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RollerCoaster Factory review

Game: RollerCoaster Factory
Platform: PC
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Unknown

Reader review by KompressorFromGFAQs

June 27, 2007

When it comes to some so-called games that you see in the bargain bin at your favorite electronics store, it really gets to the point where you sometimes wonder at what point someone on the design team said aloud "Hey, this is finished! Alright, let's go home, I need to watch TV and drink large amounts of beer! Yay for liver damage!" It was clear that something like that was said far, far too early in "Roller Coaster Factory's" production, because this coaster building sim doesn't feel complete at all. But really, what can expect from a developer called ValuSoft? It's the first sign that whatever you're buying has the potential to be cheaply made, but in this case, it also means that you're buying half of a video game. The front of the jewel case proudly states "Dream it! Build it! Ride it!" They forgot to add the final and possibly most important step when it comes to this, "Sell the game to some poor fool on eBay!"

No doubt trying to lure in the "Roller Coaster Tycoon" fanbase, ValuSoft tried to make a game that lets you build and ride whatever people killing, vomit inducing coaster you imagine. "Roller Coaster Factory" starts you off in an editor of sorts with a few buttons scattered about to make the simulation seem like it has some real content in it, at first, anyway. You'll use the coaster builder to attempt to make some sort of realistic ride, but you'll soon find that this is an impossible feat. You can only build track sections at four different height levels, making the construction awkward because roller coasters in the real world certainly have more than four height levels.

Another thing that ValuSoft should have taken into consideration is that there are dozens of types of roller coasters in the world besides the typical steel supported and the wooden supported. Adding to that, the eye is capable of seeing quite a few colors, millions I'm told, so it would definitely be nice to at least be able to change the color of whatever track you're making. Every ride you make in this game just looks hideous and stupid, no matter how much thought you put into it, and if you sent a picture of anything created in "Roller Coaster Factory" to a Six Flags design team as a suggestion, you probably would get a letter in the mail with a picture of someone flipping you the bird. That, or they'd spend a good five minutes howling with laughter and send you a thank you note for making their day. You can never tell with engineers, unpredictable people, you know.

Oh yes, you can ride your rides, oh thank the lords. After building and testing your creation, you'll be able to get a first person view of the so called thrill packed action. Be sure to fasten your seat belt and put on the super uncomfortable harness, people, and prepare for a full 3D view of your hard work. The first person views aren't terrible, and they provide some quick entertainment and satisfaction (you worked so hard on a ride, you deserve to ride it until you puke all over your monitor!). Too bad that the ride sometimes randomly crashes even when you have enough juice to make it over the bunny hills and loops. It is just bizarre and most disturbing. I am glad that whoever programmed this doesn't control physics in the real world. But, at least every time the ride crashes, you get to see your entire ride collapse domino style. Clearly the most intelligence loaded feature in the game.

"Roller Coaster Factory" should have never been released in this state. It is just a bit disturbing that a team of people can just all of a sudden release a title randomly when it is blatantly obvious that "Roller Coaster Factory" wasn't even close to being finished. The program crashes completely without warning at some points, making building a lengthy track without saving every five minutes impossible. Even for bargain bin material, this title is pretty poor (just because I'm poor doesn't mean I should have to deal with poor games), and people need to stand up for the penny pinching gamer such as moi. This game's content can be exhausted in the same amount of time it takes to read this. "Roller Coaster Factory" could be compared to "Big Rigs" in terms of contentless nonsense, and that's all that really needs to be said. A roller coaster lover should invest in "Roller Coaster Tycoon", something that can drain months out of the life of a gamer, just because it's so damn addictive.

Rating: 3/10

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