Freedom

Besides the goal-based game play, you can play the Urbz in a somewhat classical Sims way. You can build some walls (though you can't change the external walls, as they have fixed roofs on them), decorate them, and buy and place furniture. Unfortunately the pre-made districts are often already so full of objects, you have to delete some of them to place something new. What's hard about actually placing the objects is that you can't see from which way the urb will use the object. It may be obvious for chairs and so, but it's less clear for skill objects, for example. Trial and error is the only solution in that case.

The free play is integrated with the regular game play, so you can skip from one mode to another whenever you like, just by playing the game differently. You can socialise with other urbz, have some fun in the VIP areas, or earn some money on the job. This is freedom you don't see in many games, however it's more limited than the original Sims games. There's no family, just the single urb you control (and perhaps crew members). Also the lack of being able to place all walls freely doesn't make the game as appealing as Sims games. This game focuses a lot more on the goals rather than the classic game play, and that's something many Sims fans will miss.

Two Players

If you have a second controller, the game can be played with your friend in a (vertical) split-screen mode. Basically the game play is nothing different from the original game, as the goals are the same. You can help each other with unlocking places by gaining rep, but that's all. You also have to follow each other around all the time - at least you have to be in the same district. Whenever one of you leaves the area, the other will have to follow, whether you like it or not. Unfortunately the screens are a bit small when split. You need to zoom out quite a bit to get a proper overview of where you are.

One advantage of starting with a new Sim in two-player mode, is that you can skip the first part of the game. Another plus is that the complete city is more or less shared. That means that if you load a game which you started in single-player mode before, you can use the same Sim, in the same city, with the same status. That way you can help your single-player game a lot and so improve your own rep by interacting with the other player. After saving a two-player game, both Urbz will be saved as two single-player games. That means you can continue the same game with just one of your Urbz, and you'll in fact see the other one in the district where you left them. That way you can create up to four Sims in one city, all trying to gain rep. They won't disappear in the city when you stop playing with one of them, but they'll actually be in the city as NPC. So even those urbz never sleep in the city...

Controls

The controls of the game are similar to the Sims Bustin' Out. With one stick you move the plump bob (the 'cursor'), the other one rotates and zooms the camera. Different this time is that you can also navigate through the menus using the left analog stick, which is a good improvement. However, the controls itself are a bit too sensitive sometimes making it hard to select the right objects. When the camera is zoomed out too much, it is also unclear what the cursor is placed on. This can get pretty annoying as it's sometimes hard to get right. If you've never played a console Sims game before, you'll probably also have to get used to the controls, but you get the hang of it fairly easily.

Actions are shown as a vertical 'pile' on the right of the screen. This is different than other Sims games where actions are queued up horizontally, but not any more difficult or bad. It's something you might have to get used to for a bit, but the switch is easily made. Something about these actions that's not always that great is that they're are fairly easily autonomously cancelled by your Urb. If somebody's in the way of the object you're trying to use, the action will be cancelled straight away instead of letting the body that's in the way move out of it. Once I got the hang of the game I found myself pressing the double-speed button a lot, and it's fairly annoying that you have to click the action a few times after each other before your Urb really does what you want. All that because somebody else isn't moving...

The camera sometimes zooms in on your urb when something special happens. These are programmed camera positions and look pretty good, however it does get a bit annoying after a while. There's no option to turn these off, so you end up seeing it all. While the camera is in such a special position you can't control the game anymore except the speed. So while you can speed up the game until the end of the sequence, you can't queue up any actions whatsoever. Similarly, if you've already played the start of the game you can't skip through the basics and just get going - you have to watch all the messages from Darius and Will.

The standard menu, except for the Save, Quit and Options, has been replaced by the XAM. This is a central place to view your goals and the progress in the game and careers, some statistics, your relationships, and messages you received. It's also your phone, and shows you what's in your pockets. Whenever you receive a message, you'll hear a ring tone. As you progress through the game, you'll unlock more of these ring tones, as well as skins for the XAM. This is a nice gimmick feature that enables you to play the game completely in the style you like.

Despite that many features of the game are self-explanatory, it's sometimes useful if there was a decent manual to look things up in. This is where the game also lacks a lot. It comes with a small manual, but only the very basics are covered in it. Fortunately a lot of things are also explained in the game itself, and you'll often see a message from Darius or someone else in the top of your screen telling you what you should be doing. The game is fairly easy which in the end does make up for the manual, so it's not a great loss.

Images and Sound

The graphics and audio game are quite alright. The graphics aren't great and there are definitely games with better graphics. But it runs smoothly, and the blur makes it all look good enough for this game. The Sims has never had state-of-the-art graphics, and this game is no exception in the franchise. However, the graphics in the Urbz are a big improvement compared to the Sims Bustin' Out, though you can't expect Sims 2 quality on a console.

Nitpicking on one specific object, is one drink vending machine that appears in a few districts. EA decided to take out some of the in-game advertising in the European version. Unfortunately the logo that's on the machine in the picture in the US version, is just blue in the European version. It would've been nicer if it was replaced with a different (fake) logo. That's one of the few finishing touches that this game misses. It might not be a great deal, but it could've been nicer too.

The audio is as usual for Sims games: pretty unique. There are constant ambient sounds of cars passing by just outside the edges of the districts, or you can hear other Urbz doing their thing. The simlish recorded is all new as well, so there's nothing bad about it. When it comes to music the Black Eyed Peas make are in the game quite obviously, as you'll hear them in many places - including on the loading screens. Of course you can always turn the radios to another channel if you don't like their music. The tunes are pretty typically Sims too, and they're good as background. The music is usually not so much in the foreground that it gets disturbing, even though there is music pretty much all the time - and that's definitely a good thing.

Conclusion

With the Urbz, Maxis has made a more goal-based game in the Urbz franchise. Although it's not linear and you can do whatever you want, in the end the game focuses on the goals quite a lot. You need to gain rep, and by doing so you more or less complete the goals along the way. However, it's not worked out well enough. The goals are too much the same, as are the districts. If the game had one district instead of nine, you would be playing the same thing just once... instead of nine times. The looks may be different, the rest isn't. This lack of variety can make the game quite boring very quickly.

If you manage to finish the game before you get bored with it, I doubt many will continue to play it in free-mode. There isn't much to do, so you can make up your own goals like unlocking everything or beating all the jobs, but this game doesn't give enough freedom to tell stories like the Sims did, or to build a nice palace.

As for the technology in the game, there isn't much wrong, except the few crashes I experienced. The graphics are decent as is the audio. The Sims has never been a success because of stunning state-of-the-art graphics, so the game doesn't really need that. It's alright, and the general look-and-feel isn't too bad. Unfortunately though, the game has to do a lot of loading. There are three different loading screens (one general loading picture, a subway, and a blank screen with a text at the bottom), all of which appear whenever you load the game, visit a different place, enter the shop or when you change your clothes. It's fairly annoying having to stare at such a screen half the time.

All in all, the game's alright, but far from great. There are quite a few little details (like Sims getting an umbrella or newspaper when it rains) which are nice, but also quite a few small bad things. In Europe it's rated for ages 12 and up (whereas all other Sims games on console and PC are rated 7+), and for that rating I personally think the game is too easy. If you're 12 years old or so, you might like it - especially if you like the Urban hype. But many Sims fans are older, and the game is too easy in that case, and is only fun for a while. It gets repetitive and boring after having done the same thing for the fifth time. It's not the Sims anymore, it's a parody of the 'urban' life in the city in a Sims flavour. When it comes to making a parody, the humour is good and I guess the job's pretty well done. However, in no way expect something similar to the Sims 2 on PC, or any of the other Sims games for that matter. There also are a few major annoyances, but quite a few small ones - and those are the ones which take the fun away. My final verdict? I don't really recommend it unless you're really into the Urban thing and want to have everything Sims or Black Eyed Peas. Otherwise, it might be wise to wait until the price of the game has dropped. It's a nice game, but only for a while, so you should think well if you want to spend the money on it or not. It's a different game considered the rest of the Sims franchise, and although it's made by the same studio, it's probably too different for most Sims fanatics who play the Sims 2 more than anything else.

Better luck next year, Maxis? Perhaps taking a bit more time than 10 months will do...

Written at 00:30 on Wednesday 8 December 2004 by ChEeTaH.