Capitalism 2

Fire disastors are a pain in the neck. You will be informed that one of your buildings has been gutted by fire and will tell you what city. There seems to be no way to tell what you had going on in that building or even where in the city the building was. You are forced to check the entire map for a paved over spot and then guess what you used to do there.

Research is also annoying. If you hire someone to oversee your research they will often change what you are researching after it has finished its' alloted time. This would not be all bad except it changes what you get informed when the research is complete. For instance, say I am researching Cakes for 5 years and my scientist decides when it is done I will research Car. When the research is done I will get a message that, " Your research in Car is complete." It should be telling me that my Cake research is done.

Research also does not always work for me. Sometimes when the research has completed its' alloted time I will see no improvement whatsoever.

There is also an extreme lack of scenarios. Only 5 I believe. Global Domination is not one of them either.

The graphics were not all that great but that is not what I focus on the most in a strategy game.

I give the game 3 stars. The local competitors do make the game slightly challenging and I can overcome some other problems by painstakingly writing down on a pad of paper.

At heart, it's a strategy game. You create and control a business empire in any and every industry, from raw material production to manufacturing and retailing. Use mines, oil well, factories, imported goods and more to produce and sell industrial and retail products. Establish your own R&D centers, or buy technology from rivals. Compete with importers and rival corporation for survival and dominance in up to four cities at a time.

In real life, not everyone gets to see how advertising affects sales, or how different brand strategies change the bottom line. But in Capitalism 2 you have to use these tools to win advantage over the sophisticated AI competition.

An observant player will notice that simple competition creates abundance: technology levels rise higher and higher, prices tend to decline, firms (and jobs) multiply, new products classes are invented, and consumer choice expands. No magic causes this to happen; no government mandates, consumer advocate groups, or the like. Just simple capitalism - well, simple in concept, until you've got to defend your dominance of the apparel industry from eager competitors hungry for your profit margin!

The game includes several different features that make it more realistic and exciting, such as a fully functional stock market, corporate headquarters, personal portfolio (separate from your company's), and clever AI assistants - Chief Operating Officers, Chief Technical Officers, and so on, each with their own personalities and expertise. I've played the game for a good hundred hours, and I return to it again and again. My highest recommendation: among the best games I have ever played, and the most pro-market game I am aware of.