Factory Mogul (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ron Dulin
• Reviewed on: 04/23/2002
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 04/08/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Factory Mogul (PC) Review

Originally released in summer 2001 as Gadget Tycoon, Factory Mogul is a light business simulation with a "wacky" veneer, giving you an opportunity to renovate a dilapidated factory and become a captain of industry. It's flawed on many levels--it gives you both too much and not enough to do on separate occasions and has a clumsy interface that makes accomplishing tasks more difficult than necessary. But it has some charm, and the budget price is suited to the amount of fun it provides.

Though mostly unassuming, Factory Mogul does have one striking feature: Its theme song might be the worst theme song ever. It's a B-grade Euro-disco track featuring a dramatic female singer and lyrics full of four-letter words and references to sex and debauchery. In its bizarre way, the song sets up the premise. You have acquired a run-down factory and must find a way to create a successful business. You can choose one of three products in which to specialize: toilets, inline skates, or robots.

The game offers three modes of play. You can choose one of the included missions--each one gives you predetermined goals, like having to reach a particular research level or income level. You can choose the sandbox mode, in which you choose a product to develop and manage everything without competition. And you can play multiplayer games over a LAN or the Internet, though the game doesn't include a built-in matching service.

The basic game follows a fairly linear path. You begin with your unsightly site and then hire researchers. Depending on which product you choose, there will be a varying number of components to research. Toilets and skates have three components; robots have four. Each component has different levels to research. For instance, you can focus on making your toilet seats more attractive or more high-tech. Or you can focus on making them both more attractive and more high-tech. Higher-level components cost more to produce but also make your product worth more. If you are the first company to research a certain component, you'll own the patent and earn money until another company completes that research, at which point the patent goes into the public domain.

Once you've researched at least one level of all the necessary components, you can begin production. Production requires a fair number of employees, maintenance men to operate your assembly line, and a supervisor to get the whole thing working. To produce a level one product, you need to hire only level one workers and buy level one machines. If you plan on moving into higher-quality products, higher-level employees and equipment will be necessary.

To sell your product, you'll need to hire a sales manager. And an advertising specialist won't hurt either. Each employee has specialized tasks. Your human resources representative can poach employees from other companies or raise the morale of your stressed-out workers. Advertising executives can boost product awareness with "emotives" (typical buyers) or "technies" (cutting-edge consumers), and you can advertise with an airship if you really want to boost your visibility. Spies can steal research and commit industrial sabotage, while lawyers can protect you when your competition decides to employ its spies against you.

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