Sim City. Roll those words around your mouth as you think of your fantasy job as a big city entrepreneur. It’s a pretty cool job and Sim City 4 is the only game that allows its players to dabble in big time building in such detail.

Where three previous games and several spin off releases succeeded in helping players to realise their own virtual New Yorks and Hong Kongs, Sim City 4 excels above and beyond its predecessors.

The first apparent and most significant improvement is predictab ... more >>

Sim City. Roll those words around your mouth as you think of your fantasy job as a big city entrepreneur. It’s a pretty cool job and Sim City 4 is the only game that allows its players to dabble in big time building in such detail.

Where three previous games and several spin off releases succeeded in helping players to realise their own virtual New Yorks and Hong Kongs, Sim City 4 excels above and beyond its predecessors.

The first apparent and most significant improvement is predictably shown in the game’s graphics. They are beautiful in almost every aspect, despite the lack of full 3D rotation. Cities now have day and night-time settings, every car has a set of working headlights, there’s fog, and even flowing lava from volcanoes. It’s almost faultless, and running the game in a higher resolution serves to make the onscreen action even more gorgeous.

The game engine itself has also been refined, but it’s something only hardcore players of the previous games will really notice. When it comes to the physical process of building a city, Sim City 4 is much less rigid. Fundamentally the game still operates on a grid-based system, but players now have the freedom to build on terrain, hills and in valleys, helping players to capitalise on the land they have. There’s still a basic set of Industrial, Commercials and Residential building zones, and you still have to supply your population with power, water and a good transport infrastructure. There’s also a little competition from neighbouring cities to keep you on your toes.

But money management and finances is what makes the different in a successful game of Sim City, and now it’s not as easy to attain millionaire status as it was in Sim City 2000. People riot, earthquakes rock your city, and crime can make your metropolis an undesirable place to live. You’re going to incur unexpected costs throughout your game. Prepare for them or suffer the consequences.

And players not satisfied with managing water systems, waste disposal, airports, power plants and taxes now have the privilege of taking care of a city’s transport system in a very in-depth way, thank to the Rush Hour expansion pack. Until now, players could build roads, highways and railways, but that was as detailed as it got. Players now have the facility to construct wider avenues to accommodate extra traffic and ease congestion, design one-way systems and build suspension bridges. As players begin to improve the city’s transport system, more features will be unlocked, enabling further progress.

In addition to managing road networks, players are also given the opportunity to offer other means of transport, some of which are less conventional than others. There are also railways, ferries, helicopters and even zeppelin-type airships to consider. There is also a European building set at your disposal, offering authentic buildings to give your city a little culture. << less