TransOcean 2: Rivals (PC) Review

TransOcean 2: Rivals, at first glance, looks too simple to bother with, or may look insanely complicated-and both would be right. The game takes a very interesting stab at real-time strategy in that there is no killing, no out-mining, no smashing out the other's base. The player is merely shipping goods from one port to another against rival corporations. This is not without its flaws, as will be explained, but overall the complexity and possible depth the game presents takes a backseat to the forced pacing.

The game plays out in nonstop real-time, going from small amounts of money and balancing which ship to buy and sending it from port to port grabbing items and making money. There is a LOT going on behind the scenes, but ultimately the decisions the player faces are what items to load up at a port and see where they are required, and the time left on the contract. Typically there is a balance to decide between shorter/quicker trips compared to longer, more expensive ones.

There are further things to keep track of, such as slowly increasing ship damage, refuelling, how much the ship can hold, and so on. There are three types of ships: the 'money' ship, the middle ground, and the influence ship. The money ship carries items that are often sold at 10x the price of the influence ship, while the influence ship generates points for certain regions, and if enough are acquired, side bonuses can be purchased, such as getting a portion of everyone's docking fees.

Within these classes of ships are different types, with the general rule of "bigger is faster but more expensive." Other stats such as cargo space, health et cetera are available. Likewise, ports have a LOT of items to load up, ranging from oil (which can only be carried on the 'money' ships) to electronics or things of that nature, all of which are slowly changing in price and have various destinations. Regarding the campaign, the story is barely passable, but considering this is not the type of game where a story is necessary, it's not that big of a deal. The entire campaign can be beaten in a few hours barring resets, which are very common because the A.I. will beat the player down many times, and this can become frustrating. It also serves as a tutorial of sorts, gradually expanding the decisions and options to the player.

All of this is well and good, but the major problem of the game is that it is real-time, or at least not pause-able in single player. The pace is utterly frantic (and not in a good way) when everything is unlocked, like influence, sabotage, buying regions, managing multiple ships. All the complexity, all the decisions, they all go away with how short the days are, because what the game rapidly devolves into is simply sitting on the port screen, having the items organized by 'nearest other port' and slamming the ships full of the approximately most expensive items, refuelling if there is a warning, and sending them on their way. Even buying a ship, which is a huge deal based on cash, becomes 'what can I afford, okay, looks good enough,' taking all of five seconds because all the other ships are now sitting idle without orders.

People who like simple economic games without combat may find TransOcean 2 interesting, with the sole caveat that the pace is likely off-putting. There really needs to be a pause button, so that people can actually learn or look at their decisions, even in multiplayer the game will not change from the general pattern outlined above, of ignoring most of the game most of the time to simply maximize the ships heading out over and over.