Industry Giant II
Big business, giant bore.
Reviewed by Sarah Schutz

With a potentially addictive game premise that succeeded the first time around, Industry Giant II falls flat on its face no matter the game mode. Whether selling cardboard boxes or the newest electronics, industry management is best left to the professionals who actually make money from their endeavors.

In Industry Giant II, you start your own industry with a fixed amount of capital in hopes of making a profit. Depending upon the year of invention, you can choose a variety of products including toys, household goods and electronics. Each industry requires different factories, storage houses and transportation depending upon the materials needed for the final product. You have to make sure the products get made right and on time while simultaneously making a profit.

Striking the right balance can be tricky at first, but once you play the game for awhile, running a successful industry is a piece of cake. While running your industry usually lacks variation from game to game, the goal does differ slightly with each available game mode: endless, campaign or multiplayer.

The Endless mode is just that. Sit down and watch your industry grow or fail---endlessly. Too bad the eternal mode poses no real challenge to even the novice tycoon player. The mundane nature of the task kept me from caring about the status of my various industries, especially with no foreseeable goal and few challenges along the way.

While the ongoing mode allows for AI competitors and different land configurations, forcing a more strategic game and use of different modes of transportation, the concept remains the same: set up your industry and watch it progress. Once your industries are up and running, there isn’t much to do except tweak production rates according to your whims.

While the Campaign mode would theoretically pose more of a challenge with outlined goals, I was disappointed with thie mode's gameplay as well. The goals involve setting up industries and reaching a peak profit within a given amount of time. If you choose products that will sell and set up your stores in desirable locations, the campaign is pretty much won. I set up my newspaper/copy book industry, left my pc to go finish my dishes and returned to still have 10 years remaining to meet my $10 million goal. The game allows for change in game speed, yet even the fastest level failed to keep up the pace. Once your product production line has begun, there is not much left to do.

The multiplayer mode is also lacking in several areas. After several attempts to play online, I was unable to find another player in the multiplayer arena--which probably attests to the game's lack of popularity. After playing the multiplayer mode alone for awhile, it was evident that--even with other players-- it serves little purpose. The gameplay is essentially comprised of various people playing their own single games with real-life competitors rather than computer-run industries.

On the positive side, since you are in control you can spice the game up a bit by creating more complicated industries which will allow you to play at more difficult levels. Though it wouldn't be our first recommendation, this game offers a glimmer of hope for you tycoon fanatics who are drooling at the thought of running an industrial empire and raking in the profits.

The graphics and sound are of above-average quality, though the music does sound like it was exported from a bad '80s flick. If, on the other hand, you don’t have any strong desire to experience industrial entrepreneurship, there are better choices out there for Tycoon games.

For girl gamers, we are pretty much on equal footing with the guys when it comes to Industry Giant II gameplay. AI competitors can be of either sex and when you’re running your industry, gender isn’t a factor. This title offers equal-opportunity access to boredom.