Build your empire
As the name suggests, this is a sort of very focused take on classic empire building games like SimCity and Railroad Tycoon, but this one is unfortunately very far from being in the same league as these classics. It might be of interest to hardcore car buffs but unless you count yourself amongst this specialist breed, you might want to steer clear. The game starts out with the player in control of an up and coming car manufacturer in the 1950s in small town America. You get to build a factory, a repair facility and other such things in your bid to become a car tycoon and it's up to you to design the most profitable vehicle you can. You start out pretty basic but as you become more successful, you can conduct research into new parts which will open up new markets, new products and hopefully new revenue streams. The game is played out against up to three computer opponents, all vying for a piece of the action, while there are also hundreds of real world cars up to the 2000s included alongside the fictional ones. Add in hundreds of building types and dozens of scenarios and you're good to go. If you are a car buff and enjoy business sims, then there should be some fun to be had here. There's plenty of detail to get stuck into, with a solid economy system, but there are a few problems which stand in the way of letting the game live up to its potential. It's visually very ordinary, with little in the way of eye candy, while the bugs and limited scale of things mean that things get frustrating quite quickly. It's got the feel of an early test game rather than a finished product so be wary if you're considering it.
