Urbz: Sims In The City

[chuddy_2001uk]

The Sims was one of the biggest selling PC games of all time. Now of course, not content with just 'The Sims', Maxis and EA released pile upon pile of expansion packs and eventually 'The Sims 2' which looks set to follow in the footsteps of its younger brother sale wise. The consoles were never going to miss out on the Sims and so the special console versions of the PC game was released. The Sims and The Sims : Busting out were released on all of the major formats, including GBA, and although were playable, always seemed to lack something. Now though EA have released a Sims title that is made with just consoles in mind - and among these consoles includes the Nintendo DS. The Urbz : Sims In The City follows the same style as the other Sims games but this time.. you've guessed it.. you're set in the city and life is about to get much tougher!



Graphics

From three very nice looking next-gen console versions of this game (Xbox, GameCube and PS2) to the still impressive GBA version, The Urbz is in general a very nice looking game. However, for a new handheld with the graphical power to
surpass the N64 and PSone I was majorly disspointed to find a GBA game loading up. I had to check that my GBA Urbz cart wasn't in to be honest, as I was met by the exact same graphics and presentation as I started to play. Sure, EA haven't had long to adapt to the new system and the GBA graphics aren't at all terrible, but it is just a shame that they didn't spend time updating the graphics to the new system or at least make some of the scenery look nicer. If you have played the game on the GBA then you will know exactly what this game looks like. ( - and plays like, but more on that later.)

The game uses an isometric 3D view, set above your character and the environment and although the characters are nicely animated and rendered it certainly isn't pushing the hardware capabilities of the DS. The main game is shown
on the top screen whereas menus and dialog boxes are brought up on the lower screen for the obvious touch screen usage. The game runs smoothly enough and is quick but again, I can't help feeling like i'm playing a GBA game over two screens - and it is a little dissapointing.


Sound


The sound again, is pretty much a slightly higher quality version of the GBA version. It consists of pretty cool urban style beats and tunes and fits in with the game superbly. I have to say, I found the music very catchy and it is a great part of the game. The characters let out appropriate 'yaps' and 'oohhs' occasionally which is another nice feature of the sound and adds to the feeling of interaction. There is no speech, but sound effects are sharp and appropriate. Although it does eventually get repetitive, you'll find yourself tapping your feet along to the music of your DS' stereo speakers. It is a shame that EA did not make more use of the stereo/surround sound features of the DS but overall the sound is hard to fault.



Gameplay

You start the game by choosing your 'Urb' - This involves choosing a name, clothes, style and answering a series of questions which will determine which 'group' your Urb will fit into. This affects certain parts of the game later on,
but it isn't that important so don't worry. Your character is introduced to the city lifestyle and soon you find your Urb on a roof. The story continues that you have no job because a certain nasty man has decided to buy the company you work for - typical! Of course you know that there is some hidden motive to this and set out to try and save the company and stop the man from taking over the city. First you are offered some living space within the companies building but in one of the tasks in which you have to 'borrow' some keys, things go wrong and the police become involved. After finally talking your way out of jail, you find yourself in the City itself and have to go about setting up home there - and your life as an Urb begins! Once the intial story section is out of the way the game becomes less linear, which is nice. You still have to complete set tasks to continue but there are many side objectives to do and people to talk with to make the game broaden your interests in it. The city seems quite large at first, with a school, few shops, bar etc. But as you complete more and more tasks the city opens itself up and you'll be able to unlock up to 26 locations - it's quite large.


As mentioned, the game requires you to complete tasks in order to continue. Most of these tasks involve talking to characters and finding out things. For example talking to someone to get an item to take to someone else to earn... a new TV for your home. Simple tasks, but they get more expansive and challenging as the game continues. Conversations in the game involve you choosing from the options on the touch screen - you usualy have around 3-4 options of what to reply/ask the computer character who will usualy reply with some random information. sometimes however, this information will be crucial to the game and if you skip past it then it can prove annoying. Finding your way if you miss a point like this is difficult, but you will eventually stumble across the solution. The touch screen is used well to select the dialog options and I prefer it to the slower D-pad option, but at least the option for either is included.


It's not all tasks and objectives though. The original Sims aspect of the game is still included to pad out the gameplay. Your character has meters at the bottom of the screen which let you know if it needs food, sleep, a shower or the toilet (and so on). If at any point one of these meters falls to below acceptable then your character will stop talking to fellow Urbz and tell you that it needs something. You will find that your Urb will not follow any orders with regards to interacting until you get this meter back up to a good level - an example would be that your Urb will refuse to talk to anyone if they need the toilet. That's fair enough I suppose! I like this addition to the gameplay, as it adds the feel that you are still in control of your Urbz life and it does make it feel a lot more like a real life. Even Urbz need to eat!

Even after all those inclusions to the gameplay there is still more. The game features 8 mini-games to unlock (which are later accessed via the start menu for quick play) which include an Excitebike copy and a Basketball shooting game. These are fun while they last but certainly not like the ones found in Mario 64. There is also the leveling up aspect to your Urb - similar to what is found in every RPG. You can buy things for your character including vehicles and eventually your Urb will be very popular and hopefully rich. It's fun making your Urb the new 'in' thing around the City and making new friends is a good laugh, even if they do talk gibberish half the time. Some of the gameplay does feel slightly padded out though - for example some items break no and again, like the TV. You then need to spend time 'repairing them' which involves your Urb fiddeling infront of it for about 15 seconds while a bar fills up. This is a bit pointless and involves no skill - was it really neccersary? And why couldn't it have used the touch screen somehow?



Lifespan

The Urbz will take you around 20 - 30 hours to complete fully, which is great for what is at heart, a GBA title. The leveling up and the interaction will help the time fly by and the chance to buy things for your home until it looks exactly how you want it to will keep you coming back. The mini-games are fun but are'nt enough to play more than a few times each. The DS version of the Urbz also features a new island, Splicer Island, with a whole new load of tasks and people to interact with and explore. At least EA included something new for the DS game. However, one thing that is a big let down is the lack of multiplayer mode. This wouldn't be so bad, but for the fact even the GBA version had it. With the DS' Wi-Fi capabilities, multiplayer modes have endless possibilities - imagine sharing your homes with one another or taking your Urb round to a mates home to visit? Sadly, none of this is included, which is a shame. All in all though, the Urbz will take you a good long time to complete and should keep you coming back for a while.



Summary


The Urbz : Sims in the City is interative, interesting and very playable but at the same time a bit of a let down. The story is fun to follow and upgrading your Urb and it's home is always there to increase replay value but something feels missing. The whole game reeks of GBA and although the GBA is a great console, I would have loved to have seen something new and impressive for this DS version - 5 virtual pets and an Island is little to warrant buying this if you already own the GBA version. It's difficult to not compare this to the GBA version, but if you take it on its own merit, The Urbz is a very solid RPG. It certainly makes for a good break from Mario but maybe it is not one that you will come back to when the newer DS titles are launched. Worth a look, but maybe not if you are not a fan or either the Sims or the RPG s-l-o-w-e-r style of gameplay.




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Graphics - 6/10

Nicely rendered characters and pretty animations but the GBA can do it so we would have expected better for this new piece of hardware.


Sound - 8/10

Catchy and cool urban music backed up with character noises to add to the interaction. Really good, but again could have used the DS' features more.


Gameplay - 8/10

Lots going on - tasks going on, characters to upgrade, houses to furnish, mini-games to play and locations to unlock. Its great fun but maybe slightly repetitive later one. Lack of multiplayer is a real shame.


Lifespan - 7/10

Around 20-30 hours of main gameplay which is great, but after that the fun begins to drop. Mini-games aren't ground breaking either. You won't come back to this once Metroid is released.





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A fun and certainly very playable title that is let down by the lack of upgraded features from the GBA version and lack of replay value as the game progress'. Good, but not quite there.