successor to Transport Tycoon? Or does this game really have nothing going for it?
 |
| It's not meant to be a rollercoaster game but it sure looks like one |
Rollercoaster Tycoon DNA
The most obvious difference Transport Tycoon fans will notice is just like Rollercoaster Tycoon you can go mad with the railway tracks. In Transport Tycoon you're limited to building bridges to span rivers and chasms, otherwise the track has to follow the grade of the terrain. In Locomotion you can build tracks at different angles that can ascend into the sky (provided you have the cash) and not only that, you can place curved tracks too. This means you can end up with a bunch of aqueduct like structures weaving around the map which is good to a degree, as you get more freedom in designing the track, but they are also eyesores.
The graphics have also taken a leaf out of Rollercoaster Tycoon's book and while technically the graphics are meant to look more realistic, it starts entering the uncanny valley as you're still playing the game on an isometric grid with hills defined by sharp edges. I can't say I'm much of a fan and prefer the pixelart style of the original. The avatars look rather ugly too, and that's saying something, since the ones in the original Transport Tycoon weren't that great either (thankfully, there is an option to upload your own avatar if you have some spare time on your hands)!
 |
| Scenarios seem to be a bigger thing in Locomotion |
Moving in the Right Direction
I eventually changed my mind with respect to how I felt about some aspects of the game. Take the soundtrack for example. John Broomhall returned to score the title theme (and it's another banger) but in terms of the rest of the soundtrack, industry veteran Allister Brimble composed the lion's share. When I originally played Chris Sawyer's Locomotion I was hoping for more jazz and funk pieces similar to the original Transport Tycoon: Locomotion's album tends to have two or three tracks for each decade in the 20th century, starting with ragtime towards the start of the century and ending with synth-heavy electronic music in the 1990s. It works well as an aural cue for the player to notify them of the passage of time.
Locomotion, unlike Transport Tycoon, tends to be predominantly scenario-based and while there are some scenarios that are similar to the sandbox nature of Transport Tycoon, most scenarios are set during specific time periods along with specific goals (e.g. transporting a certain number of passengers, or earning a certain amount of money per month, etc.). One advantage of scenario-based gameplay is it makes the game more "digestible", i.e. you can play the game in smaller chunks of time and still feel like you've achieved something.
 |
| It's annoying when you see a message like this while you're in the middle of building a long railway line |
In Need of Quality of Life Improvements
As is the case with many old games, the game is in dire need of Quality of Life improvements. The game is rather unstable especially if you decide to Alt+Tab out of it which will usually result in a Crash to Desktop. Apparently, this is quite common on modern machines. The game also doesn't support modern widescreen formats (like 1920x1080) meaning I often have to play on a lower resolution widescreen format like 1280x720.
What's probably most annoying though is the fact the game retains similar issues to Transport Tycoon despite there being 10 years between releases: ships are often unaware of how to dock properly in this game and can end up sailing around in circles. You'd think something as simple as this would've been ironed out by now. I also can't understand why whenever the AI starts building a railroad track, the route it takes is essentially reserved for them. It puts the player at a disadvantage as they aren't offered the same courtesy (although how you would realistically implement this is another matter entirely). It also means you'll have to sometimes wait until a computer player is done before you can even start work on railway lines within the vicinity.
|
7
|
Chris Sawyer's Locomotion is often touted as the spiritual successor to Transport Tycoon and while it has a great soundtrack, a dearth of scenarios to try and slight gameplay improvements in some areas, gameplay seems to be worse in others. The game is also quite buggy on modern machines and I feel the graphics are inferior to the original, making Transport Tycoon the superior game. |
If you like this game, you might like…
Special thanks to my brother for gifting this game as a 2017 birthday present!
Comments
Post a Comment
Please be polite and respectful. Any abusive or discriminatory language is forbidden.