Welcome to Smegsville, population 2300-odd...

This is all presented to you via a 3D isometric interface that harks back a few game generations to using entirely two-dimensional sprite graphics. This does mean that older computers can play the game but it also means that a lot of the graphical power that your shiny new graphics card is capable of is left unused. In some ways this insistance on older graphics is a little odd as while the minimum system requirements are quite low the rest of game, especially the detailed city simulation underlying it all, quickly overwhelms the low-end CPUs anyway. It would be nice to see a version of this game using 3D graphics a bit more; perhaps SimCity 5 will venture down this path. Certainly games like Grand Theft Auto 3 show us that realistic cities can be rendered this way.

Occasionally the citizens like throwing firework parties
to show how happy they are.

However, the graphics are only a small part of the meat of the game. The challenge is to play the mayor and balance the varying needs of the city while also balancing the budget. Growth has to be managed in such a way that demand for city services never too badly outstrips supply. Yet you also have to avoid the temptation to over-supply due to the maintenance costs associated with providing those services. Crime, water supply, fire services, power, transportation and a myriad other factors have to balanced and managed. This can quickly become overwhelming, especially given that some factors combine in subtle and not obvious ways.

You can use some very familiar global landmarks if you wish.

Developer Maxis, however, has provided a variety of aids including city advisors, graphs of the various city needs and an ability to directly poll the population to understand its concerns. This helps but is tempered by the fact that advisors often are too single-minded in their suggestions and can, just like in real life, steer Your Worship down the wrong path.

If anything this game is a wonderfully educational look into the kinds of decisions city planners have to make. There is also a variety of gimmicky add-ons like the 'U-Drive-It' feature which allows you to drive a vehicle around your town performing various missions. We found this feature somewhat lacklustre as the controls are too simple and you end up spending more time fighting the interface to control the various vehicles than anything. It's a cute idea, but the execution needs work.

Building at work, things get updated as the citizens
move into or away from a region.

Maxis has also remembered that occasionally the best stress relief is knocking things down, so you can also create disasters for your city to handle. These range from realistic volcanoes and earthquakes all the way up to more fanciful events such as alien attacks and giant robots (for that Godzilla in Tokyo feeling). Buildings satifyingly smash and citizens run screaming from these encounters. These are short lived distractions as soon you will be back to building again either with a new city or trying to repair the devestation.

Mayor Lister is not one to refuse such a request...

New to SimCity 4 was the concept of regions where multiple cities in a local area could be linked together: one city could specialise on power production while another could be the agricultural hub, and so on. Essentially, this is a way to have a much larger city while also keeping the system demands down to a reasonable level. It is a nice touch. Also great to see on Maxis' part is the provision of a large amount of downloadable content allowing you to add more landmarks, city regions, building types and the like into the game. There are also voluminous online help guides offering advice and tips to play the game. The continuing support for this game is great to see and it expands its value greatly.

A 'U-Drive-It' mission. These vary as your city gets more
facilities built in and around it.

The deluxe package offers both SimCity 4 and its expansion pack Rush Hour in one set, and is thus good value for money. We haven't scored the package higher simply because it lacks immersion: there is no narrative and no goal. While this does make for a very open experience, it also leaves you feeling slighty remove from the gameplay as well. Combine that with a mass of rules that even on easy are quite confusing to sort through (expect to build at least four or five cities before you even begin to properly understand how things work) and you have a game that is intellectually very clever but lacks visceral appeal. If you are happy to make up your own stories then this issue won't bother you.

Aliens attack!