Product Description

Right from the start in SimCity 4, players will experience new God-like powers of creation as they lay the groundwork for their cities by moulding mountains, carving valleys, seeding forests and laying rivers. With these new landscape creation features, players can now construct the most realistic metropolis imaginable. Unlike earlier games in the series, SimCity 4 cities do not live in isolation from the world, they are part of an entire region.

Each city a player now creates will become part of an ever-growing tapestry of municipalities that, once connected by transportation networks, can share and compete for resources. Depending upon the choices made by a player, this multi-city game play can result in a variety of outcomes within that region. Players can follow a Sim as they go about their life in the city. Players can personalise their Sim and immediately move him into any area and watch him experience life in the city, first hand. Is he or she enjoying a happy existence in an urban utopia or enduring a futile fight for survival in the inner-city? A player's Sim will provide valuable clues to improving the city.

SimCity 4 will allow players to actually touch their handiwork and feel the pulse of their creation. Whether a metropolis is booming with expansion or decaying through neglect, SimCity 4's new simulation engine will give players immediate feedback so they can react to its every need.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3428 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2003-01-17
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
The latest sequel to one of the early pioneers of the god-sim genre, Sim City 4 is a polished, challenging evolution of the concept, which doesn't break much new ground. However, it certainly broadens out its challenge, making previously fiddly tasks a lot easier in the process.

As ever, the task is one of balance. You're Mayor of a city, and you need to strike the right mix of commercial, industrial and residential areas, while keeping an eye on finances, the transport system, fire, education, landscape--the list goes on. To its credit, the game is as straightforward or hard as you want it to be, and it's surprisingly easy to get into. While you don't directly control individual buildings and people, the decisions you make have repercussions throughout, and need to be taken with care. After all, agreeing to build a landfill site may bring in some much needed revenue, but it's unlikely to go down well with the locals.

As with its predecessors though, it's in the small details that Sim City 4 really scores. From residents going on the rampage through to full-scale disasters taking hold of your city, the complex game barely gives you a moment to rest. You can zoom in to get very close detail of what people are up to. And in a nice touch, any families created in The Sims can be moved into town. These characters are a real bonus when assessing the needs of your burgeoning city, as they tell you what they like, dislike and will positively not put up with in your metropolis.

The lack of clear goals still haunts the franchise though, and despite the well-thought-through user interface, the casual gamer may still struggle to get to grips with the challenge. However, there are months of gameplay to enjoy if this kind of title is your bag, and Sim City 4 is another excellent addition to an already top-notch franchise. --Simon Brew

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and very big
This game is just stunning. It looks beautiful, but that beauty comes at a price - if you've only got the minimum specs then I wouldn't bother. I considered my Celeron PC to be a bit of a powerhouse but it still chugs, especially when you're trying to get up close and personal with your city.

In common with other reviewers, the economic model is harder to manage: costs escalate much faster than revenues. This doesn't really interfere with gameplay, it just makes it more of a challenge and, I think, more realistic. The model will also please Keynesians out there - if your income is dangerously on the slide, a loan, a few capital projects and a bit of pump-priming works well. Also, be careful about where you put your industrial zones - far away for areas you want to be heavy industry, but (lucrative) high-tech likes to be near rich suburbs, and the surburbanites don't seem to mind.

In common with the economic model, the game makes you work before it rewards you with pretty skyscrapers. However, this is more realistic and it's worth the wait - I've just got my first 30 storey+ effort and it's very pretty.

The real quantum leap this game makes is the regional mode, where you link your cities up. This not only adds realism, it means you can "theme" your cities - sprawling regional hubs, blue-collar industry towns, beach towns, small rural settlements, all interacting with people commuting between them etc.

It's a wonderful game. Buy it, but buy a new computer first.

Addictive, Fun, Rewarding! Sim City 4...
First of all, You NEED a very beefy PC to play this game well and lots of MEMORY.

Sim City 4 is the 4th installment from the series of great games series. It is 4 times better in everything this time around though!

Graphics are Superb, astounding level of detail! You can zoom right out and see your sprawling metroplois or little town and watch fireworks explode in a glittering colourfull site. You can zoom right down and see the people walking on the sidewalks, the clothesline in the backyards, to the cars piling up in rush hour traffic. The level of details on the buildings, roads, mail boxes streetlamps is breathtaking you could spend hours just looking at all the detail. Then spend another few hours once it's gone into NIGHT TIME mode, then the city really comes alive! With musems search lights lighting up the sky.

Now there is NO DIFICULTY levels in Sim City, so be warned un-expierenced players will find it hard. But as long as you start up small it'll be ok! You do feel like you're running your own city when things really pick up! You can manage your schools' budgets, or have them outside with their boards on stirke! It takes a lot of figuring out, but once you've got a little city running it's very rewarding! You can really feel it's alive as you watch people and cars and everything going on in it.

This game is definatly worth the money, it includes the expansion pack with lots of added bonuses. A very good quality game that'll bring you hours of enjoyment! And with the great online site offering updates, NEW buildings to import into your game and a city exchange it simply doesn't get any better!

The best of he franchise so far!
Well, what can I say? Sim city 4 has to be the best Simulation game in the Sim City franchise so far. The gameplay is very similar to its prior versions, however vastly improved. Various new options include new advisors(they really help you for a change), new areas to explore and lots more.

The graphics are superb. Its not like a simulation anymore, its more of a reality. You can actually see sims move around, talking to eachother, cars overtaking and having accidents, aircraft's taking off and landing in exactly the same way they do in reality and cruising over the clouds. Its amazing. There are also night and day effects which is a swell idea. Street lamps, house lights go on at night, giving a beautiful effect to your city. You can send Police Cruisers to make sure law and order is preserved. You have new God Like powers, such as manually changng night to day and vice versa, making storms and natural disasters. Beautifully renderd landscapes such as canyons, mountains and water effects add to realism.

System requirments are pretty high. Im playing Sim City 4 on a 1.6 Ghz P4, 356MB ram and a GForce4 64MB. It tends to get a bit slow when scrolling around in dense areas. Besides that, it works perfectly!