The Urbz is a game that takes the blockbuster hit "The Sims" and puts you in control of one Sim trying to make himself/herself a smash hit in the big city. The object of the game is to get as much "Rep" as possible through interactions with other Sims and by completing various goals. However, while this may sound really fun, there are a few flaws that really hurt the playability of the game. The first, and easily most notable is the KILLER load times. From the very beginning you'll notice it taking about a minute just to even load the game. It only goes downhill from there. Any time you try to switch from one district to another, it can easily take about 30 seconds of loading times, which really makes it a hassle to go anywhere.... Especially if you hit the wrong district by mistake. Welcome to hell. You have your own base(s) of operation through different apartments, but unfortunately, there are only three of them. One you start in, another you're given at a certain Rep level, and one Darius gives you if you fend of the "enemies" of each district with special moves called "Power Socials". But because of the long loading times and the fact that you can actually place and remove items in a district, it really makes no sense to go back there.... You can get everything you need from where you're hanging out. There also is a certain "dress code" for each region.... Unless you're wearing items that fit in with the general style of the location, it makes it harder to socialize with the inhabitants. To change clothing you have to open up a wardrobe selection screen which, of course, has a long loading time.... Then there's a long loading time to get back to the district once you're finished, so... it makes it a little senseless to move around between one district and another any more than you have to. Limits your mobility a bit. The gameplay also suffers from slowing even after the scene has loaded with a lot of stop-start and lagging that makes the game a little difficult to control. It's especially a problem while working on one of the jobs available, which requires inputting certain button combinations. Other than that, the game is fun to play to some degree, though it just isn't really that addictive. Gameplay is really unfocused, with goals that are very easy to complete. Once you're finished with those, you're allowed to just wander and do what you want, leaving the game with a very open-ended feeling. No real sense of accomplishment for beating it. The sound is pretty good, featuring a wide variety of music really playing today. Of course, it's been translated for out little Sims.... Nothing quite so amusing as hearing songs from the Black Eyed Peas sung in Simlish. It helps set the theme of each district as well, since they all have various styles playing in the background. So... what it comes down to is the game is a pretty good rental, but you might want to limit it to that before committing to it.
Other Helpful Reviews for The Urbz: Sims in the City
In all the other sim games it is very hard to keep them happy. Also very easy to make money, in the Urbz it makes you work for the money. And it’s not easy, easy but easy enough to keep them happy. That’s what makes The ... Read Full Review
I think that EA was just trying to get on the X-treme bus and have their characters party with slacker bums. Ghetto fabulous is very in right now and this game really overdoes it trying to keep with the fad. This need ... Read Full Review
