EA must seriously be beginning to run out of ideas for its franchise, which is where The Urbz: Sims in the City comes in. It is being released simultaneously for the Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, GBA and will be released on the Nintendo DS next year. The Urbz takes the unique Sims game play and moves it from suburbia to the city. As you progress through the game you will see that this isn’t the only change EA have made - and not all of these changes are for the good.
Despite these changes, the interface is still similar to previous titles in the series. Upon booting up the game players must create their Sims. The familiar Sims look is still as prevalent as ever, except in a small city apartment rather than a house. The most important thing to focus on in The Urbz is your reputation (sounds like Need for Speed: Underground doesn’t it?).
There are nine districts in the city that never sleeps. The objective is to gain access to all the hottest VIP spots until you reach the highest penthouse in the sky and acquire control of the entire city. Control is relatively simple to pick up, with you in total after roughly ten minutes play time. The Urbz has enough depth to keep players going for either ten minutes or five hours, and it is just as fun doing nothing as playing through the game “properly.”
So er, what are we both looking at?
The Urbz is the biggest departure from The Sims formula that we have seen for a while. Soon enough though, it does begin to feel familiar but The Urbz is more focused on mini games, which help to improve the character’s reputation. EA have really managed to change The Sims formula enough to warrant their claims that it is different - but they have also retained the addictive Sims formula that is in every Sims game. EA could have completely lost track of The Sims in their attempts to move to the city, but we are pleased that they have not. It has also given them the opportunity to add a few new aspects to the franchise, such as some new mini games. The tried and true Sims game play is still there, but is disguised with a stealthy urban theme.
The Sims is famous for the fact that it could literally never end. Gamers are not restricted to just playing through the mission objectives. This is true once again in the case of The Urbz. Most gamers will probably find themselves following the mission objectives this time so they can own the entire city.
We have to commend EA on the effort they have put into The Urbz. The entire Black Eyed Peas soundtrack has been custom mixed by Will.I.Am in Simlish and will play throughout the entire game. Band Members Will.I.Am, Fergie, Taboo and Apl.de.Ap all appear in the game as musicians teaching players social missions and unlocking reputation-enhancing missions. This is an interesting exclusive agreement with The Black Eyed Peas and if you don’t like their music then you may be instantly put off the entire game (...How is this a good thing? - Ed.). The rest of the sound in the game is just basically the Simlish language, nothing truly exciting but it is tolerable.
We feel that one of the problems with The Urbz is that EA haven't totally tipped the franchise on its head. Sure, there are new objectives, a new setting and new characters but something bigger could be changed to immediately take away from that sense of familiarity. We would love to see Xbox Live support enabled with support for downloadable objects (this could help to extend the lifespan) or even custom soundtrack support to take advantage of the Xbox’s capabilities would have been a good inclusion.
I dare you to take on that bouncer!
It is apparent from the beginning that EA have taken a different approach to The Urbz than in previous Sims titles. At the beginning it truly does feel like a different game, but it doesn’t take long for the familiarity of The Sims to show up. The Urbz also retails for a cheaper retail price than its predecessors did. This is a good move by EA and should help to ease the pain for those who keep shelling out the full price every time a Sims title shows up.
We genuinely don’t know where EA are going to go with the next incarnation of The Sims. Maybe it’s time to take a break until the next generation of consoles? The game play has been honed; just about every object imaginable is included in all three versions. They have been in the city and thrown parties - The Sims franchise really has been exploited.
If you've never played a Sims title before (have you been hiding under a rock?) then The Urbz is worth playing. But, we do really recommend that only hardcore Sims fans pick this up unless.
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