Restaurant Empire II (PC) Review
Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 06.23.2009
This chef serves up one mean dish! A good simulation with a lot of depth, but sadly technical problems hurt the experience.
Game: Restaurant Empire II
Publisher: Paradox Entertainment
Developer: Enlight
Genre: Simulation
Players: 1
Rated E for Everyone
If you check my review history here at 411mania.com you will see that I love business and sports simulations. Even if they are text-based, I love the feeling of setting up a business or sports team and controlling every little detail in your way to turn it into something great. Years ago I had the chance to play the original Restaurant Empire, but before I could beat the game I had to move from one house to the other and that game somehow got lost during the move. So it is with great excitement that I agreed to review Restaurant Empire II. The sequel also includes the original game as part of the package, which was a great bonus for me. Is this a great deal or just another lackluster “Tycoon” game? Read on to find out.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is identical in both games. You control a chef named Armand LeBoeuf. In the first game you are a recent graduate from Culinary School who seeks to establish his own restaurant, but an “evil” corporation named OmniCorp stands in your way. This corporation has been putting all other restaurants out of business and after convincing your uncle to let you resurrect his once popular restaurant, you embark on a quest to not only make a name for yourself, but get back at OmniCorp for putting your uncle out of business on the first place. The second game has Armand, already a famous chef and restaurateur, and his wife Delia returning to Paris after their honeymoon. Delia and Armand open a new establishment focusing on tea and desserts, while Armand’s newfound popularity has led to him being granted his own cooking show. During the course of the second game not only do you need to fix the issues that arise between the newlyweds, but also the issues that arise inside your own restaurant empire. I found the story of the first game to be better, since you are starting from scratch fighting against the “evil” empire, while the second game’s story seems to get lost in the shuffle. Either way the story is just an excuse to toss you into a series of “campaign missions” with set goals to progress. The game also features a Sandbox Mode if you want to skip the theatrics and go straight into the management aspect.
The gameplay follows the typical “Tycoon” formula: You are responsible for the interior (and sometimes exterior) design of your restaurant, the hiring, firing and overall management of staff, designing a menu and cutting business deals for such things as high quality ingredients and new recipes. This might seem daunting at first and it is quite an undertaking. Playing the first game is mandatory to understand what is going on since the second game features very little in the way of tutorials and explanations for the basic stuff, focusing on the new features only. Even with the so-called tutorials of the first game at hand, this game is quite hard and you might have more questions about everything from the interface to the multiple menus than there are answers.
One of the main issues I found is that you have no direct control over the staff. You can only hire/fire them, raise or lower their salaries and train them to be better, but that doesn’t always help. Addressing customer complaints is one of the better ways to increase your restaurant rating, but even after 20 or so hours playing the game I have yet to find ways to solve some of them, specifically the ones dealing with staff rudeness. Also the staff seems to have path finding issues, with them usually taking the longest possible route to the table they are supposed to attend to. I have also noticed how 2 or 3 waiters seem to focus on one table while others are left unattended. If we could issue orders directly to the staff these problems would not be an issue, but alas, we can’t.
I mentioned that you have to design the menu, choosing the recipes you are going to offer, the quality of the ingredients and how much will it cost. This is one of the most engaging features of the game and the one I had the most fun with. Different restaurants in different locations need different menus to meet the consumer’s expectations and tastes. The first game has three types of cuisine, Italian, French and American, while the second game also introduces German cuisine. Sometimes clients themselves will offer to sell you improved versions of your existing recipes, brand new recipes or special ingredients. Their prices are usually very high and you need to balance out the cost with the potential gain and see if it is worth the risk. However, there is no way to import one restaurant’s menu to the other so you need to design every menu separately and this is part of the extensive micromanagement that I hate about the game. It gets worse when you have multiple restaurants and need to address consumer complaints in multiple places at once. Also like I previously mentioned, some of the complaints appear to be impossible to solve or they solve themselves without any apparent input from the player.
That is another big problem I have with the game. In some of the campaign scenarios I had no idea to tell if the changes I was doing where actually affecting the goals I had to reach. Sometimes I felt like I just completed a goal by a stroke of luck without any real sense of accomplishment. Restaurant Empire II sometimes feels like a game you are watching and waiting for SOMETHING to happen instead of a game you are playing. Also I had quite a few crashes to desktop (about a dozen or so) and if there is something that just makes me mad is having spend a few hours getting things running only for a crash to ruin all of that.
Another thing: This game is HARD! Don’t expect to be able to learn how to play the game in a matter of minutes. The interface is confusing and the tutorials seem to raise more questions than they answer. In other words, I have been playing for over 20 hours and I still feel like I am learning. Some of the Campaign Missions are quite difficult and require multiple plays until you find a way to complete the goals.
Graphics:
The graphics are pretty much identical in both games. Restaurant Empire II looks just like Restaurant Empire, with maybe a few new textures here and there. The graphics are by no means bad, they just aren’t good either. You can find plenty of jagged edges and noticeable polygons in the characters and objects. The camera can be troublesome and it takes quite a while to master it, since it is quite difficult to place it at just the right angle you want to be. There is also slowdown when there are a lot of things happening at once.
Sound:
I found the music to be fitting of a restaurant game, but it gets lost in the background amongst the crowd noise and kitchen sounds. The voiceovers are pretty decent, but there is a distinctive lack of them in the sequel. The original game has a lot more voiceovers. Sound effects are well done and immerse you into the restaurant experience.
Lasting Appeal:
We are talking about two full games here as well as a robust sandbox mode, so you know there is a long lasting experience to be found. That is, if you have the patience to sit down and learn the game while ignoring its obvious issues. I found the Sandbox Mode a lot more fun than the rigorous campaigns since you are not burdened by goals, but playing through the campaign is a necessity to learn the game.
Fun Factor:
There is some fun to be had with this game if you can ignore the game’s problems and you are the patient sort. I can honestly say that this is the best representation of the restaurant business that I have ever seen in video game form, but that doesn’t make it a great game. By playing it you will likely wonder about what could have been with a little more polish, better tutorials and a more user-friendly interface.
The 411:
If you like “Tycoon”-style games or business simulations you owe yourself to try Restaurant Empire II. It might be daunting and require a lot of micromanagement, but there is a lot of depth to it, much more so than the typical budget tycoon game. But if you hate slow-paced games, games that require too much micromanagement or too many hours of learning, or you simply hate hard games, then I suggest you stay far away from this game.
Graphics
6.5
Dated graphics with noticeable edges and polygons, camera needs some work, slowdown when too much is happening at once.
Gameplay
7.2
Requires a lot of patience and micromanagement. Needs more tutorials. Campaign Mode can be HARD!
Sound
6.0
Restaurant Empire has more voicework than the sequel, music is forgettable, sound effects are decent at best.
Lasting Appeal
7.7
Two full games are included with their long Campaign Modes. Sandbox Mode is great! Will last you a long time if you are able to deal with the game's issues.
Fun Factor
7.0
With more work this could have been a masterpiece. Game has a lot of depth and can be fun if you are patient.
