SimCity 4 Review (Faye Strawberry)
SimCity 4 was my first city builder game. That statement is not nostalgic - I first played SimCity 4 this year rather than 20 years ago, and I am very happy to say that this game is awesome! There is a lot to like.
First of all, I've had no technical problems or annoyances. I play the game through Steam with no mods, no EA account and no crashes! The controls are largely intuitive to me, even though the game is 20 years old and I've never played a city builder before.
The music is fantastic. In my opinion it strikes just the right balance of being lively and engaging whilst remaining backgrounded enough to not distract you from the gameplay or get irritating even when you play for hours at a time (and it's difficult not to!).
The artstyle is cute and fun. It's obviously not modern but that doesn't stop it from being a treat for the eyes!
The challenging gameplay is both good and bad. It's great to have to think about how to manage your city's growth and how to add new facilities without going bankrupt. I enjoy the difficulty when I understand it or when there is enough information to figure it out. However, some things are left unexplained which makes the gameplay feel frustrating at times. I've played for over 100 hours and still feel at a loss as to how to deal with certain problems that arise. When I've paid attention to the various graphs and data views and still can't understand the source of a problem, I had hoped the team of city advisors would offer guidance or at least nudge me in the right direction, especially considering that I've been playing on easy difficulty. I even read the digital manual that comes with the game and couldn't see any tips in there either. I'm not so keen on challenges that are hard because information is unavailable. Still, I keep learning as I play, so it may be that experience is the best teacher for SimCity 4.
I think the thing that has me so invested in SimCity 4 is the attention to detail that creates a sense of activity and of life occupying the cities. There are Sims spraying graffiti on the walls of commercial properties, farmers on ladders picking apples in the fields, zombies roaming the graveyards. When you look closely, you can see that even duplicates of the same item, such as the bus stops, actually differ. For example, one bus stop may have a hedge, a phone booth and newspaper vending machines, while another may have a fence, a post box and a drinks machine. I really appreciate these little touches; it's adorable <3 The sound effects that correspond to each building, such as the 'shh' when you click on the library, are also great fun. The sense of life is supported by the continuous change and development seen in the buildings. A building can be reconstructed to house more Sims as demand increases in your city, and the architecture changes over the years (if you choose) which gives the city a feeling of history. Similarly, problems in the cities are shown through buildings falling into disrepair or rubbish piling up on the streets. The game does an amazing job of demonstrating your influence.
SimCity 4 is challenging, vibrant, satisfying and so much fun.
Faye Strawberry Curator