User Reviews (1 - 11 of 12)

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Good, but could have been better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: September 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I hope I am not being to hard on the game designers by giving this game a three star rating. I would give a game like Age of Empires a 5 star rating. And as far as I am concerned, AOE is the game by which all others are measured. This may seem irrelevant when talking about Corporate Machine but AOE is the perfect combination of design and playability. Coporate Machine is a well conceived game with a decent design but the playability is a bit shallow. What I mean is that if you are into business sims, as i am, then you will probably find this game very entertaining. The problem is that I mastered the game over one weekend. Increasing the difficlutly level only makes the computer work faster than is humanly possible. Therefore It became very difficult but not challenging. It just basically gave the computer an edge that no human could match almost to the point that I felt the computer was cheating. There was never anyone in the online rooms to play against which was also a dissapointment. Overall though you cant beat the price... For the price the game is definitley worth it if you are into the business sims games. It is not as good as Railroad Tycoon but much better than the Monte Cristo so called business sim games.

Great game for LAN parties!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: August 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Hi all,

I know most of you have played Counter-Strike or Starcraft and they both kick major butt. This game has something else that makes LAN parties even more fun. It's basically about who is the better business man and there is something so fun about making your buddies go out of business and then telling them how you did it. I think the graphics are really good, I have a pretty old machine (P-233) so most games run really slow but not this one! I am glad they didn't use a 3d engine or anything like that, it's about time a game came out that everyone can play. Anyway I just had to tell people about my experience with this great game.

Low Cost Tons of FUN

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Don't go into this game expecting a bonanza of fancy graphics and cool openGL stuff. This a 2D strategy in the spirit of Civ. In fact not much has been changed from the free downloadable version but there are difrences. The game is remarkably adicting and loads of fun. Basicly your goal is to gain a certain market share in the world in a number of industries. You hire marketers and set up smear campaigns against your enemys and try to set up in essence the next microsoft or coca-cola. The game is a little dated even though it is a new product but if you like civ and are looking for a great deal this is a must.

Improved version of Entrepreneur /Tycoon

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have played the earlier version of this game (Entrepreneur). So I am offering a comparison between the Entrepreneur 1.5 version and TCM 1.1.

Stardock has added a number of changes in TCM. First, there is now a technology tree for each product. You thus research a new component or product characteristic rather than push slide bars. It thus makes sense to have engineering specialization while attacking markets such as computers and marketing specialization when in cola business. In my opinion, given its formidable technology tree, playing the computer market without engineering specialization would now be suicidal at the highest level of difficulty. Second, a number of buildings have been added to raise control over the environment. Buildings now enable players to impact regional economy, raise employee skills, gather better market research, and have a distributor in far off regions (increasing sales impact). Also, slightly different building combinations are available as options for manufacturing, research, marketing, and recreation. Third, the game balance has been improved. For example, the economies of scale are realized more easily (reducing prices, raising volumes and increasing profits in the process- a concept known as increased price elasticity) and computer managed competitors do not become miraculously formidable as Mitrosoft does in Entrepreneur while playing at "Lots of Pain" level. Fourthly (and as would be expected), the GUI has been changed. It appears more difficult to navigate in the beginning but I got a hang of it in an hour and now think it is better than the one in Ent 1.5. Finally, more wild cards have been provided to torment your competition. Network game play is available but each time I have been there, no game has been open and waiting for me to join.

Personally, I enjoyed the game as I have a special liking for it. People who already have Entrepreneur versions or are thinking of upgrading from earlier Tycoon versions should do so only if they like the look and feel of the game so much that a slight variation would suffice to make them happy as the underlying "skeleton" of the game remains exactly the same. If they are looking for a radical and refreshing difference then I would strongly recommend that they try out "Capitalism II"- a far more compelling, sophisticated and better business simulation game.

The four star is provided as an absolute rating as the game by itself is good for people who are not interested in very close to real business simulation but would be happy with an approximate and challenging one.

Internet or Standalone?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game can quickly get addictive, especially if your starting to win. However the full potential of addictiveness isn't realized until you play against someone on... the net.

Playing alone, the computer will usually win by playing the market and selling below your price. However, over the net, the market prices as well as the demand for your products are so wild that you will be constantly battling price vs. profit. For the stand alone, making a sandwich wouldn't affect the outcome of the game nearly as much as being too slow uping your production rate over the net.

So my advice,... play against anyone you find on... the net. You'll love the competition more so than the computer.

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is great. It is challenging for the novice or advance gamer. It is always different so it never get boring. Take2 also has made many more maps and commodities to sell which can be downloaded from their site. I recommend this game to anyone that likes business games. It is much better than a lot of the others that are on the market.

Smart SIM

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game! Using your wits and business sense you try to take over the world! Smart, funny, challenging enough to be highly addictive. The designers knew what they were doing when they thought this one up! There are always good games available over the Net. You should try this game!

Simplistic and crude

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: March 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game feels very simplistic and crude. The interface makes it look like it should be a freeware game. There isn't much of a gameplay to speak of. Basically you can go into one of four industries and try to become the next Boeing or Microsoft. The interface is very confusing, and the manual written in poor English.

A great idea with improvements needed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is a good, addictive game with all kinds of stuff to do. You can sell cars, Aircraft, computers, and cola. You can research technology to make your product better. You can also do all kinds of fun stuff. But the personalizing features do not exist. I was hoping to actually design my product. (Somewhat like an enhanced version of the old car company game, Detroit) But instead, the look of the product just changes once you research certain technologies. The game could have been a bit more detailed, a bit more realistic, and the AI could be a little smarter. Other than that, it's a good game. It's definitely worth the $... I got it for.

Released too quickly!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I found this game just a bit short. The idea is fantastic, and actually the AI is not too bad. As your product becomes more engineered, marketed, and distributed, you can see the change in the market. However, these changes are subtle, putting a new cupholder in your cars doesn't cause Idaho to order 500 new models. So far so good. However, that is about as far as they got, before cutting all kinds of corners. The marketing of your product is a difficult, slow, and not very realistic method. As a HUGE billion dollar corp., you are still able to only do 1 or 2 radio and television campaigns. Also, the game's ACTION CARDS, that allow you to destroy other company's invetory, payoff politicians, etc..., is basically like using the community chest in monopoly, its outdated. The graphics are pititful, and you might want to wait till they make another try. I made a bad buy, I am just suggesting you take your money to a game that has been thought through. Thank you.

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