Hotel Giant 2 – PC – Review

And yet another
Tycoon game hits the market. This time, it’s all about successfully managing a
hotel that caters to a wealthy class of clientele. Service with a smile, for
everyone who has the bucks.

Hotel Giant 2 is
the sequel to Hotel Giant, which was released several years ago. I never played
the original, but the premise of Hotel Giant 2 is basically the same as in most
simulation Tycoon games. Players are given a series of goals to meet in a
campaign mode, or they can play in a free-style sandbox mode.

Upon starting
the game, players have a choice of playing a tutorial, jumping directly into the
campaigns, or trying their hand at designing the hotel of their dreams in the
sandbox mode. I would strongly suggest running through the tutorial first,
before beginning the campaign mode. The interface is not the most intuitive
around, and the campaign goals are difficult to find and decipher. If players
are not familiar with the menu commands and all the choices this game offers,
they can become a bit lost at first.

The tutorial
does a good job of demonstrating the basics of gameplay. The menus and options
are presented clearly and in logical order. Once the tutorial is finished,
players should have a basic understanding of the game mechanics.

The menus have
all the information that anyone may desire, but deciphering it all is difficult,
mostly because there is just so much information. And, the layout is not always
the most logical arrangement. Figuring out what the scenarios require is also
hard to do. When a campaign is chosen, there is only a short blurb on the
general situation of the current hotel that needs to be upgraded. There is no
mention or discussion of the actual goals of the scenario. These goals are in
the menus, but they are hard to find.

There is a
staggering amount of options and things to do while running the hotel business.
There are the standard types of things, like adding gyms, restaurants, spas and
game rooms. Hey, you can even install a library! But the real meat is in the
myriad of choices available for the design of all these rooms and shops. For
example, when building a restaurant, players will not only design the physical
appearance, but will also choose the food items on the menus. Umpteen choices
are available for all the outward details and accoutrements of the rooms, as
well.

Hotel Giant 2 is
a game that has a lot of bang for its buck. Players can literally spend hours
designing away. The question is will they want to spend hours designing away.
While there is a huge amount of things to micro-manage, and I’m never one to
decry micro-mangement, the whole feel of the game is generic. There is not a
sense of engagement with the hotels or characters, or much individuality in the
running of the hotels. This is partly due to the lack of personality or humor in
the game, but also in part because hotels in and of themselves aren’t very
personal.

Gameplay: 7
The game is fairly accessible to most players, but the
game can be difficult due to the lack of clear goals at the beginning of the
scenarios and the sheer number of things to do during the game. Designing the
rooms and businesses is fun at first, but there is a lack of engagement in the
overall experience.

Graphics:
8.5
The rooms and objects are all very good-looking. The colors and designs are
bright and detailed. The characters are also nicely drawn and animated.

Sound:
7
The music and
sound effects are decent, but generic.

Difficulty:
Medium/Hard
The game is not too difficult, but players may be a bit lost at times due to the
lack of clear goals and the huge amount of things to do. 

Concept: 7
Simulation
games are common these days, and most are pretty similar. Hotel Giant 2 doesn’t
offer anything really new, but does provide quite a bit of details and gameplay
choices.

Overall: 7
Hotel Giant 2
compares fairly well with the general crowd of simulation games. The game looks
good, and there has been a lot of thought placed in the amount of design
options. However, there just isn’t a lot of personality to make it stand out
from the rest of the pack. Best for people who like the idea of running a
virtual city within a city, and who really enjoy all the little details.