by Lorelle Noble

Created on: August 27, 2008   Last Updated: August 30, 2008

Summer Session by Tycoon Games

Summer Session by Tycoon Games begins with great promise but quickly proves itself less capable than others in this field. Your character is away at college for summer session and you choose his day-to-day activities and interactions which control the character's success in this game.

The operations are simple but uninteresting considering character dialogue is pre-determined. On occasion, the user can select a general direction for conversations to progress from a short list of subjects, however this does not compensate for the boredom created by being limited to using the mouse to advance to the next dialogue or clicking keyboard controls.

There are no other people visible in this game besides main characters. You never see anyone else in the hallway, in the dorm, on campus grounds, or even in the classroom which leaves the user feeling isolated throughout. Your character is not animated therefore you can not choose a direction for your character to go and see the character walk to that location. In fact, you don't see your character enough. The users will find themselves wondering, "What does this guy look like again?"

Activities are limited as well. It seems promising to choose between going to work, exercising, playing sports, playing video games, studying, resting or partying but when you select an option, nothing much happens. If "sports" is selected, the game always goes to the same gym, with the same girl, and the same dialogue. The user can't even speak to her there. Other activities are also nondescript. The character doesn't interact with other people if you choose "party" and he doesn't study with anyone if you choose "study". Completed activities show only a dialogue box describing what took place. Everything is at the most basic level which is frustrating for the user. Days also progress too quickly.

The brightest spot in this game is that the dialogue between characters was surprisingly realistic however there should be a bit more control over who you can talk to and how much you want to say.

The sound overall was clear and unobtrusive with the exception of the sound of purchasing something at the mall which sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

The target group for this game is adolescent males. Some sexual references were made about female characters and there was mild cursing which may discourage play by some users. No options exist to become a female character instead.

This product can not compete with products intended for hard core gamers. The static screens resemble coloring book pages or old-fashioned cartoons. The graphics are not sharp and lack the animation and interest that gamers would expect to see in a new product.

The idea of this game is creative. I was curious to know if my character would ever have a successful date with any of the other characters but the outdated graphics pages and limited options did not hold my interest enough to purchase the game. I rate it a 2/5. The concept is nice but the execution needs much work.

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