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Soaked! does feature plenty of improvement to the core gameplay, as well. Gone is the bewildering peep behavior from the main game. For example, in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, rides went from being red hot to ice cold inexplicably within a matter of moments, and trying to decipher your peeps' behavior was baffling at times. Now there's much more of a logical cause-and-effect relationship between you and your peeps, as you can adjust the many different prices and variables to your heart's content and see how they react to them. And once again, Soaked! proves that RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a micromanager's dream, as you can control everything from the amount of pickles and condiments that customers can put on their burgers to choreographing the laser light shows, fireworks, and dolphin acts. It's so easy to get lost in all the little minutia of the game, and before you know it, you realize that you've been charmed by it all. It's simply fun to watch your peeps have fun, whether it's jumping into a pool or dragging their friends onto a wild ride. Or if they shake their heads at a souvenir counter, you want to know why so you can address the issue. (Thankfully, all it takes is to select a peep to see his or her thoughts.)
There are a ton of new coasters and other rides, in addition to all the new water-based content in Soaked!
Considering that it requires about the same amount of computational power as RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, it's impressive the way Soaked! improves on the graphics of that game, mainly through the excellent water effects. Water simply looks realistic, and it's so cool because there are many ways that you can interact with it. For example, you can stir a pool up with your cursor and watch the peeps react to the waves, or you can move the camera too close and see water splash onto the screen. It's also fun to see all the new interactions your peeps have with the environment, like how they paddle along on their inflated swim toys, or watch the gorgeous and elaborate Las Vegas-style mock sea battles. There are a few blemishes, though. The collision between peeps and their environments seems a bit off in places, and you'll see peeps meld into their deck chairs and other pieces of furniture like they're being swallowed alive. Meanwhile, the light bloom effects are lavished in disgusting amounts, making it all but useless to sort out any graphical details. It's best to simply turn it off to begin with. The expansion is rather hit or miss in terms of audio, as the effects remain good (and they sound downright great on a surround-sound system), but the music is still a bit too New Age for our tastes. It can be very mellow at times, which doesn't feel like the right tone for a theme park game.
Soaked! represents a nice improvement over the original game, and overall it's a great expansion that adds plenty of new content while also addressing some of the glaring gameplay issues of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.
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Where to buy
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked! (PC):
$6.97 - $9.95
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$9.95 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$6.97 | Yes |
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Amazon.com
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$7.59 | Yes |
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