SimCity Societies Review

SimCity Societies is a different experience than previous titles in this franchise and implements a concept that isn't as much fun to play as previous titles in the series. In this title you don't have to worry about the careful placement of on-ramps, power lines or RCI zones. You also don't have to take into consideration the strategic placement of police stations, setting tax rates for your city and hooking up the plumbing.

In this title they have put all the importance on managing social energies. There are six energies for you to take into consideration as you play. They are produced and consumed in varying amounts by hundreds of different buildings. You need to balance the competing needs of Creativity, Authority, Prosperity, Spirituality, Knowledge and Productivity as you play. This concept seems to work, but the way they have designed it lacks focus and isn't as engaging and immersive as the concept could have been. The energies only affect the buildings, so this kind of leaves your Sims out of the fun equation. Your Sims can visit certain buildings and become specialists of one type or another. This does allow them to influence other Sims, but it doesn't change the big picture of playing.

SimCity Societies has an entertaining and engrossing music score that will remind you of the excellent sound quality of previous games in this series. The music sets the mood of playing this simulation video game beautifully, with a relaxed pace that makes long session a lot more engaging and satisfying.

SimCity Societies has an interface and control system that works fast and smoothly while you're building your city. The controls are well designed and responsive to your inputs and they make creating cities easy and useful. You can easily place anything you need on the map quickly and efficiently, which makes the actual building of your city the most entertaining part of this title.

SimCity Societies doesn't require you to take into consideration on making sure all your Sims have everything they needed in previous titles in this series. Just make sure they have a place to sleep and work and a place to play and you're done taking care of the needs of your Sims. Your Sims can visit certain buildings and become specialists of one type or another. This allows them to influence other Sims in the game, but this doesn't affect the big picture you had to worry about in previous titles in the series.

SimCity Societies still has a nice visual presentation that's pleasant to look at, with bright and crisp colors that really entertain your eyes. The graphics are a bit cartoon-like at some points but they fit the look of the subject matter in this video game. The artists were obviously given a license to create an exaggerated look that matches the theme of each city and they did a good job. A few of the buildings have a generic look that makes it hard at times to pick them out of the crowd when you need to. The frame rate of this title did start to slow down once your city starts to get large and it slows down even more once you add in the effects.

SimCity Societies is going to disappoint a percentage of SimCity fanatics who prefer the old game play elements to the new concept. If you haven't played a title in this franchise this title will keep you entertained and interested. Casual gamers will find it difficult to understand the concept and will probably be confused.