[h1]Fairly Complex[/h1]
Despite a few things missing that I would like to have seen in the game, the [i]tactical[/i] part is reasonably complex. The Cyclist: Tactics does what it promises (in its title), and winning does [i]not[/i] consist in simply rushing forward as fast as you can.
This is a nice game that should keep simulator fans entertained for a good while, even if they don't understand anything about cycling (you'll learn!).
[b]WARNING:[/b] I would have played more of this (not sure if I will) but the game started crashing on me right at the end of a race in which I got 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at once, in the middle of my third season. There's no way to get past it, it's game over -- there's only one auto-save slot and, if it bugs like mine did, your entire career is gone, you have to start over from scratch. So... [b]backup your save files[/b], if you are going to play this, in [b]x:/users/you/appdata/local/cyclist/save_games[/b].
[b]EDIT:[/b] I sent the developers my bugged saved game and they fixed it. The bug also doesn't seem to occur in the version they are currently working on, so after the next update it'll probably be gone.
I did back mine up at the start of the season, but going back half a season is already quite disheartening. Some competitions can take hours to finish. And that was also the first time I managed to get 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at once. In fact, after 15 hours playing, I think that was only my second 1st place.
[u][b]OK, so, here's a basic idea of how the game goes:[/b][/u]
You get to select up to 6 riders to take part in the next season, before it starts. Each one has their own salary, and whenever one of them actually takes part in a race you have to pay for his trip as well. To afford that, you must stipulate the Expectations for the next season, and your sponsors will give you more money the higher those are. If the Expectations are higher, you need to fare better during the next season, or you'll get less money on the following one.
You start off with 1 good rider that you can tailor however you want, and a bunch of random ones. During a season, every month you get to scout for new riders and select one to add to your roster. Then, you can bring him in on the [i]next[/i] season, if you want.
During pre-season you also select which competitions you'll take part in. One a month. The competitions themselves can be anything between a single, short Time Trial that can be done in a minute or so, to a complete Tour, which consists of some 10 different races in a row, in varying terrains and with varying lengths. Tours are for professionals only, apparently, and you begin your career as an amateur, so I didn't get to do one of them. But I've done competitions with 4, 5 races in a row and managing who gets what shirt, positions, rests and stuff can get quite complicated.
OK, so, you put up a team of bikers, choose what races they'll take part on, start the season, and get to your first race. These take place in a "node track," as you can see on the screenshots up there. Every turn, you get to select where each one of your athletes will move, and what position they'll stay on in the group they are a part of. Every node has a value of free movement points it grants to whoever lands on it, and beyond that you have to spend Energy to move and, after your energy is spent, Attack.
I'm not going into further details because doing the game's tutorial alone takes about an hour and a half. The tutorial itself is not bad, but since the game is somewhat complicated you still leave it without having any idea of what you are doing. You have to try stuff out while actually playing to see what works or not, and it takes a while to get the hang of things. Some are still a mystery to me, after 15 hours playing.
Your riders can go up to lvl 12. Most of them have a lower potential, and can only go up to lvl 6, 10, whatever. Whenever they level up, you get to add one skill or attribute to them. Skills are: flat/mountain/downhill riding, sprinting, time trial specialization and difficult terrain handling. Attributes are: Energy, Energy Regeneration (how much energy you can spend per turn), Attack, Attack Regeneration (same as Energy's, but for Attack) and Rest (how much energy/attack the rider can recover after a race, though how exactly it works is a mystery to me).
A chart shows what changes in your biker's performance compared to others when you change something on him. A graphic shows how much he can rest, another one his Energy consumption.
Hopefully, that gives you a fair, basic idea of how the game works. There's more to it, but going into details would be too complicated.
The Cyclist: Tactics is a small but well made game (other than for the game-destroying crash I got). I only wish we could see the actual racers riding, instead of just the nodes, that their customization was a bit deeper and that you could tune and customize their bikes. As far as [i]tactics[/i] go, everything seems to be in there.
[u][b]So, the short of it:[/b][/u]
For simulator fans, I'd say this is a good one. I enjoyed it.
Before buying the game, I read another reviewer saying the game ultimately boiled down to getting near the end of any race and them speeding up to win, but it's not that simple at all. You handle up to 4 riders on each race, you have to take the red/green shirts into account, each of your riders can have a different specialization, competitions often consist of several races in a row, so you must manage your athletes' energy during the competition as a whole, you must position yourself properly before attacking or to save energy, and more.
All things considered, this game is fairly complicated. Mastering it is not easy.
The races themselves can get a bit dull, since you don't get to actually [i]see[/i] the action, and the long ones can take quite a while. There are also no accidents, no support crew and no re-hydration points, on top of what I mentioned during the review.
So... adding what is missing would certainly have made the game better, but, as the title says, it focuses on cycling [i]tactics[/i] and that part is well done.
If you like simulators, and seeing the screenshots up there automatically makes you intrigued, you'll probably like this one.
