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Zero Punctuation attempts building SimCity Societies
If you believe that Zero Punctuation's only reason for playing SimCity Societies was to make a totalitarian government in the vein of the Nazi regime -- well, you'd be right. This week Yahtzee takes on the fantastically average game and ends up complaining about it more than making fun of it. In the end he says that SimCity Societies isn't worth the player's time, but then anybody who actually bought SimCity Societies probably already knows that.After the break you'll find this week's NSFW review of SimCity Societies, with special Team Fortress 2 homage to the love which dare not speak its name.
NY Times compares SimCity Societies, Inconvenient Truth
We never saw An Inconvenient Truth (it came out a little too close to X-Men: The Last Stand for us to have any interest in it), but apparently, the planet's getting warmer. We've been told this by numerous celebrities and Nobel Peace Prize-brandishing ex-vice presidents, but we were surprised when we heard that Electronic Arts and Tilted Mill Entertainment were jumping on the Save the Icecaps bandwagon with their latest title, SimCity Societies. But can the game's eco-friendly undertones affect the environmental thinking of a generation of gamers?That's the question posed by eco-journalist Andrew Revkin in a recent article on The New York Times website. If a SimCity Societies player sees the long term effect of fossil fuel usage on his or her virtual metropolis, can they "internalize and act on that kind of information in their real, not simulated, world?" We know that the game affected us. It was a rough transition, but we've stopped powering our servers by burning tires and cans of hairspray. Yeah, you're welcome, Earth.However, considering the game's lackluster reviews, Crysis-esque system requirements, and unfortunate holiday competition, we wonder if it can still change people's minds if nobody plays it.
Metareview: SimCity Societies (PC)
Not only did SimCity Societies get thrown into the deep end of the pool to fight for attention this holiday season -- the critics are enjoying watching it drown. The big outlets have yet to give it above a 70 and there are apparently a lot of technical issues holding the title back. SimCity Societies could have been a reimagining of the series that started a different franchise from "SimCity core." But it looks like developer Tilted Mill, best known for the Caesar games, could have really taken more time with it. It's sad that a casual approach to SimCity didn't yield the best results. Perhaps it's because you need a Crysis-level computer to play it, as one review pointed out. 1UP (70/100): "And speaking of smooth, Societies isn't. When you reach the 10,000-population mark, you can expect the game to crawl (I routinely witnessed sub-30 frames per second on a machine I built to rock Crysis). In a game where constant zooming, map rotation, and precise building placement are key, laggy performance is more than a mere annoyance. 'Course, when you reinvent the omelet, you're gonna break a few wheels...or something. And, despite its few slipups, the core of Societies is strong enough -- and the gameplay addictive enough -- that even the stodgiest traditionalist will find something to shout about." GameSpy (60/100): " In short, Sim City Societies is a novel game with a unique new mechanic for building towns and cities with personality. Casual players will find a lot to tinker with as they sculpt towns out of their dreams or nightmares. More serious gamers will be able to plumb the depth of the title over the course of the weekend, so your enjoyment of the game depends a great deal on what you're looking for when you pick up the box." EuroGamer (50/100): "Those Maxis-faithful naysayers who crowed that Tilted Mill would sully their beloved series have sadly been proven right as the game suffers from many of the same complaints levelled at the studio's previous game, Caesar IV. But let me make my final point quite clear - Societies doesn't stumble just because "it isn't SimCity". Fresh takes on old concepts should always be welcome. It stumbles because it's a generally unsatisfying patchwork of a game, dragged down by inconsistent gameplay, outdated design and weirdly implemented ideas."
SimCity Societies: new screenshots and impressions
Will Wright said it himself: SimCity is complicated. The series has always prided itself on its micromanagement but eventually, flexing the ol' executive muscle starts to feel more like work and less like playing god. No one actually dreams of being a city water commissioner, so why should you have to play one in a video game? SimCity Societies doesn't think you have to either.In an impromptu presentation, the Sims team at EA walked us through their latest city builder with a focus on accessibility. The act of zoning is gone entirely, leaving players to place their buildings one by one in order to lay our their city. That may sound contrary to the overall goal, but the structures themselves are the characters this time around. Each building comes with its own stats and attributes that more clearly affect the citizens of your city. Your choices are also tailored to your current societal path, which leaves much less room for confusion while still allowing for creative expansion.From there, it's business as usual, though more personal than ever before. With such a heavy focus on your citizens, its easy to understand the appeal of caring for the values and quality of life for your people as opposed to plotting out landfills and balancing budgets. For those who don't want to worry about money at all, a free play option will be made available from the very start.SimCity Societies is due out for PC later this year. When asked about other platforms such as the Mac or consoles, nothing was confirmed nor denied. %Gallery-4015%
Joystiq first look: SimCity Societies
When we asked the super-helpful PR representative at EA's E3 booth what game she was most excited about showing off, she cheerfully replied "SimCity Societies." It's easy to see why. The game is a major departure for the series, letting players truly build whatever kind of city they want.While the previous games in the SimCity franchise have generally avoided restrictions on your city-building options, the general visual style and implied goal of the cities was always that of a modern, metropolitan area. Societies throws that idea out the window, with all sorts of different types of city types available, from "industrial" to "fun."What type of city you build is your call, and is determined by which of the hundreds of buildings you decide to build. Each building affects your city's "societal values" -- knowledge, spirituality, productivity, creativity, and prosperity -- and these in turn determine what your citizens want and what type of city you will get.The city's look will change as you slide from one type to another, with a dingy, dirty look for "industrial" cities and bright, blue skies in the "fun" cities, for example. In another departure for the series, each type of city has specific victory goals such as population and financial production which earn the players trophies. Players can feel free to ignore the goals and just do whatever they want, but those who want something concrete to work towards now have it.The developers have focused on making Societies accessible to players who don't want to get into the nitty-gritty of city building. Societies does away with previous titles' focus on micromanaging systems like power grids and sewer pipes. You only really have to pay attention to four basic building types: power generators, homes, money generators and venues such as stadiums and libraries.If you do want to get micro, though, you can zoom in on the status of individual buildings. The location of your buildings in relation to one another will affect their individual stats -- for example, building a tight cluster of retail shops together will make each one produce more money (and more tax revenue).SimCity Societies will be available for the PC this holiday season.
