City Life | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Monte Cristo Wizarbox (DS) |
Publisher(s) |
|
Platform(s) | Windows, Nintendo DS |
Release | |
Genre(s) | City building games |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
City Life is a city-building video game developed by Monte Cristo. It is the first modern building game to allow the player to work in full 3D environment. It was published in France by Monte Cristo, in the UK and Germany by Deep Silver and in North America by CDV. It was released in May 2006.
City Life allows players to zoom in and see every little bit of detail. The placement method allows buildings to be placed at an angle, as also seen in Sierra Games' Caesar IV .
More recently, the game has been criticized for lack of many detailed elements, such as weather, disasters, and more "in depth" user control.
City Life continues the very long tradition of city-building and construction and management games that was originally started by Utopia from developer Don Daglow and Will Wright's SimCity series by allowing the player to customize their urban city's roads, buildings, finances, ordinances and much more. City Life utilizes a three dimensional game engine in displaying cities, and also includes the requirement to satisfy six different socioeconomic groups within the city, an essential part of gameplay. The six groups include the Elites, Suits, Radical Chics, Fringe, Blue collars and Have-Nots.
The game classifies city residents into six socioeconomic classes, which are depicted in a circle. Clockwise from the top are Elites, Suits, Blue Collars, Have-Nots, Fringes, and Radical Chics. Each class can tolerate the two adjacent to it, but is hostile towards the three across the circle. Further, the income generated by businesses focusing on each class is indicated by its height on the circle, Have-Nots generating the least and Elites generating the most. Lastly, the left side of the circle favors education while the right side favors safety (e.g. police and fire department coverage). The higher classes are of course more demanding. When a city is founded, only Fringes, Have-Nots, and Blue Collars will settle there. The Suits must be attracted by having good conditions for the Blue Collars, the Radical Chics are attracted by good conditions for the Fringes, and the Elites are attracted by good conditions for both the Suits and the Radical Chics. Due to the literal class warfare, if classes that dislike each other live near each other, they will start riots and make complaints. Much of the gameplay focuses on arranging a city so that this will not occur.
Every business will employ a specific mix of classes; the earlier, less profitable buildings may employ only one class, e.g. six fringe, but later buildings require a mix of several classes to reach their full potential. Thus, a successful city must manage a population of each of the classes.
As their name implies, the Elites are the most powerful and wealthiest segment of the population. However, they are also the most demanding of the six, requiring quality services in sectors like education, safety, leisure, and environment. Elites are usually attracted to a city by "evolving" from either the Radical Chic or Suit groups. Most of their employment will derive from jobs in the private industry (i.e. private clinics and private colleges,) as well as jobs in large financial institutions. They are, by far, the most lucrative socialculture of the six.
The Radical Chics are ranked among the higher income groups and are as lucrative as the Suits. They are very close to the artistic and creative world and have liberal views and dispositions. Employment for Radical Chics derive from jobs in designing (i.e. clothing and interior spaces,) researching, and cosmetic surgery. Radical Chics get attracted to a city by "evolving" from Fringes. This group favors services in education and retail.
The Suits are a wealthy community whom conduct business transactions within industries. Suits are attracted to a city by "evolving" from Blue Collars. They demand quality services in safety and healthcare among others. Their employment will derive from jobs in financial advising, auditing, accounting, and stock trading.
The Fringes are artists who have low incomes (slightly lower than that of Blue Collars) and are usually fans of cultural activities. They also lean towards liberal views of the world. Fringes are naturally attracted to any city with available housing, though under certain circumstances, they will "evolve" from Have-Nots. They demand good retail services and adequate educational services. Employment for the Fringes derives primarily from clothing workshops, wood companies, and paranormal activities (i.e. wraith hunters and extraterrestrial landing sites.)
The Blue Collars work in the manufacturing and "dirty" energy industries of the city and have revenues close to that of the Fringes (they are slightly more lucrative, but their workplaces generate more pollution) They represent working class families with traditional values. Blue Collars will usually be attracted to a city with available housing, but under certain circumstances will "evolve" from Have-Nots. They demand good services for healthcare and decent services for safety. Employment for Blue Collars is usually found in manufacturing, private investigating, fishing companies, and oil derricks/platforms.
The Have-Not community is the working poor, who are too focused on meeting the most basic needs to concern themselves with the clashing values of the Fringes and Blue Collars. They are the lowest on the scale of power and wealth. Have-Nots do not demand any services at all. In fact, they are content with having nothing more than a house and a job. Unlike Fringes and Blue Collars, Have-Nots are not too easily attracted to a city. In order for them to appear, the player will usually have to create a district focusing primarily on Have-Not jobs and leisure activities. It is also possible to attract Have-Nots by having Fringes and Blue Collars "devolve" into Have-Nots. This is achieved when Fringes and Blue Collars remain unemployed for a certain amount of time.
City Life has a simple economy. Each building has infrastructure costs which are paid by the city to the business, including fixed costs and costs which are related to the number of employees a building requires. Roads, bridges, parks and monuments also count as buildings in this way. Buildings also have indirect costs with regards the energy they consume and waste they produce. Buildings which represent businesses also generate income which is taxed and is paid back to the city. Therefore, the monthly budget for the city (i.e. for the player) is calculated by taking the taxed income and subtracting the infrastructure costs for each building. For example, the basic industrial building has $50 of fixed infrastructure costs and generates up to $100 in revenue tax per worker. When staffed with 3 workers the net profit for the city is thus $250 per month.
However, profits from business are not guaranteed at a fixed rate. For example, building a vegan restaurant in a city with a low population of Radical Chics will result in less than maximum income. Similarly, a casino won't turn maximum profit until there are Elites. In this way, the game forces the player to partially develop the richer communities in order to make their larger businesses viable.
Energy and waste in City Life are also considered a kind of income. Energy or waste management that the city provides for itself is cheaper than buying those services externally. Any surplus energy can be sold for profit, as can excess waste management. For example, a power station generates 5100 points of energy. If the city uses only 3100 energy, then the remaining 2000 energy will be sold and is counted as monthly profit. Incidentally this makes the power station one of the best initial industries for a city since it provides work for Blue Collar and profits are much larger than other industrial businesses.
A City Life expansion pack, dubbed City Life: World Edition, was released on December 30, 2006 online and on February 9, 2007 in stores in the U.S. World Edition features landmarks around the world, including the Eiffel Tower and the Sears Tower. Additional content includes:
On December 30, 2006, registered game users received an email advertisement for City Life Deluxe, which was released only in Europe on April 13, 2007.
On August 30, 2007, Monte Cristo and Focus announced an upcoming second expansion pack for City Life entitled City Life 2008 Edition, saying the expansion would include "60 more buildings, bringing the total to 360, including famous structures such as St Pauls Cathedral, Royal Opera etc... New scenarios, 10 new maps, and an updated version of the editor allow you to import satellite maps, as well as import from applications such as World Machine, or GeoControl." The official release date for the expansion pack was November 10, 2007. On November 16, 2007, the release date was pushed back to November 23, 2007. The game was finally released in 2007-2008.
Monte Cristo confirmed, in 2008, that they would make a City Life game for Nintendo DS. [4] The DS version was released in Europe in late 2008, and in the UK in August 2009. [5]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 76/100 [6] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | B+ [7] |
4Players | 79% [8] |
Computer Games Magazine | [9] |
Computer Gaming World | (mixed) [10] |
Eurogamer | 8/10 [11] |
GamesMaster | 77% [12] |
GameSpot | 7.8/10 [13] |
GameSpy | [14] |
GameZone | 7.9/10 [15] |
IGN | 8/10 [16] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 14/20 [17] |
PC Gamer (UK) | 79% [18] |
PC Gamer (US) | 83% [19] |
PC Zone | 73% [20] |
The Sydney Morning Herald | [21] |
The Times | [22] |
City Life received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [6]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 75/100 [23] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | A− [24] |
GameZone | 8.2/10 [25] |
City Life: World Edition received "generally favorable reviews according to Metacritic. [23]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 66/100 [26] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | C [27] |
Eurogamer | 5/10 [28] |
GamesMaster | 75% [29] |
GameSpot | 5/10 [30] |
GameZone | 7/10 [31] |
IGN | 6.9/10 [32] |
PC Gamer (UK) | 76% [33] |
PC Zone | 74% [34] |
City Life 2008 Edition received average reviews according to Metacritic. [26] PC Gamer UK said it was "No great shakes, but an awful lot better than SimCity Societies ." [33] 1Up.com concluded that "the solid city-building engine still has legs – just nowhere to walk." [27]
Publication | Score |
---|---|
4Players | 77% [35] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 15/20 [36] |
City Life DS received average reviews.
Soldier of Fortune is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. It was later released for the PlayStation 2, as well as the Dreamcast, while Loki Software also made a port for Linux. It was digitally re-released on GOG.com on October 2, 2018, along with its two successors. The player takes on the role of a U.S. mercenary as he trots around the globe hoping to halt a terrorist nuclear weapons plot.
Fly! is a flight simulator video game for Windows and Macintosh developed by Terminal Reality and published by Gathering of Developers.
The Urbz: Sims in the City is a video game for the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo DS. It is the third Sims game for video game consoles and is the second Sims game not to be released on Microsoft Windows, after a planned PC port and sequel were both cancelled due to mediocre sales. The next release for consoles and handhelds was the console port of The Sims 2.
4x4 Evo is a video game developed by Terminal Reality for the Windows, Macintosh, Sega Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2 platforms. It is one of the first console games to have cross-platform online play where Dreamcast, Macintosh, and Windows versions of the game appear online at the same time. The game can use maps created by users to download onto a hard drive as well as a Dreamcast VMU. All versions of the game are similar in quality and gameplay although the online systems feature a mode to customize the players' own truck and use it online. The game is still online-capable on all systems except for PlayStation 2. This was Terminal Reality's only video game to be released for the Dreamcast.
CSI: Dark Motives is a computer game based on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation television series. The game was developed by Radical Entertainment, published by Ubisoft, and was released for the PC in 2004. In November 2007 it was remade by Powerhead Games, published by Ubisoft and released for Nintendo DS. The Microsoft Xbox version of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation also contains the cases featured in this game.
Blue Dragon is a role-playing video game developed by Mistwalker and Artoon and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. Blue Dragon is based on a design by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who also supervised development and wrote the plot. It is both Mistwalker's debut title and the first title to be helmed by Sakaguchi outside of Square Enix.
Crosswords DS is a puzzle video game developed by American studio Nuevo Retro games released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was previously released in Australia as CrossworDS but a new OFLC entry confirmed that Nintendo Australia re-released it with a European localization. Crosswords DS features over 1,000 crossword puzzles that the player solves by using the stylus. Despite the title, it also features word search puzzles and anagram puzzles. It makes use of similar handwriting mechanics that the Brain Age titles make use of. Crosswords DS is included in the Touch! Generations series of titles, which includes such popular games as Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Nintendogs. The background music was composed by Fabian Del Priore.
The Settlers II, originally released as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici, is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements, developed and published by Blue Byte Software. Released in Germany for DOS in April 1996, and in the United Kingdom and North America in August, it is the second game in The Settlers series, following The Settlers (1993). In December, Blue Byte released an expansion, The Settlers II Mission CD, featuring new single-player campaign missions, new maps for both single-player and multiplayer modes, and a map editor. In October 1997, they released The Settlers II: Gold Edition, containing the original game, plus the Mission CD expansion, along with minor graphical enhancements and gameplay tweaks. The Gold Edition was also ported to Mac OS in 1997. In 2006, an enhanced remake, The Settlers II , was released for Microsoft Windows. In 2007, the Gold Edition was ported to the Nintendo DS, under the title The Settlers, released in Germany in July, and in the United Kingdom and North America in August. Although adapted for the dual-screen display of the DS, and with controls specifically programmed for use with the DS stylus, the gameplay, game mechanics, graphics and storyline are unaltered. In 2009, the original Gold Edition was released on GOG.com, and in 2018, it was re-released for Microsoft Windows as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici - History Edition.
Harvest Moon DS: Island of Happiness, known simply as Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, and known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari: Kimi to Sodatsu Shima, is a farm simulation video game published and developed by Marvelous Interactive Inc. in Japan, and released in North America by Natsume Inc. exclusively for the Nintendo DS. It is the third installment of the Story of Seasons series on the DS. It is the first entry without series creator Yasuhiro Wada involved.
SimCity DS is a city building and management video game and the first Nintendo DS installment in the SimCity series. It was published by Electronic Arts (EA) and developed by the AKI Corporation and EA Japan.
MySims is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spin-off to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Wii and Nintendo DS in September 2007, re-released for Microsoft Windows and mobile phones in 2008, and for BlackBerry in 2009.
Deal or No Deal is a video game based upon the television show of the same name. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS, and BlackBerry, and is available as a DVD TV game. There are two different versions available: a North American version and a United Kingdom version.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game based on the Lego Star Wars line of construction toys. It is a combination of the game Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (2005) and its sequel in 2006, which span the first six episodes of the Skywalker Saga. The game was announced by LucasArts on 25 May 2007 at Celebration IV and was released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS on 6 November 2007 in North America. The game was later released on Microsoft Windows on 13 October 2009, macOS on 12 November 2010, iOS on 11 December 2013, and for Android on 1 January 2015. The game was a critical and commercial success.
SimCity Societies is a city-building simulation video game developed by Tilted Mill Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, and is part of the SimCity series. The gameplay is significantly different from previous SimCity titles, with a greater focus on social development. SimCity Societies was released in 2007, and received mixed reviews, with praise for the game's improved accessibility and visuals, but criticism for being oversimplified and having poor performance.
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is a 4X, turn-based strategy game developed in 2008 by Firaxis Games with Sid Meier as designer. It is a spin-off of the Civilization series. The video game was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Windows Phone, and iOS. A Wii version was originally expected but was cancelled. The absence of a PlayStation Portable version was attributed to a lack of development manpower.
Top Spin 2 is a 2006 tennis video game developed by Indie Built, MENT, and Aspyr and originally published by 2K and Superscape. It is the sequel to Top Spin and is followed by Top Spin 3.
Sonic Colors is a 2010 platform game published by Sega. It follows Sonic's quest to stop his nemesis Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race and taking over the world. The gameplay is similar to prior Sonic games, with players collecting rings and defeating enemies; the camera perspective often switches from third-person to side-scrolling perspectives. The game also introduces Wisps, power-ups the player can use to increase attack power and reach new areas.
The Settlers is a city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich. The original game was released on the Amiga in 1993, with subsequent games released primarily on MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows: The Settlers II (1996), The Settlers III (1998), The Settlers IV (2001), The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (2004), The Settlers: Rise of an Empire (2007), and The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (2010). There are also several spin-offs; The Settlers II (2006) is a remake of The Settlers II, The Settlers DS (2007) is a port of The Settlers II for Nintendo DS, Die Siedler: Aufbruch der Kulturen (2008) is a German-only spiritual successor to 10th Anniversary, The Settlers HD (2009) is a handheld remake of The Settlers IV, and The Settlers Online (2010) is a free-to-play online browser game. With the exception of The Settlers HD, Ubisoft Blue Byte has developed every game in the series, as well as publishing the first three titles. From The Settlers IV onwards, Ubisoft has published all titles.
Le Mans 24 Hours is a video game released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The Dreamcast version was ported and published by Sega in Japan on 15 March 2001, while the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by the same company on 13 June. Based on the famous 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, the player is invited to race the entire 24-hour endurance course or take part in a simpler arcade mode. The game also featured tracks such as Bugatti Circuit, Brno Circuit, Road Atlanta, Suzuka Circuit, Donington Park and Circuit de Catalunya, as well as a weather and night system.
Other References