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Very good sim -- but not perfect.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 164 / 169
Date: June 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Maybe not perfect, but I'd still buy it again.

Here are the pros:

* Campaign mode is not impossible to complete. With some other games like almost all the versions of SimCity, I find it almost impossible to successfully complete their demands, but with Restaurant Empire, it's much easier. In fact, it may be a little too easy. See "cons" below.

* Graphics are great. Not stunning, but great.

* Graphics *control* is fabulous. Best in any game I've ever played. You can rotate the game in a smooth, continuous motion. You can tilt your view from about 15 degrees above horizontal to straight overhead. You can zoom in and out effortlessly. I've never had so much control over my view in a game. Wonderful!

* Plot is cute. You're going to be the wonderboy of the culinary world, out to save the world from the evil OmniFood corporation, known for cheating in the food contests and genetically modifying their food.

Cons:

* Campaign may be a little too easy. In the beginning of the game, it sets goals that are very challenging. Having your fledgling restaurant make $40,000 in a month, for example, is incredibly difficult with the resources you have at that point. However, once you get past step 5 or 6 (in an 18-scenario campaign), it gets much easier. In fact, I started losing on purpose to build up cash for the next step - and on one or two occasions, I won anyway, without even meaning to. A little frustrating.

* There are a few annoying stereotypes to deal with. The mobster from Italy... well, he speaks-a in-a very annoying-a way-a, if you get my drift. But that's nothing compared to the black chef who is supposed to be from Louisiana, but speaks likes he's from South Central, "homey". And there's only one woman in the game, and she's demure and waffle-y, letting your character tell her to do whatever you want. She's only too happy to do what you tell her, but only if you promise you think she's capable. Not a huge con, but annoying enough to get me to save my game and quit every once in a while.

* There's not as much control as some people would like. I, for one, would have liked a recipe interface where I could add ingredients to certain recipes (or even create my own), or similarly tinker. As it stands, you can only change the quality of ingredients or decide whether or not to use optional ingredients. I understand there would be a lot more programming involved if one were able to create recipes, but I'm one who likes micromanagement. I also missed the ability to tailor my training program - the only thing you can do at this point is put a specific amount of money towards training in general. You can't target specific staff members (i.e., newly hired personnel).

* Lastly, there's only one campaign! Sure, it's long. Sure, you can change the way you play and either draw it out (and make loads of cash) or see how fast you can complete it. But in the long run, it's still the same things you have to acheive to finish, and that could get boring really fast.

All in all, this is a very good game. Much better than my previous restaurant sim, Fast Food Tycoon 2. And here are two gameplay hints for those of you who decide to purchase it:

1. There's a website for the game...Go there and download a patch for the game - it'll fix some of the minor problems and improve some aspects that needed tweaking. However, you have to follow this order: Install game from cd. Input cd code from back of jewel case. *Then* install the patch. Otherwise, your cd code won't work, and you'll have to start over.

2. Close any programs you may have running in the background, such as AIM or another messenger program. I had a few problems with the game freezing up on me, and only if I had all my background programs stopped was I guaranteed a problem-free game.

Enjoy!

GREAT restaurant Sim!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 75 / 81
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I LOVE all the tycoon and Sim games, I play every single one that comes out! This one is one of the most fun out there!! The graphics are not so great, but that doesn't bother me so much.

I played quite a bit in both the sandbox mode and in the campaign mode - both are great fun. Sandbox mode is basically building up your restaurant, then buying more restaurants and building them up (and so on). During the campaign mode, you are following a storyline of an up and coming chef who wants to take over a relative's restaurant. It's a cheesy storyline, but it's fun.

Management of the actual restaurant is fun as well. There are tons of items to choose from to decorate restaurant - my favorite is the rock n'roll themed items. One feature I liked in another tycoon game, which I wish this one had, is to have an "auto-decorate" option. What I mean is, you click on a certain theme (rock n'roll) and it will automatically decorate the restaurant for a set price. While I like decorating them, sometimes I just don't feel like it and want to get down to playing. It's a minor thing, something I just wish they had!

The cooks and the menu options are one of the highlights of the game! There are SO many recipes to choose from! The last restaurant sim I played only had pizzas! Also, the more your cook makes a certain recipe, the better he gets at it!

My one complaint is the way the game gives you new recipes and ingredients. I think it's really silly that the only way to get new recipes is to pay customers for them! Basically how it works is a customer comes in and offers to sell you his recipe (usually quite expensive too!). That part to me was completely unrealistic and I would have preferred a different way of getting recipes. That is also a minor complaint though, because overall I had a blast playing this game. It's well worth the price and I highly recommend it to Sim/Tycoon fans!

A better-than-average management simulation

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: July 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

While some software companies seem to be generating cheap, poorly designed management simulations with little lasting appeal, Enlight Interactive has done a good job creating Restaurant Empire. The game has two modes: a sandbox mode for freeform play, and a campaign mode that consists of a set of scenarios with predefined goals. In both modes, the goal is to design and run a profitable restaurant or series of restaurants while satisfying the customers. Users can lay out rooms and furniture, hire staff, and design menus. While the game's graphics are not aestheitically appealing, the gameplay is fairly good. The user interface is straightforward for the most part, although it can be troublesome when moving furniture and rooms. New options become available as progress is made through the campaign, so the user is presented with stimulating new challenges and creative opportunities in every scenario. The goals for the campaign mode may be a little too easy, but only a little. The storyline for the campaign mode, however, is very entertaining; this was the first computer game I had played that featured a character with a prostate condition. The major drawbacks, aside from the blander-than-average graphics, are that the menu requires too much micromanagement and the staff cannot be managed well to imrpove efficiency, even with a patch that introduces some new options. Nonetheless, the game's positive values outweigh the game's drawbacks, making this a good game for people interested in nonviolent games and management simulations.

FINALLY! A Decent Sim!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: October 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'll admit, I didn't expect much of restaurant empire. So many business sims/tycoons are a huge disappointment. This one had me addicted after 5 minutes.
You have two choices at the start; sandbox game, or the scenario. Sandbox is great fun but this review will mostly deal with the meat of the game - the long, excellent campaign.
It's made up of about 16 or 17 scenarios, some easy, some harder than the others. You deal with the same area, but you slowly add more and more restaurants. One of the funnest aspects of this game is the RPG aspect. You play a chef, Armand, and talk to people through him (in special sequences). The chefs gain experience through cooking - if they cook only amerian soups they will become excellent with that but know nothing about french and italian! That's right - this game has 3 main types of food and restaurants, with a few subcategories (seafood, steak) thrown in.
You lay out the entire restaurant much in the fashion of THE SIMS, with some nifty things to choose from (I wonder if someone could make some objects to use in the game hmm). You hire staff, choose recipes to include on your menu, serves customers their favorite food in order to gain customer satisfatcion, lay out your menu, assign selected chefs to selected recipes so they can grow super good at that particular thing. Shop and buy ingredients with Armand, or through the main way, the supplier list. Improve your food, buy recipes off of customers, sell secrets if youre low on money (these last two are only when the oppurtunities are given).
The tutorial is very easy to follow, but there were some things it took me awhile to discover myself. But that's part of the games charm - its very in depth, but not overwhelmingly so. It focuses more on cooking and making your customers happy - which in turn leads to more money.
Another great aspect are the cooking contests. Armand (or sometimes other chefs) can enter - but make sure their skills are up to par. Different contests require different things.
Here is the low down: (1= horrendously terrible 10 = fabulously stupfying)

GRAPHICS: 7 - nothing fancy, but cute enough

SOUND: 6 - decent restaurant music - plus you can use winamp while you play.

GAMEPLAY: 9 - easy to learn, lots of features designed to make going through all the restaurants easier

PLAY VALUE: 9 The one campaign should take a good 40 hours to go through the first time, and sandbox gives endless oppurtunities.

FUN: 10!

OVERALL: 8.2

About 4 stars on Amazon I guess :)

If you like the sims, the IDEA behind those crap old tycoons, business sims, rollercoaster tycoon etc you should give this a roll. It will entertain.

FUN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: July 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I can't emphasize enough how much sheer FUN this game is. Yes, the graphics aren't the greatest and the storyline is a bit clunky. I am disappointed by the almost total lack of female chefs (kind of unrealistic in this day and age). The objects you place in your restaurant are limited and difficult to maneuver, and you can't shape and control your characters like you can in The Sims.

But the game is a lot less expensive and a lot more FUN than anything else I've played in years. I don't have a particular interest in restaurants, and I don't play tons of sim games, but this one has plenty of elements to keep any gamer interested. It's fast moving, not terribly difficult, with lots of things to watch (your cooks cooking, diners dining, etc.) and lots of ways to tinker with your restaurants to improve them.

Before you play, install the patch and make sure to turn off all other programs, including your firewall if you have one. After I did this, no more crashes. Very stable game. This is a great game; get it.

Excellent Restaurant Simulation

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 20
Date: July 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Restaurant Empire is well-done all around. For some the incredible amount of detail may be overkill - for others it might not be enough: that's the curse of any simulation game when trying to cater to us picky tycoon freaks.

The game has a campaign in which you can follow the story of a young chef learning the ropes of the business. There is also a free-build mode where you can setup your own Restaurant empire piece by piece. The game allows for an immense amount of detail: most of which you cannot set to automatic and must manage all the details yourself. This may be a bit much for tycoon gamers who don't want to get bogged down in every detail.

+ Graphics & Sound: the graphics I found to be excellent. Even by today's standards this game should be considered top-notch. For the amount of detail in this game to have excellent graphics along with it says a lot for it. The game is 3D with full camera control. Rotate and zoom in on your chef as he whips up another delicious dessert. The sound is pretty good as well - the music isn't as appealing as the sound effects.
+ Performance: if your system meets the requirements for the game you should be okay. It may run sluggishly if you have a lot of traffic though so be prepared. Update your graphics drivers and sound drivers as well.
+ Gameplay: the game is fun to play. Again if you're not a detail-oriented gamer you may find the amount of information to manage (particularly at the beginning) to be a bit much. You can arrange decorations, configure recipes, set the menu, manage staff, and more. There are different cuisines and each chef that works for you can have specific recipe skills. The game is well-paced and rewarding. I found the game very challenging and I haven't done too well in reaping in the profits as of yet.

In summary this game is very well-done. There may be some holes or points that don't appeal to everyone - but what's new? Overall if you're a detail-oriented gamer you should like this title. To me it was very challenging which is fine but may wear thin on those who don't like to repeat mistakes over and over again.

Better Than I Thought it Would Be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought the game after trying the demo, and to my surprise the it was more fun than I thought it would be. The Campaign mode gives the player goals that must be met within a certain time frame. If you fail, you can do the scenerio over with easier goals which is a plus. The worst part of the game is that it seems to take forever to setup and open a restaurant. But it is worth the time when that restaurant starts making money. The company website offers a patch which allows the player to assign duties to some of the staff. There is also the option to play a sandbox game in which the only goal you need to have is not run out of money.

Fun Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: December 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty fun game to play. You can do so many things, and choose from a ton of different objects and foods. Here are the pros and cons:

PROS:

*The graphics are very good. They're not perfect, but they are pretty well done.

*If you play the game for a little while, you can choose from so many different dishes, from the categories of breakfast, appetizers, soups, lunch, dinner and desserts. Actually, even from the beginning, there are a bunch of different foods you can choose from.

*There is a lot of excitement when playing the Sandbox mode, and Campaign mode. I enjoy playing the Sandbox mode more, because the Campaign mode is more difficult.

*Whenever you start to build a Sandbox mode restaurant, you can choose a chef, from over thirty different ones. You can choose the theme and type of restaurant you would like. Also, picking where you want to put your restaurant is great.

*There are three cities you can go to, including Paris, Rome, and some other one(sorry, I just forgot!).

*You get to hire your staff, including waiters, chefs, hosts, and dishwashers.

*You can even get a mini profile of your customers; that can help you a bunch of the time!

*You can compete in competitions.

*You can win awards and get new decorations to decorate your restaurant inside and out.

*You can make set menus for lunch and dinner. That is REALLY fun!

*All of the dishes come with a set price, but you can change them once you add them to your menu.

CONS:

*It takes forever to finish the game! I haven't even finished it yet!

*The customers complain A LOT and are really ugly. You would think there would be at least SOME good-looking people!

*It takes a long time to build and decorate your restaurant
inside.

So thats it everybody! Go and buy this game now, it is extremely entertaining and fun!

AMAZING

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 18
Date: April 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all anyone who gave this game a bad review needs to open up there eyes and play it again. I loved this game! i would come home, throw my bag on the ground, run into my room and play. i would stop for dinner go back up and by the time mye eyes started to hurt it was already 10:30 (of course i didn't do my hw those days until like 12) ok so the story is... ur retired uncle owns a resteraunt. once he retired he shut down the buisness. this is where You (Armand LeBouf) comes in! you're a chef that just graduated and it is you're job to get the resteraunt up and running again. Money isn't a problem because you can always take out loans (your loan rate gets higher through out the game)and you will do buisness with people that will provide you with money if you meet their goals. Sounds like all fun and games right? well you're 100% wrong. Your competetor, Omnifood, are no good, lying jerks. they use synthetic ingredients in comps and are always putting people out of buissnes. thats your other goal. SLAM THEM TO THE GROUND! thats all i can say or i'll spoil the game. but the great thing about this game is that if u get stuck on a level you can always restart and it will say "Would you like to restart with easier goals" which is perfect if you're stuck on a level. i loved this game not only because i love to cook and because i want to have my own resteraunt when i'm older (believe me....my dads a designer and i already have made blueprints for my future resteraunts)but also because i love the tycoon games. this game is worth much more then it's going for. although i was quite dissapointed when it ended because i played it non-stop i loved the game!

AWESOME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: February 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I spent 3 to 4 hours on this game STRAIGHT!! Then I took a 5 minute break and whent right back to the action. Some people say that sim games are complicated, not for me. If you like sim games this will be great for you. I don't sim games are complicated, some I just think are to boring. Not this one trust me. You get to enter food compitions all styles (if you play story mode) if you don't you get to run your own resturant! Get waiters make the food!! AWESOME!! You have three different types of styles there are in the game French, Italian, and of course American. The French is a biggy in this game. Your guy in the game if French {} you can't make him Americian or Italian. The story is awesome there are 18 scenerios in the game. Beat them all ya win. There is a tetorial in the begging of the game to make everything easy for you when i first started out it seemed a little bit complicated for me. It takes around 15-30 minutes to get used to the game then you know it really well. The Americian cuizine is full of the stuff that we eat for supper. Baby Back Ribs, that type of stuff. The Italian cuzine is full of spices, that type of stuff. The French is just well... French. Parmisian Torte, Fried Duck with Asperigus Tips. Also, this is not just a sit down dinner game, well it is kinda KINDA like that at first. As you go to the 3rd or 4th seceniro your resturant(s) get fancy. You can't change this. If you want a sit down dinner game get Fast Food Tycoon 1 or 2. Well hope you enjoy.

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