![]() Having to choose between the stuffed spider crab and the crispy lamb chops with almond is quite another. Was it really that important, for instance, to give you a dozen or so options for mood lighting on tables in your hotel bar, including a few variations on basic candles? Or to force you to set up a menu in your hotel restaurant, right down to picking the appetizers, soups, entrees, and desserts? Depth is one thing. There are just too many options here, forcing you to make decisions that you really don't want to bother making. ![]() But most of these fantasy aspects of being a big-time hotelier have been drained away through a focus on mundane tasks. Neither does trying to turn around a faded icon on Sunset Boulevard. Running a glitzy European getaway for the rich and famous doesn't sound half bad. It looks and feels like you're actually in a hotel, right down to the annoying Muzak soundtrack.īut it's all a bit much. Guests mill about amiably, eating meals hitting the tanning beds shooting pool and even hanging out in the sauna, pouring water on the hot coals. All of the objects are sharply drawn, and the sheer number of those objects ensures that you don't have to build the same room twice. Interested in some arcade machines for your game room? Check out the multiple types of shooting and racing games on offer. Feel like a new floor? Browse the dozens of carpet and tile samples to lay down a new one. Don't like the basic style of urinal for your bathrooms? Spend a little more and buy the glitzy ones. There are numerous choices for everything. Then, you can outfit them with an incredibly broad range of accoutrements like a virtual Martha Stewart. You can add nearly anything to your hotels, from groovy piano bars and swimming pools to arcades and gift shops. The Sims-like aspect of dressing up your hotels is the most entertaining aspect of the game because there are absolutely tons of options here for room types and furnishings. Guests always want something that you don't have, so you're constantly called upon to gut existing accommodations and lay down new rooms. ![]() Refitting hotels is a major focus of gameplay. You can even delve into your market share to compare how you're doing against your rivals or get strict on the staff members and review their uniforms. The menus are extremely detailed, as well as loaded with all sorts of information like room occupancy, reservation rate, customer satisfaction, employment policies, advertising campaigns, and package deals. Just about everything can be tracked here, so if you like micromanagement, sit right down and stay a spell. You work on everything from massive elite hotels in desirable locales like Paris and Hollywood to rustic inns in the middle of nowhere. Your orders are simple-get them into the black. ![]() As usual in these sorts of things, in the single-player campaign (there is no multiplayer just the solo campaign, a random option, and a few sandbox hotels), you're a near-omniscient boss who is given control of a series of reclamation projects in various states of disrepair. The core gameplay mimics the original Hotel Giant, as well as a score of copycat tycoon games last seen gathering dust in the PC games aisle of your local department store. Some of the hotels you're called upon to renovate don't look like they need much help, at least from the outside. There is a certain charm here that might appeal to the detail-oriented among you, but the game is so demanding that even the biggest control freaks will likely find themselves worn out after a few hours of play. In fact, it's so focused on the nitty-gritty that you'd have more fun taking overnight shifts on the front desk at the nearest Motel 6. This isn't as much of a game as it is a total re-creation of life in the hotel business. This sequel to the tycoon game that was a modest hit eight years ago dumps most of the enjoyable aspects of playing a Hilton-like heir in favor of rigorous micromanagement. You probably won't want to check in to Hotel Giant 2, which is a management sim that could be summed up as convoluted and a bit cranky. ![]()
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