The Urbz: Sims in the City

"I wasn't too sure what to expect... But I was pleasantly surprised"

Picture the scene for a moment. Faced with the need to get away from the brutal killings and gang-bashings I have spent the last couple of weeks doing in GTA: San Andreas, I needed something to unwind to, where thoughtpower and strategy were something to be left outside the room once the game had fired out.

It's immediately apparent that I am not the target audience for this game. As a 25-year-old male, I both fall away from both the target agegroup and sex that Maxis has pitched this game at. I am also a big Sims fan, having played the PC game for the last three or four years with most of the expansion packs. Yet despite not matching the requirements for the first two target groups, I found myself really getting into this game. Why? Because it's so much fun!

That's not to say there aren't any flaws though - far from it... This is a Maxis game after all, and some of the glitches that continue to plague their Sims series have sadly managed to make it into this game as well, but I'll come on to those in a minute. Firstly, I want to talk about the game itself.

Unlike Maxis' previous incarnations, the sole purpose in The Urbz is reputation. You create a character who starts off as a total nobody and work their way up the popularity ladder by making friends, betraying them, abusing them and finally, dumping them. Well, everything except the 'dumping' part at any rate. Situations do arise where you have to betray friends you made at the start of the game, but that's what makes it all the more fun. You can either be nasty or nice - it's up to you.

As you progress through the game, you unlock new locations and moves that you need to exploit to progress through the game. All your objectives, along with other information, contacts etc are stored on a handy, if somewhat unusual PDA variant called an XDA (yeah, Maxis must've been up all night thinking of that one!). With this device, you can view the 'missions' you have to complete to advance through the game, but I found myself hardly using it because it is actually quite easy to progress without even thinking about it. And there's the problem... The game is too easy.

The Sims Bustin' Out was a frustrating mess of easy tasks mixed in with near-impossible ones that often left me feeling like throwing the gamepad at the TV, but in The Urbz, there really is a sense that you can go about at your own pace, which is what I've been doing for the last few days.

Money can be made by taking on jobs, which in The Urbz means pressing a series of buttons not unlike those DDR games and some missions in San Andreas. The problem arises with the PS2 itself though, or at least whatever game engine Maxis has running the Urbz on. It stutters... A lot. For some reason, the game keeps disc-accessing which results in the game temporarily freezing and losing track of your button-pressing. The problem is, you are still hammering buttons at speed when this happens, completely throwing you off-track, although the game doesn't seem to punish you for making mistakes. I have a feeling that the GC and XBox versions probably don't suffer from this problem. Money can also be made later on through social moves and gambling, although this could happen immediately depending on which location you choose to start in.

This stuttering also occurs in the game itself, meaning that it is often difficult to enjoy the range of animations available because the game often freezes through them, dropping frames and making the experience less absorbing that it should be.

As the game progresses and your reputation increases, it isn't long before your character's face appears on posters, billboards and even on t-shirts! Reputation is also the key to unlocking special rooms in each area that are usually protected by some of the biggest bouncers I've ever seen... And I live in Manchester! Objects can be unlocked too which can be used to furbish your home.

Yep, you did read that part right - this is still The Sims in principle, and home-building, albeit in a more cut down role is still there as an option - objects can improve still whilst that all-important "Throw Party" option is there too.

Music is largely provided by the Black Eyed Peas who have remixed some of their songs in "Simlish" the 'language' of the Urbz, and also provided some new ones too... And it works. Oh, and did I mention that they appear in the game too?

Now for the glitches - besides the stuttering problem I mentioned earlier, there is also the age-old commands-dropping-from-the-command-queue glitch that Maxis managed to bring in with Hot Date and haven't really shook off with this release. Audio sometimes drops out or is a couple of seconds behind the actions on-screen. Another problem comes from the controls - Maxis have introduced an automatic lock-on feature that forces your cursor to lock on to the nearest object. I really wished they hadn't done this, because it makes selecting other Urbz to talk to all the more difficult when the cursor goes haywire.

Oh, and for some reason, loading times are VERY long. Anything upto 30 seconds just for the opportunity to buy new clothes or switch location.

Overall though, this is actually a fun game but not without its flaws. If you're a Sims veteran like me, then you will already have gotten used to the 'features' in Maxis other Sims games, but if you're not, you could find The Urbz to be a frustrating experience.

Scores:

Graphics: Far more detailed that Bustin' Out, complete with facial expressions when moves are performed. Graphics performance is ruined by the constant disc-accessing that slows the game down, and the cartoony appearance of the backdrops start to grate after a while. Although the Eye Toy can be used to take a pic of yourself, I couldn't be bothered setting up mine to see if this feature is of any use or not.

Sound: What's there is good, but it doesn't always work because of the disc-accessing problem. The BEP music is great though and really adds an urban feel to the game (not to mention it sounds great through my subwoofers too).

Controls: These are slightly different to Bustin' Out's but it didn't take me long to get into it. Thankfully, Maxis did not include auto-save this time around (not surprising though, saving takes upto 20 seconds). The disc-accessing problem means there are times when the game doesn't recognise any imput from the controller, but besides the jobs, these are few and far between.

Replayability: Because the game seems to be constantly evolving, it's actually a lot more fun going back into each territory and seeign how things have moved on. With some characters visiting different territories all the time, it adds to the sense that this game is 'alive' - something that Bustin' Out never achieved.

Overall: I'm giving it an 8 because of the flaws. It is an enjoyable game, and a welcome break from San Andreas (which in itself is an incredible game), and despite it being easy, it's still a lot of fun to play.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04