It's a Lovable Game

This is NOT Simcity. This is, if a comparison is to be forced, a 'lite' version of simcity. If one expects it like that game, one will be disappointed.

Instead, this is a city builder to the tune of 'The Sims'. The goal of the game is not to make a sprawling metropolis, as in the original Simcity games, but to make a city that has happy citizens. To this end, you will have to balance work and play, something that Simcity doesn't emphasize.

You have restaurants, pubs, carnivals and museums to keep your people happy. These buildings do not grow 'organically' like in the past SC games; you simply pick one and plop it down. What is organic about this game, though, is that as you place more buildings down, depending on what 'theme' it is, your city will reflect it after a certain point. Place artsy buildings and you will have an artsy city, complete with a change in music and road style. Place scary buildings and your city will be enveloped in a fog, with creepy music. It's quite charming.

TAKE NOTE: The game is substantially different on the time of this writing, as it was with the older reviews. I can see why they would give it such low reviews - it had no challenge whatsoever back then. They put in a new mode, where it becomes more necessary to strategize and budget. It works well.

It's much more visually appealing than Simcity, but that is only because the graphics are more up-to-date. There are night and day cycles, and the shadowing is impressive, moving across your city.

Still, there are some hefty technical issues to consider with the engine itself. It seems to 'chug'. Not laggy, or choppy, but chuggy. Even on a relatively powerful computer, this game will chug. It's like they didn't optimize it. Sometimes, you'll just have a couple of buildings down, and the game begins to chug. Again, this does not seem to be a matter of PC capabilities. I've run some heavier games and they do not lag as much as this one.

Anyway, it's a good enough game that one can keep coming back to.

8/10