DOES LIFE IN SIM CITY HAVE TO BE SO HARD ? (SimCity 4 (PS2))

Name: thingywhatsit

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Product:	SimCity 4 (PS2)
Date:	28/03/06 (1821 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics are amazing.

Disadvantages: Gameplay really is disappointing.

THIS REVIEW IS BEING MOVED TO PC CATEGORY

SIM CITY 4

The Sims have been around as a concept for a long time, and I thought I would take the plunge and see what the experience was like. I imagined that it was a matter of creating a world, and then making things happen, a bit like a play city, and looked forward to the challenge. I am not a youngster, but an older person who wanted to find a game that was fun to play.

Sim City Deluxe Edition comes on two discs, with a very well explained book of instructions, and I was lucky enough to buy it new at fifteen pounds, because other versions have since come out, and I figured that if I tried it as this less expensive level, I may get a feel for what Sims is all about.

On the outside of the DVD box, there are very specific instructions about what configuration you need in order to play Sims and for those to whom this information is important, the requirements shown are as follows :

Windows 98 through to XP
A Processor of 500 Mhz or more
120 Mo RAM
Hard Disc of at least 1.6 Go
CD-DVD player of at least 8 X speed
32MB Video Card
Direct X 7.0 Sound Card
Direct X Version 7.00
Keyboard and Mouse.

The program that I bought comes in two languages, and when installing, you get the choice of which language you would like. The book recommends that before installation, you give your machine a clean up using your defragmentation tool and the disc clean tool. You are also asked to disactivate your anti virus programs during the installation, which was quick and simple.

The game itself

The game looked enticing, and the player is invited to play with an existing City or to build their own. At first I tried to build my own, and there are two modes here, one being God Mode, where you can chose the kind of landscape that you have, i.e. Trees, mountains, etc., and then you go into Mayor mode, and here is where the player can create their town, although for me, it seemed to make sense to try the ready made town before trying to make my own.

The options that you have in the town that is already created were really spoilt for me by political rubbish. Perhaps it is there to make the game more convincing for adult use, such as having budgets to adhere to, and services to maintain such as schools, hospitals, law enforcement, fire services, etc., but to me this made the game less enjoyable, and the commentary by a panel of advisors irritatingly political nonsense.

Fun features are moving your Sims characters into houses and here, I expected more than I got. You can chose for example a vehicle for your character, even drive it up the highway, but you are perpetually reminded of practicalities, and I don't play games for practical purposes. I play them for enjoyment. For example, I moved a lady into a house, and was told that it was too far from where she worked, but was unable to actually determine where this is. Minor irritations such as this got in the way of having fun, and I honestly believe that childhood should be fun, and not filled up with the mumbo jumbo of problems that are encountered on this game. You can also drive for example the rescue helicopter, or the police car, but the fun factor with the steering and crashing into other cars is limited and the enjoyment did not last very long.

Creating my City

The idea here is that you have a plot of land which is not inhabited, and you can create your own city. You start with the basics of what kind of landscape you would like, and here you create mountains and valleys, trees (from supposed seeds), and then go into Mayor mode and create your housing, your public services like water and electricity, fire brigade and police, and make a network of roads and can even chose the location of hospitals and schools, and be shown on the map the catchment area for each.

This fun for me didn't last very long, as I really found the whole process of dragging the curser to create roads boring and not very accurate. The choice of housing was limited, and there was also the perpetual reminder of beaurocracy that spoiled my enjoyment of what I thought should have been a game.

Fed up with perpetual reminders that the budget was going down, or that policemen did not have access to the right parts of town, that the pilons were in the wrong place etc., and that the railway links were not joined properly, I actually moved on to the disaster mode, and sent tornados into my city to destroy it, and erupted the local volcano, which to my mind was better fun altogether than any of the creation was.

So how would I rate the game ?

I honestly believe that the graphics on the game are super, that the makers tried hard, but that the whole game has been overly complicated, and in the process, they spoilt the fun factor. It's a great shame because potentially the game could have been a good one, though given the political reminders and constant nags about what I was doing, I felt frustrated, angry and even thought of uninstalling the game because quite frankly, it is taking space on my computer that could be used for more fun.

If you have a complex mind, and want it taxed to the fullest, then perhaps this game would suit you, but to me, it disappointed my need to play rather than enhanced the experience, and when I compare this to games like the Myst collection, then there really is no comparison, and Myst wins hands down for imaginative creativity and the encouragement of play and challenge.

6/10 Sorry but that really was a disappointment.

Rachel

Summary: Another item for Ebaying.