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Thrillville: Off The Rails Review
Jon Wilcox
19/10/2007
TVG returns to coaster country in Frontier's follow up to the 2006 tycoon/mini-game hybrid...
Arriving in Autumn 2006 at the near-witching hour of the original Xbox's lifecycle and PlayStation 2, Frontier Developments' Thrillville attempted to turn console gamers into tycoons with the responsibility of looking after a series of theme parks, along with the ability to play a series of retro-inspired mini-games. Despite its playful offerings, Thrillville largely failed to provide enough depth to the tycoon aspects of the game - a surprising disappointment given Frontier's past work - with some of the gameplay extras (namely the conversations with theme park patrons) quickly becoming plodding and ultimately pointless. It also didn't help that the release of the game coincided to the build up to Christmas, and the launch of Wii and PlayStation 3 (in the States at least.)
Twelve months on, and the UK-based developer has been signed by publisher LucasArts (in a rare example of original IP creativity from the House of Skywalker) to produce a follow up and attract gamers that missed out last time around. But has it given Frontier enough time to address the balance and bring more of the essence of Rollercoaster Tycoon to the experience, or is Off the Rails little more than the theme park equivalent of an annual update? TVG picked up a queue-jump pass to experience Thrillville: Off the Rails at first hand...
Available for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PSP, Thrillville: Off the Rails returns to the theme parks founded by the player's eccentric uncle (and Doctor Emmett Brown look-alike) Mortimer, one year after the success of holding back the threat from rival theme park operator, Globo-Joy. But the mega-corporation is far from vanquished, launching an anti-Thrillville campaign on the park...not that this affects players in the day to day running of the theme park much.
Away from pseudo-narratives that wouldn't look out of place in a kid's Saturday morning cartoon, the focus of Thrillville of course rests with building outlandish roller coasters, playing the near three-dozen mini-games, and making sure that the tills keep ringing in the money. The process of coaster building of course lends itself to the motion-sensitive control system of Wii's remote and nunchuk, though like most titles on Nintendo's box of tricks, it does take a little bit of time to get use to. However, moulding the form of the tracks quickly becomes second nature, intuitive, and fun. It's for this reason that (despite LucasArts representatives insisting to TVG that it wasn't the case) Off the Rails seems built specifically for Wii. Using the Wii-remote to direct the inclines and corners and the nunchuk to twist the track for sharper turns, the system just works solidly and responsively. It may not have the extra layer of graphical finesse of the Xbox 360 version, but players will feel much more involved on Wii.
This year also sees the introduction of 'Woah!' elements to coaster building, set pieces that throw in an extra thrill for passengers from stunt walls and trackside pyrotechnics to the totally fantastical including jumps and pendulums, which split the track and are probably in breach of every Health & Safety law in existence. Even more worrying (for the safety brigade) is the ability to have coasters that literally come off the rails - though some of the more adventurous riders seem to enjoy such death-defying stunts. With the game's age range beginning at seven years old, Frontier and LucasArts have been aware during the development process that having coaster cars plummet into the ground may harm their rating with the ESRB and PEGI. The advice from the regulatory boards was that as long as the riders weren't seen suffering or getting injured then the features wouldn't harm Off the Rails' eventual rating...but it was never going to suffer the fate of Manhunt 2. There are a selection of extra details in this year's instalment, not least the ability to decorate stalls with themes to suit their location: Sheriff badges, pretzels, and sports helmets are just a few on offer to gamers eager to ensure their pizza outlets fit into the Wild West or underwater areas of the park.
So much of Off the Rails will seem familiar to owners of the original title, including its negative points. Once again, the tycoon element never gets off the ground and it doesn't take much to scratch below the surface to see its inadequacies, a continuing surprise given the pedigree of Rollercoaster Tycoon developers, Frontier. Aside from keeping an eye on the power demands of a particular area in the park, something that's more of a restriction to stop players from creating too many coasters to cope with, there's very little need to worry about the finances of the park. Unless players make some of the rashest and incredulous decisions in business, the customers will continue to come through the park gates and ride the spectacles of Thrillville, filling the coffers of the theme park. Case in point: after leaving the office Wii on all weekend with Thrillville left to its own devices, it was quite a surprise to see that on Monday, the theme park's coffers had escalated to over $1.5 million...not bad since it was around $60k on Friday! It doesn't take an Alan Sugar (or a Donald Trump if you're an American) to run the place, and that is ultimately the most frustrating aspect of the game if you're a fan of Frontier's previous output.
Regardless of the superficial tycoon elements, entering conversations with patrons of the park also stood as one of the weakest elements of the original title last year. Despite being integrated into the game as a way of judging the performance of the park and finding out ways of how to improve it, the feature ultimately failed mainly due to the lack of expansive options and a strange dynamic that saw the player attempt to match-make different customers. This time around however, the topics of conversation are extended with a greater set of options to choose from. However, the process of going between numerous groups of people becomes increasingly desperate the more you play it, and it seems at times like the player's character is a strange mix of cocky, creepy, and attention seeking. It also doesn't help that taking part in conversations remains quite a dull experience when all you really want to do is make another coaster that will make customers throw up or crash...
Veterans of the original may be disappointed that Off the Rails is little more than an update with a handful of new mini-games, coasters, and themed areas - but ultimately it hasn't been touted as a sequel either (note the distinct lack of a number in the title). A majority of the mini-games made their debut last year, though the new additions like the Excitebike homage Stunt Rider and the boxing-based Robot KO, continue to feature gameplay from the retro age and add otherwise needed depth. But it doesn't take long to realise that Off the Rails is just a way to get the brand noticed twelve months after the original appeared on 'ye olde' formats...perhaps an indication that a sequel may just be in the works.
