The Urbz: Sims in the City
Nich MaragosPUBLISHER: Electronic Arts // DEVELOPER: Maxis // PLAYERS: 1 // LIVE: No // MSRP: $49.99 // ESRB: T
The idea behind The Urbz: Sims in the City, and it��s not a bad one, is to get your Sims out of the house. Since the basic gameplay behind the ��berpopular franchise is essentially ��playing house����with every possible event, object, and character type that you might find within a household already accounted for��going beyond that into the outside world is a logical direction for the series.
But whereas a house presents such a limited space that it��s possible to model its goings-on to a fairly accurate degree, the world is a much more complicated place, and City can��t possibly do it justice. Apparently realizing this, the creators have simplified everything to the point of inanity. Want to make friends? Perform the actions the game tells you other people find pleasing��those are the ones highlighted in green. Want to make money? City��s much-touted ability to perform a Sim��s job rather than just send him or her out and wait a while doesn��t amount to much; your Sim can do anything from stuff weasels into boxes to create avant-garde sculpture, but you accomplish every single job through the same Simon Says button pressing.
Loose and haphazard graphical effects ensure the game doesn��t look as sharp as it should. The framerate constantly drops with no particular cause in view, despite the models and textures being fairly low detail, and the camera controls are far too oversensitive to ever put it just where you want it.
City has its strengths, but ironically enough, they��re only what the game inherited from its parent series. Balancing your job and social life with mundane tasks such as cleaning up after yourself and keeping your Sim fed is still compelling, and impressing your friends with a well-decorated apartment turns out to be more interesting than making those friends in the first place. Had it been released as an urban-themed mission pack to The Sims or The Sims 2, the new content might have been better received than this attempt at taking your Sims into a place they were never really meant to go.
05 OUT OF TEN
CHANGE CLOTHES
The most successful of the additions to the familiar Sims gameplay is the ability to buy and wear new clothes. Different cultures around the city will expect you to dress differently if you want to earn a good reputation on their turf, which will teach gamers around the country a valuable lesson: Despite what you have seen in the movies, you cannot toss on whatever you feel like and expect to be judged ��by what��s inside.��
Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Xbox Nation.