Rating: 
Summary: The good and the bad
Review: I agree with other reviewers here who have actually played the game. I have for 24 hours and am slightly disappointed. I find the animations great, but the overall quality of buildings is not as good in SC 3. They are very soft like a water color painting rather than sharp and vivid as in SC3. I have been playing SC since version 1, right through SC3 Unlimited and then this latest one. It is NOT a quantum leap as reviewers would have us believe. On a Dell XP 8200, it installs and works just fine with xtasy everything 64 mg video card. Cities are very difficult to get going since money runs out quickly and citizens seem never to be satisfied. The landscape visuals are much better, but buildings are worse. For those who have played SC 3, it is easy to learn the basics, but then there is so much more to learn and do. As other reviewers have stated, it appears to be unfinished and I suspect later versions will be 4 or 5 stars. Also it is expensive. ... I cannot rate it more than 3 stars. It is also a huge program nearly 900 mg, requiring 2 CDs to install. Just wait until we have computers running at 5 gig with 2 gig of memory and we will have a fantastic 3-D program in version 5 or 6.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Mo World of Sims
Review: I anxiously awaited the release of SimCity4 and have to admit that I regret spending the $50. The game is a complete memory hog and scenes move in slow motion. The airplane sounds cut in and out. My system meets (actually exceeds) the recommend requirements but the game seems to have stability issues. The game is a great concept but you need to have patience and a screamin' hot PC.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Released Yet
Review: Well, I don't know how these people can rate a game that hasn't even been released yet. I don't have mine yet and I ordered it on January 4th 2003. Those folks must be special. Well, when I get mine I'll rate it and write a real review. I am looking forward to playing it soon. Love all older versions of SimCity. I'm sure this one won't let me down either.
Rating: 
Summary: an utterly mediocre game
Review: The only improvement over the previous editions is graphics, everything else is the same or made worse, like cumbersome menus and lack of customization features. If you played SC3000 and got bored with it, stay away from this one, there is nothing new here.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but too buggy
Review: SimCity 4 is nice, but the game is terribly buggy. Mine has crashed 5 times in the 4 hours I've played it, and I have a stable system. Before buying this game review SimCity user forums to decide whether the game is stable enough for you...
Rating:
Summary: Be prepared for glacially slow "fun?"
Review: After playing for nearly a month now, I've got to say, I still like it. However, I don't know what might happen if my city reaches a population above 12,000 or so. My computer gets so sluggish that I'm worried I won't be able to keep playing past that point. I think the lack of transportation improvements over the last version is a big disappointment (especially the limited choice of roads). I don't think the simulation has been planned or programmed with much realism involved. For instance, the people who live in these towns are sooooo lazy. They hardly want to travel any kind of distance to get anywhere. The regional planning idea is an upgrade from the previous version but doesn't really enhance my pleasure much, although I haven't created a "metropolitan area" yet. It's a great game which can occupy one for several hours at a time, but it probably needs some tweaking to get it more "playable" by a greater number of computer users and if you have Sim City 3000 Unlimited you should probably stick to that. It's crude in many ways like the new one (limited roads, etc.), but at least it works, even with 1,000,000+ people.
Rating: 
Summary: Addicting and tons of fun!
Review: Simcity is quite possibly one of the best simulation games in the history of gaming, and this latest installment of the classic series is no exception!Players start out with a geographical map of landmass, and it is yours to do with as you please! There are many, many zones that you can work on. You can even go down to the very basics of terraforming before you even start building your city! There are tutorials for both terraforming and city building, so new or unskilled players can quickly learn all there is to know about the basics of Sim City! Some features carried over from previous games are the ability to connect to neighboring cities, enabling you to strike up deals that will lead to budget increases and positive public feedback. A collection of Sims, who are basically your board of directors, advise you on key aspects of your city. You have alot to be responsible for, but the game never goes down to micro-management...taking care of your budget and utilities is easy. You even have the option of using your created Sims from Maxis' other hit, 'The Sims' and importing them into the game. There is also a list of pre-generated Sims that you can move into the city and track their progress...these Sims can advise you on what is good and bad about your city and what needs improvement. Money management may get tedious...its difficult to maintain a good budget because you'll inevitably become spend-happy. You must carefully pool your resources and make certain that your expenses do not outweight your income. Methods of income include everything from business deals with neighboring cities to mass transit systems and recycling plants. And if all else fails, you can take out a loan of up to $200,000...which of course you will also have to payback. And if worse comes to worse...if those sims really start to get on your nerves and they all keep complaining...drop a 10 story robot from outer space into the middle of the city...make a volcano rise from out of nowhere, send a meteor crashing down...there is a list of often hilarious disasters that can occur randomly or upon your command. The game does have its faults, however. No matter what type of computer system you have, SimCity will cause massive slowdown. I've never seen such a basic game so graphically demanding before...it often crashes and locks up on the most advanced systems. I have a P4 1.8 Ghz processor with a Geforce 3 Ti500, 1.2 gig of Ram, and the game STILL locks up and slows down to a crawl. Another troubling aspect is that the game tend to boil down to micro-management...there are so many expenses and ordinances to keep track of that managing your money will become difficult. But that's part of the game...no sense in whining about it, just keep playing! The demanding graphic engine is probably the game's biggest fault. Otherwise, the game may just seem boring to some...you basically sit there, create zones for industrial, commercial or residential areas, place key buildings, manage utilities and manage your budget. Yet somehow the game manages to be fun and addictive! Such a basic premise, yet so entertaining. Despite being very demanding on your system, graphics are excellent, and the user interface is easy and friendly. Virgin sim players can learn the basics in no time. The game can even be played online with others, so you can strike up deals and balance your budget with other players! This is actually a great game for couples as well! Sim City 4 is a great game, and proves that not all games have to be guns, violence, sex and blood...in the end, it all boils down to plain old fun!
Rating:
Summary: It Kick BOOTY
Review: This game is very fun, it has the three mode system. This new Three mode system is incredible and awesome. The three modes are Mayor, God, and Sim. Mayor mode Is your normal Simcity exprience, building/expanding your city. God mode is were the real fun comes in you can "test" your fire department you can unleash a robot or shape the terrain to help your people. Sim mode makes you need the Sims the EA game but gives an add level of difficulty to this game. The one only problem with this game is the money that you have to start with which is why I use cheats. But overall 5/5 stars I will play this game forever, oh and it has gameplay so much that you litterally can't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: BE CAREFUL OF VIDEO SUPPORT
Review: I don't have one of the video cards that supports the 3D chipset. The graphics usually work -- sometimes black streaks appear across the maps and cities. In the region view, the streaks seem permanent. They appear even if I turn off all hardware acceleration. That might be acceptable if I had a wierd pc and graphic card, but I have a HP pavilion with s3 chipset and 1GHz athlon. Overall I liked simcity3000 much more. 3D graphics were improved in version 4, but game play is the same or worse. I hope they fix the ... streaks. Also, having to make landscapes each time you start a city is a pain. I am disappointed. Wish I could take it back.
Rating:
Summary: A few new things from version 3000 and a few left out
Review: The basic city building is mostly unchanged from version 3(000).
Most of the new stuff in Version 4 is extra stuff such as having "Sims" people that can be tracked through the game. The new features are laid out explained good in the manufacturers stuff and the other reviews. The graphics are preatty cool. There are some little things that make the game more playable. The keyboard shortcuts are now documented. It is possible to build something over an existing building and have it "auto buldoze". Holding the mouse over a building gives lots of information; easier than having to click. When building a public building like a police station or school the map shows existing facilities and their effective range. Downsides: There is no Save-As function. A given city can only be saved with the original name so there isnt the possibility of trying out something experimental and then be able to go back. I think it is possible to copy the city to a different region so there may be a back door way to duplicate a file, but "save as" would be a lot more convienant. Similarly there is no auto-save. I had the game crash twice and lost several hours of building. So save a lot. I had a lot of troubles balancing the budget. I guess with a new city build slow and wait on expensive improvements. Also there arn't very many prebuilt cities. The few included pre-built cities are difficult to find, it is necessary to open up the different pre-built regions. They say more cities can be downloaded, I didnt try this yet. However its not like earlier versions where you can open up lots of famous cities and start reordering them.
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