Simcity 3000

Review by : Mr Brain

Format : PC/MAC

Type : Strategy

Players : 1

Some people like power! Some love control! Some get of on creating! If you are one of these people, then Simcity 3000 is the game for you! Simcity3000 is the followup to Simcity 2000 wich is a followup to Simcity, currently known as Simcity Classic! Well you've guessed it! These are three games about exactly the same : building and maintaining a city! So why buy Simcity 3000 when you can purchase the others for a buck and a half in the nearest bookstore? Because Simcity 3000 beats the prequals by miles!

The first thing you do in Simcity 3000 is choosing a landscape! You can't build one like in Simcity 2000 but there is a landscape generator where you can decide how much water, hills and trees you wan't! There are also some prebuild maps of real cities, so if you want to build New York, go right ahead! When you have your landscape, you're ready to construct your city! This is of course the fun bit! You must build roads for the sims (the population) to drive on! You must plot out land for the three majorities: residential (where your sims live) industrial (where your sims work) and commercial (where your sims shop)! You must give them water and power, before they wan't to live in your city! This may sound simple, but it is only the tip of the iceberg!

Some of your sims steal, some gets sick, others start fires! You must prevent this by buildig Police and firedepartmens, hospitals, and schools to make your sims smarter! Your sims create garbage and-like in real life-lots of it! If you don't get rid of it it will collect in the streets! To GET rid of it you can make dumps for it, burn it, recycle it or sell it to your neighbour! The neighbours are another great feature! You can make deals with the nearby cities! Sometimes the mayors from the other cities offer to buy or sell stuff! But watch out! They may try to trick you! But sometimes you can trick them!

For every department (fire, police, roads, education and so on) you have an advisor! They will tell you what you need and what you don't need! They will also try to trick you into doing whatever they wan't! Your sims aren't braindead either! Sometimes people from different groups, petitioners, come forward! Sometimes to tell you how great you are (or what a complete asshole you are) and sometimes to demand an ordinance to be put on or off (An ordinance is all the small things that makes a difference! Such as parking fines or juniorsports!).

Does it still sound easy? Well here's the tough bit! Money! You have to make money (Simoleons is the name of your currency) to keep your city up and running! Your sims pay taxes but they refuse to pay enough! Ordinances and departments cost money too so it's very hard to avoid going broke! If you need more money you can take a lone! But you have to pay it back-with interest! You can also make a deal with a city! Like taking their garbage or selling them power! Sometimes big coorporations ask if they can build something in your city, such as a Toxic waste factory! This makes you a rich man, but the buildings often pollute or spread crime, so they are usually unpopular with your sims!

But when your finances are finally OK, you can start expanding your city! As it grows you will recieve gifts from your sims, you can build a subway, a seaport and an airport, and if your city looks dull, you can build parks and playgrounds! There is also a list of landmarks! These allows you to have the Eiffeltower or he Taj Mahal in your city! They don't do bad or good! They are just for fun! And this game is fun! (Apart from the times you are frustrated!) There is a newsticker in the buttom of your screen wich keeps you up to date but also jokes a lot about llamas and broccoli and such!

There is no action in this game! Still you are newer bored! There is allways something to do! And if you're not fighting an advisor or a crimeproblem you can just sit back and enjoy the jazzy background music wich creates a great mood!

Sound         : Great music, great atmosphere

10/10

Gameplay    : Simple and logic

10/10

Difficulty     : Its hard even on easy

7/10

Graphics      : Not in 3d but has a good feel

8.5/10

10/10

Overall         : Stupendously outstanding!!

Review by : Mr Brain