From Courtney Marchelletta,
Your Guide to Computer Sim Games.
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May 16 2006

Publisher: CDV
Number of Players: 1 Player
ESRB: E for Everyone
Genre: City Building Simulation
Release Date: May 30th

I've been waiting for a few years now, for the next great city building game. There haven't been a lot of new city building sims released since "SimCity 4." Most of them were only sub-par. A few developers have tried their hands at creating the next great city builder. Since "SimCity 4" was released, there hasn't been another city building sim that has captured my attention and kept beyond a couple of weeks. CDV is releasing their city building, "City Life" on May 30th.

Let's get right to the details of "City Life." If you've played "SimCity," you'll feel right at home in "City Life," especially when it comes to laying down the roads and placing buildings. Roads and residential areas can be dragged and dropped. Residential zones can be as small as one home or large neighborhood packed with homes.

Now this is where "City Life" gets challenging. You can't just slap down industrial, residential, and business zones wherever you feel like it. Yes, you'll have to consider the pollution and local impact on businesses, but that's not all. You'll have to pick buildings to construct that are attractive to the social class you want or that is already established in the area. For example, building a Family Diner will not attract the Elite crowd. I'm undecided about whether I like being able to pick a particular style/type of building to be placed. That's one thing I did like about "SimCity" - seeing what type of buildings popped up. In the residential areas, there is more randomness and buildings change over time.

Social Classes
There are six social classes that each have their own preferences as to where they work and other needs, like dining out, that need to be met. They will need their own living and work space near other cultures that they can tolerate. Elites are not going to want to have Have-nots in their neighborhood. If Blue Collars end up leaving near the Fringe social class, there will be a cultural clash and fights. "City Life" does help by telling you which buildings will be attractive and repel which classes when you are placing them.

Buildings & Classes
Choosing the right buildings and keeping the social classes near other social classes is what "City Life" is all about. You can play a sand box mode, where you decide what your overall goals are and go from there. Or you choose a terrain you want to build on and work towards the given goals to eventually earn a key to the city. There are 3 levels (bronze, silver, and gold) for each of the many terrains to play.

The Budget
From what I've seen and can find, there is very little actual management of the budget. Taxes are set for you. To make changes to the budget, buildings have to be demolished, so you know no longer have to pay to run them. I would have liked to see more areas where we could tinker with. For example, be able to set a budget for road maintenance. From the budget screen, the only real changes you can make is to take out loans.

Camera Views of "City Life"
"City Life" is in 3D, which means great views of the city for us. There are multiple views: Game, Neighborhood, Landscape, Postcard, First-Person, Satellite, and Street. You can get close enough to see someones eye color, or far enough away to see the city as if you were in space. The transition from view to view was smooth and felt natural.

"City Life" Coming Soon
"City Life" will be shipping on May 30th. From few hours I've played on a preview version (which means not everything is perfect for release), it could be a contender in the city building sim genre. It has goals, is open-ended, has fantastic graphics, and a range of terrains and levels.