the change from a goal bar to a reputayion is somthing the ps2 can't handle
As a solution for gamers who wanted something more out of The Sims series of games, The Urbz has been hyped as a game that would take the idea and limitations of The Sims games to the next level. The theory behind the game is that you play and interact in a large city.
But as much as I have tried and wanted to like this game, I simply can’t.
When I first heard about The Urbz, I was stoked. Having played the GBA game “The Sims’ Bustin Out” where you live on a farm and do tasks to access items and new missions, I had figured that this game would be a lot of fun, addicting, and a great success. I figured that this was going to be another high quality and addicting game.
Unfortunately, on the Playstation 2 at least, The Urbz suffers from a bunch of annoying problems. First and foremost, the load times for this game are ridiculously annoying. Each area of the city is small, nearly the size of a “community lot” in The Sims PC games, but with lower quality graphics.
You will find that simply leaving your apartment is met with a “PLEASE WAIT… LOADING” screen for a long time, and going from place to place is a major pain. If the makers of this game were trying to make it more realistic by simulating long subway commutes, they hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, gamers won’t benefit from this annoying problem.
To make matters worse, the game’s controls seem crude and out of place, and it is often an annoyance simply to focus on your character or navigate through the community lot that you are in. The community lots do not give the illusion of a thriving and interactive city, but of another rehash of The Sims.
The graphics show the age of the Playstation 2 console, and thus are blurred down to give an illusion of quality. When you contrast the amazing graphics in The Sims 2, or even other successful console games like GTA, you are left feeling short changed by the content in The Urbz. When zooming in and out, the quality of the graphics looks so horrible that you feel like you stole someone’s prescription glasses and can’t take them off until you turn off your console. It is also important to note that the screenshots of the game are quite misleading. The graphics are a sharp contrast from what is on the box and what is in the PS2 version of the game. It is almost like they developed the game on PC and had to compress the graphics or something.
The game could still have been playable with annoying load times, bad camera controls, and lack-luster graphics. There have been some notably addicting games over the years that have suffered from these problems. Unfortunately, The Urbz game-play also quickly becomes a matter of repetition and mindlessness.
When playing the game you find out quickly that your apartment is a cheap rendition of The Sims but with unusual items that are generally of lower quality. After leaving your apartment, you find out you are not free to leave your small (and I do mean small) neighborhood until you gain enough “reputation” to unlock the next area. You gain reputation by talking to people and doing stunts for them over and over again, and working at a job. Upon reaching the next area, you again have to do the same thing, over and over and over again.
This game simply does not have the “magic” that the PC Sims games have. It is hard for me to give such a bad review, because for the most part The Sims are quality games. This one is just too primitive and too boring to play. The jobs you take in the game are simply button mashing, and I found that doing this over and over again to be worse than working in real life. The interpretation of urban living in this game is also bizarre and twisted in a way that is supposed to come off as fun and entertaining, but in reality it is quite a bore.
If you are on a low budget and are thinking of picking up either “The Urbz” or “The Sims 2”, I would recommend the latter. By far, The Sims 2 is a much better game.