Give away the brand SimCity to be torn to pieces by the authors of the fourth "Caesar" is not a good idea Electronic Arts. And the point here is not at all that Tilted Mill Entertainment low qualified studio. The reason for the dissatisfaction of fans of the series lies in the sharp change of course, which became a terrible inevitability after the developer’s castling. Quadrology, created under the watchful guidance Will Wright (Will Wright), in the office Maxis, was distinguished by a thoughtful and serious approach to the implementation of gameplay. The fifth part, written by the newly-minted “successors of the family”, relies on widespread simplification and lowering the lower age limit of the gaming audience. Even a first-grader can understand all the subtleties and nuances of SimCity Societies.
"SimCity“I never tried to please everyone at once. On the contrary, the game was extremely unfriendly to “casuals”, scaring off the latter with a multi-window interface, a bunch of branching graphs and a complex internal system. Of course, this affected sales – having tried it once and crashed against the impregnable wall of urban planning, the average user was unlikely to rush headlong for a new iteration. Now the number of replayable gamers will increase significantly. Listing the gaming aspects that have fallen from the editor’s scissors may take more than one article, so let’s briefly go over the most basic of them.
Urban areas were the https://ebitbetcasino.co.uk/mobile-app/ first to go into oblivion. If you remember, in SimCity 4 the metropolis was divided into industrial, residential and shopping areas. That is, building cozy cottages between industrial plants was unacceptable. From now on, this “ridiculous” restriction is no longer available as a class. “Motley” buildings rule the roost. The microscopic size of the maps is forced to use absolutely every free piece of land – after a couple of hours of intense action, the boundaries of the ennobled territory will reach their maximum. The developers approached the generation of land plots with all seriousness. The number of adjustable sliders allows you to create bizarre landscapes in a variety of climatic zones – from the hot tropics to the chilly subarctic.
The number of available buildings has exceeded 300 copies. Some of them are available immediately, and some open gradually as the city develops. Objects are divided into seven categories: roads, power plants, residential premises, work buildings, entertainment complexes, decorative elements and landscape items. A skillful combination of all classes works wonders. To create a special effect, it is recommended to erect buildings in the same architectural style. By following this advice, you can become an honorary mayor of both a magical village and a gloomy totalitarian capital.
The money problem in SimCity Societies is solved in a simple way – banknotes automatically fall into the account of virtual mayors, and taxes and operating costs do not empty the state treasury. The cornerstone of the game is social “energies”, presented in six types: productivity, law-abiding, creativity, religiosity, education and prosperity. The essence of city management is to develop some parameters and underestimate others. Upgrade your authority and enjoy the view of a harsh police state. Increase creativity and admire the capital of the arts. Varying the level of “energies” is carried out through a certain combination of buildings – they both increase and decrease various social scales.
From a graphical point of view, SimCity Societies does not look flawless. The largest number of complaints are addressed to the animators of the project, who turned the Sims into limping cripples. Otherwise the visual standard is kept at the same level. The significantly increased children’s audience will be pleased with the bright colors and overall cartoon style of the game.
SimCity Societies is a completely different project, a new stage in the evolution of the series. “More fun, less serious” – from now on Tilted Mill products will exclusively correspond to this slogan. Is it good? In general – yes. But definitely not for SimCity.
Pros: nice video; acceptable amount of innovations and interesting finds.
Cons: neglect of the precepts of predecessors; simplification of basic game parameters.