Reviewed: June 4, 2003
Reviewed by: Dave Larson
Publisher
Enlight Software
Developer
Enlight Software
Released: April 11, 2003
Genre: Simulation
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
7
4
4
6
6.0
System Requirements
Recommended System
It’s a dark day for the future of mankind. Imagine a world where dorm food is a new treat. Imagine, under bleak skies and barren lands, a complete lack of any golden arches along your local highway exits. Imagine the awful and terrible landscape without a string of restaurant signs leading you by your stomach to satiated glory. In Enlight Studios' Restaurant Empire, an evil series of events have led to global domination—of food! Now, the insidious empire of Omnifood has created the death st—no, wait—they monopolized the restaurant business, and you are burdened with the destiny to save the gastric lives of humans.
Okay, okay. It’s a little melodramatic, but there had to be some plot for this new restaurant simulator. As the owner, manager and god of your restaurants, you get to choose each little detail from dining to décor. The first place you’ll start is in your own kitchen. You determine the menu, based upon your available ingredients and recipes. From “Dried Bean Casserole” to “Stuffed Peppers”, your menu choices will either draw customers in, or send them screaming for the nearest restroom, never to return. The menu categories are quite extensive, including appetizer, soup, entrée, dessert and drinks (including beer & wine). The actual menu choices were somewhat limited in the beta version tested, but looking at the dishes they had, expect a wide variety of mouth-watering dishes when the game is fully released.
Once your menu is set, go forth and place your want ads. Actually, you have a selection of employees to choose from. Each employee has a reputation rating and a monthly salary requirement (that’s cost to you), and you need to fill chef, captain, server and kitchen porter slots as needed to adequately staff your restaurant. Of course, your employees aren’t perfect. They will accumulate complaints over time, and if they are rude enough, you’ll need to place your boot somewhere appropriate. Employees and menu now arranged, the last major aspect of the design stage is the physical layout of the restaurant. Reminiscent of The Sims, the buildings have separate rooms, with room for appliances, furniture and decorations. These too will affect whether or not customers deign to visit your establishment.
Despite its delectable appearance, Restaurant Empire is not a game for the feeble-minded or faint-hearted. You have to have the stomach to do what it takes to keep your restaurant profitable. Raise prices, fire employees, or go into debt to afford better appliances; whatever you choose, choose wisely. The fate of all intestinal pleasure depends on it.
The trademark of all simulator games, gameplay is the strongest aspect of this game. Restaurant Empire certainly has the complexity in programming that most sims demonstrate nowadays. For starters, you of course have to hire and maintain your staff of chefs, captains, servers, hosts and porters. This is probably the most challenging aspect of the game, because rudeness or poor service seem to generate the most complaints, and apparently 90% or better of all applicants are naturally rude. It can be frustrating to fire a rude server to only hire a new one that is only worse.
Your second priority is getting your restaurant built and equipped. The type of furniture, artwork, and decorations you use will determine the type of restaurant you will be running. If you get old card tables and folding chairs, you’d better be prepared to serve burgers and fries. If you get the fine oak tables and plush armchairs, expect to serve nothing but the best. You can run any quality of restaurant you like—it is actually easier to run a fast food restaurant than a top quality restaurant. This is probably true in reality, but let’s face facts: if we’re playing a restaurant sim, most people want to run the crème de la crème of restaurants. You still can, just be prepared to work for your fine restaurant.
Once your place is set up, you’ll need to design your menu and decide what you’ll offer. There are a ton of recipes, and you can improve upon them with tips from special customers and by buying higher-quality ingredients. Pay attention though, if your items all take too long to prepare your customers will get slow service. Also, you can set your prices, and you’ll want to make sure you’re still making profit after all of your expenses. If you’re a good manager, you’ll keep a close eye on everything by viewing the plethora of reports that this game generates for you. Everything from total income to customer complaints to expenses, it’s all there for you to see.
Probably the most frustrating thing with the gameplay though, is the difficulty you will have in correcting your problems. It seems everyone you hire will be rude, despite the training money you sink for them. Additionally, slow service never seemed to speed up, despite the number of servers added to the workforce. The other frustrating thing about this game is the awkwardness of the mouse pointer. It jumps a little on the screen at times, and a few times, the view got stuck for ten seconds or so. Besides these problems, Restaurant Empire offers a lot for the gastro-executive mind.
These days it seems that there is a general guideline that all simulator games use to determine their graphics quality, and unfortunately, nobody has taken the initiative to step ahead of that line. The people all seem a little “polygonish,” and there are few frames for their movement and animation. That makes everything seem quite herky-jerky and really keeps the player from getting into the game more. The movies are also disappointingly the same way.
However, despite the animation flaws, the designers did a really cool job of making the pictures for the food items they show. You can click on the food piece, and a close-up of the item will show up, rotating slowly. Also, the city view of the buildings isn’t bad, and a lot of detail was put into the furniture and other items you can use in your restaurant. Otherwise, the graphics are simple and clear, but not especially noteworthy.
The sound is both hit and miss in Restaurant Empire. When you start the game, and are on the city map, there is a cool funk link going on that’s both catchy and unobtrusive at the same time—a difficult feat. The tutorial also has a pleasant voice that explains the instructions verbatim, for those who don’t like to read. Here’s the kick though, in between the tutorial missions, there are little mini-movies that explain the plot of the game. That part must have been designed by a Marx-brother descendant, because it’s totally lacking any voice work.
In the actually game, it is mostly general hubbub of customers and staff conversing. If you’re looking at the kitchen, you’ll hear the clinking of china and a few other working noises, but nothing spectacular. The sound crew did put a nice touch on things by having the volume of these sounds grow and fade, depending on the distance your viewpoint is from the noise source. In other respects, the sound is similar to the graphics in that there is nothing special to say.
Listed at most retailers for $29.99, Restaurant Empire has a lot to explore. There is the main campaign, which pits you versus the forces of Omnifood for success. Additionally, you can also play a “sandbox” game, which is just a free game, or skirmish if you’re used to that term. However, it completely lacks a multiplayer mode, which definitely means that there will be a top limit to the time you will put into this game. Still, if you like food or sim games, then definitely give Restaurant Empire a go.
From stuffed peppers to tiramisu, Restaurant Empire has something to offer any simulator fan. Whether you’re a meat and potatoes person or a vegan extreme, you can make your dream restaurant come to life. Just a tip though: play this game on a full stomach, or you’ll be making frequent breaks to the fridge for “just a little munchy.” Good luck, and bon appetit!