Another Sim City clone, could it be?
User Rating: 7.6 | City Life PC
For almost as long as I can remember owning a computer of some sort, I can remember a Sim City game being available. The title that launched the career of game designer extraordinaire, Will Wright, launched a series of sequels, knockoffs and outright “me-too” ripoffs. That's because the addictive play style and level of strategy required to succeed challenged folks from ordinary gamers to aspiring city planners and every one in between. Yet despite so many imitators, few games have ever really captured to lightning-in-a-bottle appeal of Wright's original title – especially those in which Wright was not involved. Still, that doesn't mean folks won't try. The latest, at least, have a solid resume in sim-style games. Developer Monte Cristo had a bona fide hit of there own a couple years ago with the addictive Caribbean political sim, Tropico. This time, Monte Cristo is forsaking sun-drenched beaches for a far more urban setting in City Life. The result is a Sim City clone brought into the 21st century. Sporting a 3D world and a financial planning model that Sim City never had, City Life at least brings some new elements to the me-too table. Unfortunately, familiarity breeds lethargy as the game lacks any sort of tutorial mode for beginners; Monte Cristo seems to rely on the familiarity of the genre to orient gamers to the basics of the game. Fortunately, it's not exactly rocket science, so the controls are not overly hard to pick up, though the lack of a hands-on tutorial lengthens the learning curve for gamers who may not be vets of other Sim City-style games. Starting out, you'll choose the type of climate you want to begin your city in, set up your City Hall home base, and begin building. Each climate sports several different maps from which to build, and some of the climate types and maps are locked initially, but open up as you achieve goals within the game. The types of buildings you can construct are initially limited by technology and funds – you have to be a small city before you can be a big one, so you'll want to establish a base of residential and business zones before building a pro football stadium, for example. Planning ahead is a huge key to building a successful city, however. Any new construction has to be adjacent to preexisting structures, so thinking ahead not only to the next year, but the next 50 years, is a key to a well-designed city. You can't just plop down a shoe factory next to a bunch of houses and expect to have a well-organized residential and industrial structure to your urban center later on in the game. A good strategy is to use a compass strategy – residential development to the north, industrial to the east, commercial-retail to the south and so on. While a bit basic, it provides a core approach to build on as time goes by. Unlike previous Sim City clones, however, it's not enough to sport good city design alone; you must manage things like finances, a harmonious urban atmosphere and the popularity of your management style; if districts are not profitable on a regular basis, unrest will grow and result in a disruption to all your efforts to grow the city. Sure, it's not as snarky as having Godzilla tear a path of destruction through your city, as in some of Wright's Sim City incarnations, but it's still challenging. On the downside, City Life has a fairly linear model for success in the long run. While maps and climate changes toss a bit of variety in the mix for challenges to overcome, the basic formula for building a successful city doesn't change much at all. That's where Wright's classic still has the upper-hand; as 2D and retro as it may be, Sim City still offers more paths to successful urban design that does CDV's offering. Still, none of the imitators on the market are as sparkly and modern-looking as City Life, which does sport a great model of portraying the bustle and busy activity of a large city. It's been a long time since the last decent update to Sim City and even longer since a me-too clone has actually been pulled off this well. So even despite the lack of variety for reaching a successful city development, City Life is intriguing enough to be worth some time and attention, even though it's not quite as surprising and inventive as a genuine Wright-designed game.
