City Life: World Edition – PC – Review

When Will Wright masterminded Sim
City back in 1989, I don’t think anybody would have guessed that almost 20 years
later the market for city simulations would still be expanding, and expanding it
is! With bigger and better buildings, more detailed textures, and a soothing
upbeat soundtrack, City Life stands out like the Sears Tower of city
simulations. Streamlining some of the more hassling aspects out and adding some
more meticulous financial additions, the game provides and upgraded and
enjoyable play, even if it doesn’t re-define the genre.

For starters, the game takes a
ridiculously long time to install. I really don’t know if it was just my
computer, but you could probably watch a whole wall of paint dry before this
massive DVD installs. When you do finally get into the game, you will be
greeted with some awkward tutorials that look more like Internet gif tutorials.
It’s a series of looping instruction screens with a paragraph summary
underneath. So after reading about two of those you get the basic idea and scrap
the whole tutorial thing and jump right in.

You will first choose the land for
your city to reside on, and the first structure to be built on it is the city
hall. This is the center and initial building block of your soon-to-be mega-tropolis.
From there the goal is attract as many citizens as possible to begin work. You
will build a series of residential and industrial grids but City Life doesn’t
make it that easy. You are further challenged with more complex construction
choices because of class differentiations. With a mix of people comes a mix in
culture and sometimes disagreement ensues. You must strategically place your
different class groups as carefully as possible as to avoid conflict while also
worrying about providing power, recycling and trash plants, hospitals, schools,
and fire stations etc. The main goal here is to find the perfect cost/provision
ratios.

The UI to City Life does a fairly
good job in assisting the player. Consisting of a few basic categorical buttons,
they each break down into slightly more complex sections as you get deeper into
your needs (i.e. most impact to least impact). There is also a TV-monitor
looking news updater at the bottom right hand of the screen. This provides both
visual and textual based updates and suggestions within your city. That
particular feature is by far the most helpful and appreciated when first
starting the game and probably makes up for the less-than-helpful tutorial on
how to start your city.

But before you know it there will be
a sprawling metropolis that will keep you busy as well as give you something to
smile about when you zoom out to watch it come to life. Speaking of zooming,
this game gets the hands-down award for most zoom freedom (that is until Spore
is released). With the scroll of a mouse wheel you can zoom out to see your city
in post-it note size and then immediately zoom in and follow and individual
person waltzing around the streets. It’s one of the most rewarding features of
the game.

And a good game it is. Even though
City Life doesn’t blow the competition out of the water, it is a very fun
and satisfying sim experience. Who could complain about taking all the best and
proven features of past sims and giving them a pretty facelift? If you are
addicted to Sim City, definitely consider giving City Life a chance. Besides,
it’s not every day you get a opportunity to play mayor…

Review Scoring Details for City Life

Gameplay:
8.2
Although a lack of thorough tutorials starts you out slightly confused, City
Life comes together quickly and provides an enjoyable smooth experience.

Graphics:
8.7
Some of the best I’ve seen for a city simulation; it’s just a shame that’s not
much to live up to.

Sound:
9.0
Very upbeat and
sometimes relaxing soundtrack. Even though it’s short on tracks, the existing
ones fit perfectly.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept:
8.9
City Life learned well from Will Wright and his pioneering franchise, and plays
it safe by sticking to these proven formulas.

Overall: 8.2
If you are a city
simulation fan it would be hard to pass this one up. If you are a casual sim
fan; definitely let this one at least perk your interest, my guess is you won’t
be disappointed.