Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	7
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	10
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	8.4

City Life 2008 Edition Review
July 16, 2008 by Eric Franck

First things first: if you already own the European boxed version of the original City Life, you don't need to buy City Life 2008 Edition. In fact, you might as well not look at the rest of this review, because you can see the additional 2008 Edition content for yourself without dropping a dime. Publisher Deep Silver and developer Monte Cristo are offering the new material as a complementary (and rather large) downloadable update to owners of the retail City Life, so if you fall into that category, stop reading now and have at it. However, at the time of publishing, we were unable to determine whether or not this update will work for the North American boxed retail version of the original City Life.

On the other hand, if you haven't yet experienced City Life, now is a great time to settle in behind the mayor's desk. While the 2008 edition isn't any revolution for the series, picking up this latest version of City Life will both save you the trouble of downloading the hefty update and give you a content-rich introduction to Monte Cristo's excellent series of city building games.

Gameplay

You'd think that the city building genre of games would be out of steam by now, considering that gamers have been building virtual cities since the release of Sim City in 1989. City Life, however, proves that there's still fun to be had in the digital concrete jungle.

On the surface, City Life seems like a typical city building game, charging the player with the task of constructing a thriving metropolis, block by block, from a bird's eye perspective. Many of the standard city management concerns are present here, including traffic, waste management, and power. The main factor that separates City Life's gameplay from that of other city building games, however, is its unique inclusion of subcultures. Each citizen of your city is a member of one of six different subcultures, ranging from the rich, uppity “elites” to the impoverished “have-nots”. The building menu organizes buildings by subculture, and different neighborhoods representing a particular subculture will form in your city depending on what kinds of businesses and attractions you've built in the area. There's one complication, though: the subcultures don't get along with one another very well. Each group can peacefully co-exist with the two others which are closest socioeconomically, but they can't stand the other three. For example, the elites are happy to share a street with the cutting-edge artsy “radical chics” or the business savvy “suits”, but their dander's up as soon as they run into a few have-nots. In order to keep the city running smoothly, you've either got to keep feuding subcultures separate or give them access to community services that will help them resolve their differences. You can't just put miles of highway in between them, though, because each residential area needs general services like police, grocery stores, and health care, which need to be staffed by members of varying groups, so you've got to make sure that all the necessary employees are within commuting distance. It's a lot to juggle, and it's not horribly realistic, but it definitely keeps the game interesting.

"Plan your city well!"

The meat of City Life 2008 Edition's gameplay is in the scenario mode. These challenges each take place in a different location with unique bonuses and drawbacks. The scenarios offer a set of winning conditions based on your city's population, monthly income, or proportion of upper-class groups. There are three levels of winning conditions, represented by bronze, silver, and gold keys, and earning keys will allow you to unlock more difficult scenarios and areas of the map. The 2008 Edition offers a significant boost to the already extensive library of scenarios, so completionists will be busy for a long time. If you'd rather not worry about goals, however, you can play City Life's sandbox mode, which offers the same gameplay without the winning conditions.

Graphics

City Life's visuals aren't top-notch, but they aren't an eyesore either. Everything is in full real-time 3D (as should be the case in almost every video game by now) and the textures and models hold up well enough even when the camera is at ground level. In fact, one of the touted features of City Life is the ability of players to roam around on their own city streets as a pedestrian in a first-person view. This also gives you a picture taking button, and it all adds up to a nice little diversion if you want to take a break from construction. There's no real day/night cycle in City Life, but you can set an option so that your city is in a perpetual sunrise, sunset, or just at day or night purely for the visual effect. While the graphics are for the most part pretty good, there are some downers in the visual department such as the lackluster fire effects.

"Is that building dark colored or on fire?"

Sound

City Life 2008 Edition's audio is mostly dominated by its bouncy urbanite soundtrack, which suits the tone of the game well, but can get repetitive during long play sessions. The ambient city sounds are generally quiet and subtle, and replicate their real world counterparts appropriately, letting players listen to the buzz of residents and the pounding of construction tools, among other sounds distinct to each type of building. While the sound is all-around well done, the game's audio isn't special enough to be the highlight of any player's City Life experience.

PlasmaFactor

Honestly, in City Life 2008 Edition the sound and graphics are merely incidental, because the easy-to-learn and excellently paced gameplay steal the show. The game never leaves you wondering what your residents want or need, because useful feedback is constantly given to the player in the form of icons above buildings and a news feed in the corner of the screen. You won't ever feel aimless, either, because there's always another population milestone within reach which will unlock a new set of buildings so that your city can develop. It's this steady stream of unlocks that makes City Life ferociously addictive—you'll never want to quit when you're only a small step away from opening up new structures or reaching a scenario goal. The game's pacing feels great, and it accelerates as your city grows and has more problems to deal with but more resources at its disposal. All of these finely tuned elements work together to make City Life hard to put down. 

Also, if you're really a hardcore City Life player, the 2008 edition comes with an enhanced editor that facilitates all manner of user created content, so you're able to take the game in completely new directions if you've got the expertise. This could extend the game's already sizable content into infinity.

Conclusion

If you haven't played City Life and you're at all interested in city building games, don't hesitate to grab City Life 2008 Edition. With its extra content enhancing an already fun and well designed game, you're bound to spend many satisfying hours constructing your own urban paradise.