ManagerJosh
09-22-2007, 05:43 AM
When you think about Maxis, it's pretty easy to think of The Sims. However, the famed studio would have never made The Sims if not for its previous blockbuster franchise, SimCity. The original SimCity is almost 20 years old and has spawned three sequels on the PC, the last of which appeared in early 2003. So when EA and Maxis announced SimCity Societies earlier this summer, it brought the long drought for a new SimCity game to an end. But from the get-go, it was made clear that Societies isn't a "traditional" SimCity game by any means. We finally got our hands on a work-in-progress version of the game to discover the changes.
The classic SimCity model was a fairly laissez-faire system. You, as a city's mayor, built the infrastructure and public services for a city, such as police stations and schools, as well as zoned the land for different use, whether it was residential, commercial, or industrial. Your virtual citizens did all the rest, deciding on what types of buildings and businesses to erect in the space you designated. It was very much an urban simulation. Societies offers up a vastly different gameplay experience because it's more of a city-building game where you are intimately involved in the placement of almost every object and building in the game. If earlier SimCities let you play as a "hands off" mayor, you'll be immersed up to your elbows in Societies.
Read more at Gamespot.com (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/simcitysocieties/news.html?sid=6179581)
The classic SimCity model was a fairly laissez-faire system. You, as a city's mayor, built the infrastructure and public services for a city, such as police stations and schools, as well as zoned the land for different use, whether it was residential, commercial, or industrial. Your virtual citizens did all the rest, deciding on what types of buildings and businesses to erect in the space you designated. It was very much an urban simulation. Societies offers up a vastly different gameplay experience because it's more of a city-building game where you are intimately involved in the placement of almost every object and building in the game. If earlier SimCities let you play as a "hands off" mayor, you'll be immersed up to your elbows in Societies.
Read more at Gamespot.com (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/simcitysocieties/news.html?sid=6179581)