Sim City Hands-On

I thought sitting down with the new Sim City would be like slipping on and old, comfortable pair of slippers, but to be honest this new iteration of Will Wright's classic is something that takes a little getting used to.

The first thing that will strike you is the complexity. The early few minutes of this Sim City demo, mainly revolved around getting some residential, industrial, and business zoning done. Then on to waste management, water supply and the likes. There is a lot to learn, and just looking at the upgrade options for these very basic buildings is an indication of the depth that will be made available in the full game. There is plenty of room for micromanagement as you place garages for your garbage processing facility, and the same goes for other various expansions.

Complexity is great, even if it's hard to fully appreciate how the plethora of options will shape your city when you're really only given time to start setting the basics up. Industrial zones sit close to the garbage and one side of the city, while commercial areas intermingled with larger residential areas, where parks and attractions break up the monotomy.

Of course, my hard work was turn to flaming rubble as a meteor struck the centre of my industrial area 15 minutes into the demo. This is as far as journalists were allowed to play the game at Gamescom, giving us a tantalising peek at what the full game will entail. This demo allowed us to play beyond the meteor strike, trying feverishly to save as many flaming buildings as I could. Well, as it turned out I was mainly clearing rubble, but the fire department had their hands full that's for sure.

Missions and objectives pop up as you build your city, and the main one early on is simply to grow your population and earn more money. Hopefully these missions will allow players multiple paths and choices further on, so you're tasked with solving a problem rather than constructing a specific building or facility.

Regions and Diversity

The city in the demo was situated on a flat piece of fairly generic land, so there wasn't any chance of seeing what kind of diversity terrain adds to the equation, but it's easy to imagine how that will impact your options.

Diversity is something that naturally comes out of Sim City. Shaping your city is now also a matter of finding a profitable and suitable role inside of your region. Is there need for an oil baron? Perhaps someone to lend a helping hand with law and order? Maybe there is no proper holiday destination? There are many roles to fill, and how that will play out is one of the most intriguing things we'll find out when Sim City hits beta. Typically, you have to build a city that satisfies all basic needs of its citizens, but now you can specialise even more, and find success in doing so.

Why so serious?

Sim City has always been a franchise that has been decidedly tongue in cheek. It's not with a sadistic grin on our faces that we've sent natural disasters the way of our towns. But this new Sim City has a serious tone, even with the sillyness of its Sims inhabitants. Maybe, it's the minute detail of the simulation, maybe it's the organic way in which we can curve roads and build a city that actually looks like a real world equivalent, or maybe it was the weight that was put on me as the mayor trying to clean up the mess the meteor strike left. Perhaps an alien attack would have brought on a few more chuckles.

Of course, there is an overlying seriousness tied into the whole environmental angle of Sim City, and the fact that you'll have to think about how your actions affect your neighbouring cities.

The demo we got to try was a teaser, a sneak peek into the greater world of Sim City that's set to be unleashed upon us early next year. It showed a lot of promise, even if it represented what is largely a transport. It's one of those games that I can't wait to play more of, and that's a sign that Maxis are on to something great.