The god of god games (SimCity 3000 (PC))

Member Name: Stalin

Product:	SimCity 3000 (PC)
Date:	21/07/01 (229 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Depth (if you want it), Absorbing gameplay, Still unique

Disadvantages: No multiplayer, No objectives, Can get dull if not played properly

One of the first (probably the first) god game was Sim City. At the time, it was an utterly new concept, and even now there are few games like it. The idea of building and running your own city captured everyone's imagination, and spawned countless 'Sim' spin-offs, most notably the recent 'The Sims'. Now however, we see the original title updated, but is it worth it?

The heart of the game remains the same as ever it was. You, as mayor, must zone areas for use as residential, commercial and industrial use. Provide these zones with road access and power, and they will begin to develop into houses, factories, shops and all manner of other buildings. This is just the start though. Water and rubbish disposal systems need to be set up before long. The Sims want pleasure, meaning parks, marinas, zoos etc. Crime will soon be a problem, so better get those police stations up and running. Traffic problems? Call on the various forms of mass transit. There are many more things to tend to, but I couldn't possibly list them all here. The point is that if you want to run a successful city, you need to balance all of these factors carefulThis kind of thing could be enjoyable or deadly boring, depending on who you are. But as management games go, I would say that this is one of the more interesting. Fiddling numbers and looking at charts is kept to a minimum, but even so, a certain amount of patience is required.

Sim City 2000 - the first sequel - was certainly a major step forward, offering many more aspects of the city to take care of, and generally giving a greater feeling of depth. 3K has added little to the mix, and has in fact simplified many areas of the game. These simplifications have all been for the best, however, such as water pipes which no longer have to be connected to every building, and no longer needing to build power lines between every zone. What this sequel has added is greater subtlety below the surface of the city. Alt
hough the cartoon graphics may fool you, there are some quite complex city dynamics behind the scenes. For instance, when you first start your city, you have a lot of fairly uneducated people coming in, and so the main zones in demand are residential and industrial. Soon, the flood of people subsides, and so residential demand decreases. As people become more educated, commercial zones are demanded more. The people themselves are also surprisingly well modelled. They like to be in a nice neighbourhood, with low crime and pollution, with good transport routes to other parts of the city, particularly their work place, but they don't want to live too close to it. Some like to live in the heart of the city and some want to live on the outskirts. There are many fine points such as these that can only be discovered by playing the game.

While the city building side of the game remains largely unchanged, the management side is greatly improved. You now have a board of advisors who alert you to problems and give advice on how to deal with them. There are an extensive selection of map overlays giving details on things such as traffic, crime and flammability. Although I have said that there are few figures and charts that you have to look at, they are there if you wish, with details such as life expectancy and age ranges of the population, and breakdowns of how rubbish is disposed of. These things may seem rather pointless, however they can be used effectively to - for instance - see the effects of the neighbourhood watch ordinance you have just enacted, or to see just how that new incinerator is helping with your rubbish problems. All the information available to you has some potential purpose, unlike 2K, which was full of useless data.

Another part of the game that has been drastically improved is interaction with the outside world. You can now make deals with neighbouring cities to buy and sell various commodities that your city has extra supplies of o
r is lacking in. This is still on the simplistic side (compared to the rest of the game), since you are never really lacking in anything yourself (unless the map is designed that way) but it is potentially an important source of income. Unfortunately, it is slightly flawed. If - for example - you agreed to sell water to a neighbour, you would initially only be selling a small quantity for a small price. Over time, the amount sold would increase, as would your revenues. This itself is good, since it encourages you to stick with a deal for a decent length of time before you start to reap the benefits. However, you have no say in the deal itself, only whether to accept it or not. This means that eventually you are being asked to provide ludicrous amounts of water, meaning that you must build hundreds of water pumps. This happened to me once, and I covered half the map with the things. The only other option is to cancel the deal, losing all your revenue. Highly annoying. You also get offers from companies to place buildings in your city, paying you a monthly fee for the privilege. The problems that these buildings bring are very real. For instance, building a mega-mall crushes many of your city's small businesses. This means that you need to think hard about what to place in your city, and decide whether it is worth the income.

3K retains the isometric view of 2K, opting not to go fully 3D, having learned their lesson with the disastrous 'Streets of Sim City'. The game is all the better for this decision, allowing you to clearly view and manage your city, with no irritating camera to worry about. Don't think that the game looks boring though, because the wide variety of buildings and landscapes look highly impressive, especially the high-rise towers. There is a slightly cartoony feel to the graphics, which makes it seem a fairly simple game on the surface, although clearly it isn't. Some of the more useful graphical touches are the visible
feedback indicators, such as seeing rubbish pile up in the streets or vandalism. There are also several graphical filters that allow you to view only certain parts of the city, which makes maintenance simpler. Although sounds are not particularly important in a game like this, there is a nice musical score of light jazz that keeps you in a good mood. You don't actually hear any sounds from the city, which is probably a good thing; otherwise all you would be hearing would be car horns and people screaming abuse at each other. I could walk down the street I live on for that!

So far this review has been mostly praise. However, there is one big problem, and that is objectives. Or lack of them. You simply build a city. There are no missions or scenarios. You just do what you want. Fun in a way, because you can build anything from a small, pleasant village to a bustling metropolis. But the novelty of this soon wears off, and you realise that there isn't much variety. And then there is the old problem: Once you have built a city, what's left to do? Sim City has often been billed more as a toy rather than a game, and this is very true. In fact, this idea has been extended in this version, with the edition of 'growing cities', complete cities that have been zoned, but not built on. You turn them on, and watch them grow. This plays to the simulation aspect of the game.

Something that fans have been crying out for for some time now is a multiplayer mode, but Maxis are sticking stubbornly to their roots. A multiplayer mode would have extended the game's life considerably. As to what form it would take, I am uncertain. Perhaps a race to get to a particular goal (such as a particular population) or maybe each player being a candidate for mayor, having to fight a campaign against the others.

There isn't much of an online community for this game, mainly due to the lack of multiplayer. The official site isn't bad though, off
ering some extra tips and info, as well as a few maps to download. Also available is the building architect tool, which as the name suggests, allows you to design your own buildings. Unlike most game editors, this one is presented at the same standard as the game itself. Although not massively powerful, you can have some fun with it, and it is very easy to use.

I have said that this game offers a lot of depth. However, this depth can be bypassed. You can ignore all the finer points of the game, throwing down zones with little forethought and still build a fairly successful city. The problem is, many people play it like this, and then dismiss it for being too simple. The depth is there, but you must put some effort into finding it. The other thing most people say is that it is no different to 2K. However, it is a far more realistic simulation. In 3K, you can build cities that behave as would a real one. In 2K you can't. And that, my friends, is the big difference.

Summary: