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A simulation game that allows the player to build virtual cities

A simulation game that allows the player to build virtual cities

Vote: (305 votes)

Program license: Trial version

Developer: EA

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(305 votes)

Trial version

Developer

EA

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Players won't have any complaints about the game's graphics because everything is rendered in gorgeous amounts of detail.
  • SimCity has always been a fun mix of strategy and simulation elements.
  • Disasters are pretty fun.
  • As expected of a game like this, there are tons of customization possibilities.

Cons

  • Fans of the series may not enjoy the changes to gameplay.
  • The game lacks consistent challenge.

SimCity Societies is a relatively fresh take on a classic game series that is traditionally a mix of strategy and simulation centered around building and maintaining full cities. This SimCity game draws a little more from the Sims in this installment than the city-based game, which means that it's a little easier than usual for newcomers. However, this ease in gameplay does come at the cost of a few core elements.

The town's players can vary as much in structure as they do in values and beliefs. These values will eventually affect the evolving design and layout as well as the citizens' priorities. This includes things like Spirituality and Knowledge, which is a fairly obvious draw from the Sims games. An even more obvious similarity is the added ability to take care of and look after individual citizens, which allows players to monitor things like jobs and happiness levels.

A lot of attention to detail went into the creation of this game. There's a huge variety in the types of buildings and objects that can be placed into the game, and every one of them appears on the screen looking sleek and gorgeous. By zooming to a street view with the mouse, players can even take a look at their citizens' faces.

As mentioned before, the gameplay has suffered the loss of a few core elements. Instead of strategically setting up tax rates or building police stations in just the right spot, players are encouraged to spend time balancing several opposing values instead. Finding the perfect balance between these opposing values - Authority versus Creativity, for example - is a key element of the game. The energies only affect buildings, however, leaving citizens completely unaffected.

As with previous Sims games, options to cause "disasters" are handed to the player. The core game initially only had three - a meteor shower, a killer storm and an earth quake. Updates to Societies have added more disasters since release and include a couple of much crazier options, such as UFOs or a burger robot attack. Disasters occur manually, allowing the player to destroy a part of their city just to see how it is affected, for the purpose of making the game more challenging or just to repair or build over the area demolished by the disaster.

Pros

  • Players won't have any complaints about the game's graphics because everything is rendered in gorgeous amounts of detail.
  • SimCity has always been a fun mix of strategy and simulation elements.
  • Disasters are pretty fun.
  • As expected of a game like this, there are tons of customization possibilities.

Cons

  • Fans of the series may not enjoy the changes to gameplay.
  • The game lacks consistent challenge.

This download is no longer available. This could be due to the program being discontinued, having a security issue or for some other reason.

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