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US, October 22, 2003 - For many people like myself, when we were younger and introduced to the world of computer gaming, one of the first titles we played was SimCity. We found ourselves hooked on building our little empires, and hooked on the simulation game genre as well. Since then sim games have grown in scope and subject matter. Now you can find games that let you control everything from an ant farm to a colony in deep space. Out of that realm comes a new title from Activision, Sea World Tycoon, a game which allows the player to create and maintain their ideal Sea World Adventure Park. From the number and location of the restrooms, to just where Shamu will be performing, you can control everything in your park.
Almost every tool you could ever need is at your disposal. You can hire and fire staff, build and destroy rides, attractions, amusements, and animal exhibits, and you can landscape in various ways. And you can use the mouse or the keyboard to zoom the camera around and view any part of your park. Well, almost any part. One of the more annoying aspects of the game is your inability to rotate the camera. You can move it up and down, or side to side, but you can't spin it around to get different views of your park. You're always looking at it from the same angle, making placement of small details behind buildings, like scenery or paths, very difficult to get right. At times I found my hand would slip while running a new path that went behind a building, and I'd have no way of knowing if it was complete or if there might be a break in the path I couldn't see. And running into a break in the path can make your visitors a little upset.
Not everything about the camera control is bad though. They did remember to include a zooming feature. You can zoom right in close and place small details like flowers or a lawn gnome, or you can zoom all the way out and view how your park is taking shape. In doing this they also remembered to add in little details to make things more realistic. You can zoom in and watch people as they line up to ride a roller coaster, check out the flamingos in the flamingo exhibit, or check out Shamu swimming around for an audience. While this feature isn't exactly necessary for gameplay, it does add a bit of realism and amusement to the game.
Too far to visit a Sea World? That's okay, even if you've never been, you can still figure out how to play "Sea World Tycoon." Building options in "Sea World Tycoon" include rides and animal exhibits that are at real Sea World parks. The scenarios objectives center around building Sea World park that meets certain income and visitor requirements.
