Movie Studio Boss: The Sequel Reviews

I like it. Though as others have said the game is kind of clunky. Also I think it would be cool if the game creators did something like Game Dev did and allow mods to the game. Still pretty cool game. Just need to figure out how to consistantly make money.

Tags: Tycoon&Simulator&Sim&City Additional Tags: Delete Local Content & Remove from Library TLDR: This is a spreadsheet manager hidden behind a very thin coating of tycoon aesthetics as backdrops. The user interface is nightmarish and the mechanics are cryptic. It comes across as a very crudely made imitation of game dev tycoon but instead you gauge between different movie genre points, get scripts shoot it and potentially make money.

I actually really enjoyed this game. It pretty much does what it says on the tin and is very playable. I found that with simple common sense it all fits together quite nicely. I had to re-visit the introduction because the marketing needed some better understanding. I felt that this game actually required a little more simple depth such as the ability to form a more specific type of movie to be made, create relationships with directors/producers and actors. Also pay to keep actors on a retainer to stop your stars being taken by other studios. I thought that it needed some kind of content editor to allow you to develop new stars from the real world into your own movies. It would've also been good to have access to amateurs and develop them through your studio as 'extras' and take them into starring roles. If the developers are thinking of taking this game to a new level i'd not only be happy to test it for them but also help them develop it to ensure it's the best game they can produce for sale.

I personally liked this game. But there are problems with it obviously so.... Updated: This game is unique one at best. In my personal opinion, it's enjoyable to a point. There are problems with the game. Problems: 1. It somewhat a confusing system to operate and well one of the people don't want to work together which could cause you problems or shelling out imaginary money to get one actor that will fly to the tibets and screw you picture up. 2. Other studios will beat you to the best actors and directors and everyone. Which makes it impossible to make a picture that is going get you money. 3. It's an average looking game. End of list for this update. The main shit of my problems are gameplay related. HOWEVER I really enjoy the game.

This game has a good tutorial in the begining, but when it came to how to release the movie it shit the bed, it really did not tell you how to do anything when it came to releasing

Well, I regret buying this game to be honest. It had so much potential at first, but falls short with the annoying interface, and overall poor gameplay functionalities. The game sure introduces you to its mechanics the first time you play, but it just gets too repetitive too soon. This might be a good choice for some, I assume it would be best for those who like to create their own stories while they play (that being, challenging yourself because let's be honest... you do talk to yourself), but it's not for me. If you want to spend money on something you'll get bored with rather quickly and just toss aside, then go ahead.

In a word - clunky. Fairly simple game overall - pick out same basic stats for your movie (genre, setting, etc), hire the associated staff (actors, extras, director, etc), get the thing filmed, send it to post production and hire vendors(?) to do the work there (CGI, musical score, etc), and send it out to the world (pick out your marketing budget, release format, etc) and that's about it. Not as much interaction as some other similar games, it's really just entering numbers and selecting who you want to hire without much feedback about what those choices actually do or how they effect the final product. However, if you happen to like that sort of thing the game wouldn't be to bad. The problem is a lot of what you have to do to hire all those people and set the numbers isn't streamlined very well and the effect they actually have isn't very clear. Some notable examples: [list] [*] My epic space action movie required 2000 extras - but you can only increase the numbers one at a time (everything else allows you to click and type in a number so not sure what happened there). [*]One of my directors REFUSED to work in a digital format, would have been nice to know before I hired him. [*]One of the actors refused to work with the director I hired, also would have been nice to have this information before I tried to hire him. [*] Almost every person you hire is ranked 1-5 on a number of attributes. Unfortunately you can not sort or filter this in any manner so you just have to scroll through to find who you like (and half of the avaliable workers are already hired but you can't sort them out either). [*] Every actor/actress I tried to hire refused the default salary (they usually required 200-300% more to actually work for me). No real guidance aside from "Nope, to low for me". You get 3 chances to get it right then they won't talk to you for another week. [/list] In short, don't buy the game. It had some underlying potential but the general pain of actually setting a movie up isn't worth it. In a response to the comment about time played: All of my points were honestly found within the first 15 minutes of gameplay. It doesn't take very long to see something is that clunky and is little more than a numbers simulator with a movie overlay.

*UPDATE* Thinking about it now, I'm not sure why I bought this. It was very late and it sounded like fun. Plus it was cheap. I like management games but this one needs more development. I don't want to give it thumbs down just yet but I'd say you should hold off on buying it and see if it gets updates. If not, only pick it up if you get it super cheap or part of a bundle. Too many developers just dump games on Steam and walk away from them. Remember that game The Movies? That Peter Molyneux game that was going to be the most amazing thing ever but never lived up to its potential? (Kind of like every Peter Molyneux game?) I got a lot of enjoyment out of that game even though portions of it never worked right. Nobody has done a game quite like it since. Well Movie Studio Boss The Sequel (was there a first one?) is a bit like The Movies but you take out all the micromanagement like lot building or keeping your stars happy. You're just basically making a bunch of decisions. And as far as that goes, Movie Studio Boss is more detailed. There are a lot of different stages and people that you have to hire to get your movie made. So it is a bit more realistic in that respect. If lots of menu screens are your thing and you don't expect some sort of update to The Movies, you might like it. It exists somewhere between The Movies and Game Dev Tycoon but not as polished as either. It needs some work. I hope the developers realize this. Some of the options are not explained very well and I can't exactly figure out the whole marketing and releasing part as of yet. Plus there's no real reaction when your movie does come out. No reviews or goofy, nonsensical movie to watch. There needs to be more incentive to keep playing.

** Video Review Link Below ** UPDATE: I feel bad for giving this game a bad review and such a low score. I played it again, I did the tutorial to read everything and make sure I was doing it all correctly in hopes that somehow or some way the 2nd time would be more fun and engaging. .Sadly that didn't happen and my score of the game hasn't changed and as much as I want to like this game, it just isn't "fun" to me. I gotta be honest in my reviews, I'm just not the type to give it a thumbs up and say something witty like "The sexiest actress told me NO to any amount of money 10/10". That's the kind of lame review that I know lots of people love here, but that's not honest, informative, or helpful to people genuinely trying to decide if this game is a wise purchase for them. --------------------------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br82NF1rIew&feature=youtu.be --------------------------------------------- Don't let my negative review turn you off of this game if you like games that are 100% strategy and numbers games. As far as numbers and strategy goes, this game very well could be great. My review and score below is MY opinion of the game and my liklihood to play it again after my first 45 minute long first look. The problem for me with this game is it really offered nothing to reward me or fault me based on my decisions and my choices. I think I would have liked to hear actors talking in the background or see a newspaper spin onto the screen saying what movie made the most money on its release, or how bad my movie did at the movies, or something. Instead, it's just adjusting numbers and hiring actors with point and clicks but no sound effects, no screen dazzle, just leaves it feeling kinda "blah" to me. The background graphics are plenty well done, and honestly don't need to even be nearly as good as they are. I think that I was just looking for something more in the sounds, updates, or voices, or SOMETHING to make me feel and see easier how I was progressing rather then just requiring to me look at data on a chart on the screen. I'm not asking for a lot. Just basic musical sounds or gongs or something would help a lot. And it just doesn't give you any kind of musical or graphical rewards in any way, shape, or form. I guess just seeing the numbers about if your movies are making money is supposed to be all that you need to keep playing, I dunno. A big thumbs down for me, because I knew what kind of game I was buying, I knew it wasn't going to be a big graphics action game. I love strategy games. But this game just didn't inspire me in any way, shape or form to keep playing. My score is a 15 out of 100. PS - For those of you looking for a game similar to "The Movies" from back around 2006 or so, this game is nothing like that and will likely leave you very disappointed.

Dissapointing if you played "The Movies" back in the days. Really don't understand why they can't make a game like that anymore. This looks like a game on your phone. It sucks!