With this in mind, PALGN suspects The Urbz: Sims In The City is EA's attempt to expand the franchise's audience to include the demographic known by marketing men everywhere as 'trendy twenty-somethings', and maybe convert some of the naysayers who wouldn't be seen dead playing what started life as a PC game. Whereas previous games in the series focussed on achieving social and emotional equilibrium and, ultimately, suburban contentment (buy a house, get a job, buy your dream kitchen, get married, buy a widescreen television, get promoted), The Urbz is all about building a name for yourself, about acquiring a reputation on the streets. Indeed, as the annoying moniker suggests (the 'z' never fails to irritate PALGN), it's a Sims take on urban culture, and on what it's like to be part of a big city - in short, this is The Sims with it's 'bling gangsta' trousers on. We should probably blame Grand Theft Auto.
Still, perhaps we shouldn't be too cynical - after all, it's actually a new Sims game we have on our hands here (as opposed to another spurious, cash-in expansion pack), and there's some interesting changes afoot beneath it's garish, neon exterior. For instance, rather than purchasing the flashiest sofa available, the primary goal of the game now is to increase your urban Sim's reputation around town, and to do this you’re going to need to get out there and make an impression on folks. There's a whole assortment of different groups to impress however, and obviously not every group is going to be wowed in quite the same way.
Thus, mugging old ladies will make you a hit with the punks of Miniopolis (the setting for the game), but won’t exactly assist in building your reputation with the rich crowd. It's not just about how you behave either: Maxis have managed to incorporate a bewildering range of clothing, hairstyles, tattoos and piercings (certainly a greater range than that seen in any previous Sims title), and how you look is almost every bit as important as how you conduct yourself. As you’d expect, progress in the game relies on forging bonds with certain groups at different stages, though as you clamber the greasy ladder of social acceptance, leapfrogging from group to group, the eventual aim remains the same. See (according to the press release currently lying on PALGN's desk), Daddy Bigbucks is trying to take over the city of Miniopolis and it's up to you to stop him, all whilst increasing your reputation and keeping your crew happy. Admittedly it's a silly yarn, but then the entire series has always had a slightly quirky, tongue-in-cheek vein of humour running through it, and it's not something we'd change.
On the subject of humour, the same visual style remains, meaning every urban Sim will boast the same slightly deformed look that's been modelled by Sims to date, whilst it gives us pleasure to report that the facial animations have taken a hefty step up. And it's nice to hear that the amusing trademark Sims gibbering is also still there, in place of anything representing ordered human language. Indeed, there's certainly a marked playfulness about the Sims franchise that could have been lost in the switch to this grittier, more urban chapter of the series, yet Maxis have thankfully maintained a considerable part of what made previous Sims titles enjoyable.
There's other inventive touches elsewhere: in contrast to earlier games in the series, getting a job now actually means doing some work, or at least completing mini-games, many of which require carefully timed button-pressing or analogue stick-waggling. It brings to mind the job sections in Shenmue, and if it manages to hypnotise PALGN in the same way as forklift truck-driving captivated us in Sega's adventure, then these should prove a worthy addition. Then there's the excellent use of the Eye Toy, with the game allowing players to plaster their own face on posters about Miniopolis - it's superficial, but it adds another layer of customisation.
It looks like a bit of a genuine facelift for the series then, something that was sorely needed after the plethora of expansion packs and pseudo-sequels that have been thrust upon the games-buying public over the last three or four years. It'll also be available to everyone, with EA (unsurprisingly for EA, bless 'em) bringing the game to every platform known to mankind: Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and Gameboy Advance versions are all scheduled for release. There's even been a Nintendo DS version confirmed (complete with some touch-screen-related exclusive features), so there's really no excuse not to 'get down' with your 'crew' when this appears later this year.
Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to starve another Sim.
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