SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition (PC)
Posted by Guest Writer on Sat, 18 Feb 2006.
This package is a giant. It includes the latest “SimCity 4”, along with the new “Rush Hour” expansion pack. Whether you're a hardcore gamer with dreams of world domination or just a occasional gamer with little time to spare, this game represents aeons of entertainment…
Visually, SimCity 4 is extensively improved. You can now zoom the camera in up to six times the normal view and see individual cars and people, along with various items dotting the gardens of houses such as barbeques and patio chairs. There's a great choice of modern road and building types, too. As your town develops, more and more construction options open up. The developers have added tons more building types, such as “super-schools” and colossal emergency services centres to serve gigantic districts, instead of building thousands of smaller structures. And as if one town wasn't enough, you can now create multiple cities and merge them via transportation connections to form a national economy. You might make one city a tidy utopian community, with a neighbouring one playing the role of an industrial landfill.
One of the things I really enjoy is the fact that you can select a group of actual Sims in each city. They're people who work and live there, and you can call in on them from time to time to get a check on the welfare of your residents and what they think of your leadership skills. There are also environmental issues that come into play in SimCity 4. Rather than just affecting population levels and the mayor's approval rating, too much pollution now causes illness and can close down your water pumps, for example.
The terrain-editing tool is spectacular. Like previous SimCity versions, you can raise mountains, dig harbours and rivers and plant forests before placing your town. You can also add singular animals or herds to your wilderness areas, and watch them roam around. The only problem is that you can't select what types of animals will appear.
The only other bad point I could fault is that with the terrain editor it’s really hard to adjust elevation accurately. Several times I tried creating an area that would be perfect for a seaport, but when I came to construct the port later I was told that the elevation was too steep for such a structure?
The interface is still a bit complex, too. Some of the help balloons are of minimal value and information and building a successful city is tough for newcomers to the game: taking the introductory tutorials is extremely recommended. SimCity 4 is still haunted by a few problems in terms of accurately placing buildings, pipes and subway tunnels. Like in predeceasing versions of the game, the view is from above and slightly off to one side. This makes it awkward to see exactly where you're placing things at times, especially when there are terrain features and/or buildings already occupying the space.
Overall, SimCity 4 Deluxe is a brilliant evolution of a great game. If you enjoyed SimCity, it's definitely time to return and take a look at the improvements of the latest version. If you're a newcomer to the game, just make sure you set plenty of time to play it…