Atari's reputation as a gaming label is now so far down the pan that virtually every release is met with a mixture of resigned inevitability and something akin to a macabre glee. Recent abominations such as Alone in the Dark: Illumination and the bizarre survivalist reboot of Asteroids haven't simply been bad, but so explosively atrocious that the games transform into a circus of mockery and ridicule. In the centre of the ring is a lousy clown who remains entertaining purely because the audience gets to throw pies at him.
It's fair to say that Rollercoaster Tycoon World was similarly expected to step out of its tiny car, trip over its oversized shoes and somehow hang itself on the high-wire, causing the big-top to collapse, the elephants to escape, and the lion to seize this golden opportunity to eat its tamer. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your perspective) it isn't as bad as all that.
Rollercoaster Tycoon World Rating
It's still bad, mind you. Rollercoaster Tycoon World could in no way be described as a good game in its current state. But I don't think it is entirely beyond redemption either. There is a functioning, sensibly structured game here, possibly an enjoyable one given a hefty dollop of work.
RollerCoaster Tycoon World™ is the newest installment in the legendary RCT franchise. This next-generation theme park simulation and building game includes fan-favorite features and incredible new advancements such as stunning 3D environments full of roller coaster thrills, exciting flat rides, eager guests, user-generated content, robust social features, and more – all in one massively.
Anyone who has played a management game in the last ten years will be immediately familiar with how Rollercoaster Tycoon World works. Starting off with a few thousand in funding and a small plot of land, you lay a few paths, construct a couple of basic rides like merry-go-rounds and haunted houses, organise some basic amenities (toilets, janitors mechanics and the like) and then open up your fledgling theme park to the public.
Yet behind the colourful facades and the laughter of children is a serious capitalist machine. Alongside the initial ticket cost, entry to each ride can be priced as high or low as you like, food outlets and bathrooms will cater to your punters' basic needs at a premium, while souvenir stalls will further fleece attendees of any green in their pockets. As your cashflow increases, more expensive rides can be unlocked, including the titular rollercoasters, which can either be purchased as completed tracks, or designed and tested yourself.
While Rollercoaster Tycoon World's heritage is obvious in its theme, in terms of structure it owes a lot to Colossal Order's Cities: Skylines. Your basic building plot, for example, can be expanded out via a top-down tile map, and each new plot costs twice that of the previous one. Progress is tracked by attendance and funding milestones, achieving which unlock new rides and so forth. There's even a traffic management element to World: lay out too few paths and certain areas of the park will quickly become overcrowded, impacting upon the overall happiness of your customers.
All the familiar elements of theme-park management games are present too. Alongside park construction and casual extortion, you need to ensure that rides are maintained, vomit is cleaned up, and that any coasters you design yourself aren't going to kill anyone. There's a fair amount on offer for an Early Access title too, including plentiful rides and multiple game modes.
In short, on a fundamental systemic level, Rollercoaster Tycoon World works. It is in no way inventive or progressive, but it functions as you would expect a park management game to do.
For about the first 30 minutes.
After the half-hour mark, performance issues kick in like an emergency brake on fun. As your park expands and the crowds inside it grow, the framerate begins to tick down to the point where the game becomes virtually unplayable. I was playing Rollercoaster Tycoon World on a GTX Titan, and after about three hours the game was crawling along like a walrus with a heart condition. Alongside this gradual degradation in performance, are more specific issues, selecting a ride to build, for example, causes the frame-rate to plummet like the Tower of Terror.
Rollercoaster Tycoon World's abysmal performance is downright baffling, because it isn't like the game is a graphical powerhouse. In fact, on the visual side it's pretty ropey. Some of the rides are nicely modelled, but the lighting is flat and the textures basic, and unless you're zoomed right in, attendee models look as if they've arrived straight from the Dark Engine, ugly clumps of polygons seemingly battered into a vaguely humanoid shape. The problem isn't so much a lack of technical fortitude, however, as an absence of style. Rollercoaster Tycoon World is colourful but artless, like a child's painting.
The combination of poor visuals and worse performance result in Rollercoaster Tycoon World being a rather unpleasant experience. Designing rollercoasters is particularly impossible, although this is perhaps as much to do with the tools you're given as the creaking engine behind it. Rollercoasters are designed by connecting 'nodes' of track. Laying out the basic track is fairly straightforward. The game is pretty generous when it comes to how your coaster can twist around, over and beneath itself, although altering the track's elevation with the mousewheel is agonisingly slow. The problem occurs when you need to make mechanical additions to the track, such as chains or acceleration and braking systems. Attempting to do this is fiddlier than an obsessive-compulsive violinist, and I lost patience with halfway through my second custom coaster.
The path-finding system has some serious problems too. It's extremely difficult to create pathways that are a sequence of clean straight lines. The grid-snapping system causes more problems than it solves, resulting in wonky paths that look unappealing when viewed from above.
A step back in time.
Finally, the bugs. I didn't encounter as many as some users have claimed to, but those I did encounter were absolute doozys. It took me about half an hour to get the game to start, as it kept me on a completely black screen until I pressed Shift and Tab. It gave me a fantastic idea for a sequel, however: Rollercoaster Tycoon Abyss, a game in which you build a theme-park for the damned.
The most spectacular bug occurred when I placed a souvenir shop underneath a custom rollercoaster, at which point every single person in the park disappeared. Everyone gone, as if my latest foam-hand stand had inadvertently triggered the Rapture. For a few moments my park was utterly silent, then about 2000 people poured through the ticket barriers at once. This tsunami of bodies netted me around $15,000 in a matter of seconds. Technically this is a complaint, although I have to admit as an experience it was quite remarkable.
Alongside these hard problems are a few smaller but equally weird idiosyncrasies. To briefly return to the subject of circuses, you can build one in Rollercoast Tycoon World. But it's subject to the same systems as everything else. So at one point my circus broke down. I'm not sure how this is possible. Was a trapeze artist malfunctioning? Did the fortune teller suffer a memory leak? Was there a stack overflow in the human pyramid? Did the contortionist encounter a burst error? The reason given was 'Emergency Stop.' But that just makes things more baffling. Incidentally, how do you stop a circus? Go for the juggler.
Facetiousness aside, Rollercoaster Tycoon World has a fair old climb ahead of it. The basic skeleton is passable, but it's a technical mess and the systems need considerable refinement. Even then, the chances of it being anything other than acceptable are fairly remote. But there is a chance, and for a game being published under the much-maligned Atari label, that is a considerable step forward.
| RollerCoaster Tycoon World | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nvizzio Creations |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Series | RollerCoaster Tycoon |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 16, 2016 |
| Genre(s) | Construction and management simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
RollerCoaster Tycoon World is a theme park construction and management simulationvideo game developed by Nvizzio Creations and published by Atari for Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth major installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. The game was released on November 16, 2016.
Gameplay[edit]
Players are able to build rides, shops and roller coasters, while monitoring elements such as budget, visitor happiness and technology research. Unlike RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, the game does not include any micro-transactions.[1] Similar to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, the game features 3D graphics instead of the 2D isometric style of the first two installments in the series. When building roller coasters, the game makes use of a spline system instead of the old style of laying individual pieces. Players are also allowed to 'ride' the roller coasters they have created, and other rides they have placed in their park in the game, in either a first or third-person view. A new 'Park Pulse' mechanic was also introduced, allowing players to quickly find out how their park is doing and the customers' thoughts, similar to Zoo Tycoon titles.[2]
The game contains several scenery and ride themes at launch, with more in development that will be released via free updates and paid expansion packs.[3][4] The game also introduces an 'Architect mode', allowing players to plan and layout the coaster's model before constructing the coasters. Similar to the past installments, there are four different types of coasters available to build: steel, inverted, wooden, and launch-track coasters. In addition, there are ten roller coasters per type. Coasters can be built freeform or the player can place pre-made designs into their park.[5]Unlike in the previous games, the roller coaster train may fly off the tracks if the roller coaster is built incorrectly. As a result, a new 'safety-rating' option and medical staff has been added. User-generated content (including custom scenery) was available from release, as well as Steam Workshop support.[6] While terrain and environments are randomly generated in a map, players can still gain access to a terrain editor.[7]
Development[edit]
When Atari announced RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, they also promised that a title for Windows was also being developed.[8] The game was officially announced during Gamescom 2014 with a teaser trailer, subtitled World.[9] The first screenshots and details of the game were revealed during PAX Prime 2014. Part way through development, Area 52 Games took over as the developer of the game from Pipeworks Software. The reasoning behind this has not yet been published by Atari, who announced the change along with the relaunch of the RollerCoaster Tycoon website. The game was due for release in early 2015, although it was revealed that they would not announce an official launch date until closer to the release of the game.[10] A closed alpha was also in development.[7] A new trailer showing gameplay was uploaded on March 5, 2015, showing an intro featuring real life POV footage of Goliath and Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain.[11]
Atari later revealed that a third developer had taken over from Area 52 Games, later confirmed to be Nvizzio Creations.[12] At the NVIDIA booth on PAX Prime 2015, Atari unveiled interactive gameplay for the game showing off their development build that featured coaster building and sandbox mode. On September 29, 2015, it was announced the release date would be December 10, 2015.[13][14] Two beta weekends preceded the release of the game. The first beta weekend was the last weekend of October and this beta was focused on the new spline-based Coaster Builder.[15] The first beta weekend took place as planned. However, feedback from this beta weekend led to Atari deciding to delay the game's release to early 2016.[16] The developer noted the additional development time would allow them to add requested items and features such as “predefined piece” coaster building, additional coaster test feedback, a robust fencing tool, improved on-demand grid, and various smaller improvements.' Consequently, the second beta weekend was also delayed from November to December.[17]
Release[edit]
Atari had decided that its theme park game, RollerCoaster Tycoon World, would be launched into Early Access on 30 March, instead of going with a full release. The early access release was met with negative reviews, mostly complaining about the poor graphics, coaster builder, lack of detail, and ride animations.[18] In November 2016, Atari announced that the game will be released on November 16, 2016, one day before Planet Coaster's release.[19]
The game was available for both standard and deluxe editions. The deluxe edition contained two additional maps, terrain texture additions, a digital art book, a gold park entrance, and the panda mascot from the previous games.[20][21]
Reception[edit]
| Reception | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Pre-release[edit]
A trailer released by Atari containing gameplay of RollerCoaster Tycoon World was received poorly by critics and fans.[24][25][26] Some critics noted that the game appears graphically worse than 2004's RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and that it 'looks little better than a basic mobile game.'[27] Atari later issued a statement that the game was still in 'pre-alpha' stages, and that the graphics were not yet coded to their full resolution and would also receive a major overhaul when the game's engine is upgraded from Unity 4.6 to Unity 5.0. They also promised that the new visuals would be of higher definition and higher level of realism.[28]
Release[edit]
The release of RollerCoaster Tycoon World was met with negative reactions by critics. According to review aggregatorMetacritic, the game holds a score of 43 out of 100, based on seven reviews.[22]
Eurogamer suggested to avoid the game, comparing the game to a 'car-crash into an orphanage for bush-babies.'[23]
TechRaptor rated the game a 1/10, citing the large interface and variety of bugs and glitches within the game.[29]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Rollercoaster Tycoon World coming to PC in 2015'. CVG. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World in-game screenshots revealed'. Eurogamer. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^Hayden Dingman (13 September 2014). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World preview: The ride never ends'. PC World. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ^Mattlab. 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Production Blog Post #2'. Atari. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^Mattlab. 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Production Blog Post #3'. Atari. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Production Blog #13'.
- ^ abMattlab. 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Production Blog Post #1'. Atari. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile out now, PC version to be introduced holiday 2014'. Gamespot. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Reveal Trailer'. IGN. 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^David Scammell (15 December 2014). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World has a new developer'. VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World™ Gameplay Reveal Teaser'. YouTube. Atari, Inc. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^Grub, Jeff (13 May 2015). 'Roller Coaster Tycoon World is still in development — but it's under a new studio'. VentureBeat. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ^Hayden Dingman (30 August 2015). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World preview: A wild(ly easy to get into) ride'. PC World. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^Pr Newswire (20 August 2015). 'Atari® Rides into PAX Prime 2015, Unveils RollerCoaster Tycoon World™'. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^'Buy - RollerCoaster Tycoon World'.
- ^'RCTW – Blog #23 – RollerCoaster Tycoon World Releasing in Early 2016 | RollerCoaster Tycoon World'. www.rollercoastertycoon.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^Pereira, Chris (13 November 2015). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Delayed Following First Beta'. GameSpot. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^Falcon, Jonah (25 March 2016). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World coming to Steam Early Access on March 30th'. GameWatcher. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^Livingston, Christopher (11 November 2016). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World release date announced, and it's one day before Planet Coaster's launch'. pcgamer. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World preorders now available at Steam & GMG'. Venture Beat. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^'RollerCoaster Tycoon World™: Deluxe Edition'. Steam. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ ab'RollerCoaster Tycoon World'. Metacritic. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- ^ abLane, Rick. 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Review'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^Plunkett, Luke (5 March 2015). 'New RollerCoaster Tycoon Game Looks Like Shit'. Kotaku. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^Leack, Jonathan (5 March 2015). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World's Gameplay Trailer is Tragically Bad'. Crave Online. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^George, Daniel (5 March 2015). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon World Gameplay Trailer Is... Something'. Fansided. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^Wesley Yin-Poole (6 March 2015). 'Puke! RollerCoaster Tycoon World looks...'Eurogamer. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ^Owen S. Good (21 March 2015). 'RollerCoaster Tycoon promises graphics overhaul after gameplay trailer raises complaints'. Polygon. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^Blouin, Alec. 'Roller Coaster Tycoon World Review – How to Destroy a Franchise'. TechRaptor. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
External links[edit]
- Official website
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