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SimCity 3000: In Depth
- Jason Wilson

Another sequal to another classic, but is it enough to accomplish what SimCity 2000, and SimCity Classic did?

SimCity began back in late 1989 by one who many know as the "father of SimCity", Will Wright. It was a game nobody thought would be successful, yet sold millions of copies. It was a game that spawned many other games in it's likeness, and spawned a sequel several years later. Finally, after 10 years of the original games debut, in February of 1999 SimCity 3000 is finally released.

SimCity 3000 lets you do just what it was meant to do. Build cities, and micro manage them to your limits. It's a game that can only be "won" by only your own terms. The task is an easy one as well. Start off with barren land, and build it into a busy metropolis. But it will not be something that can be accomplished by itself. You have to zone residential, industrial, and commercial zones, and provide transportation between the three. Still, as the game progresses just that alone won't work. You'll have to build Police Stations to help keep crime down. Hospitals to cure those sick sims, and Schools to increase your Sim's intellect. All this while managing taxes and to keep a positive cash flow in the city's buffers.

What's new, and what's changed if I played SimCity 2000? Of course the graphics made a big jump from what you have seen in SimCity 2000. But there's more to it than that. Landmarks are one of the largest additions to SimCity 3000. If you'd like, you can build Big Ben among the skyscrapers of New York City. Or even have the White House next to the Pyramids of Egypt. Landmarks are also more than just eye candy. They boost the Aura, and reduce crime. Who really wouldn't mind having the Washington Monument in their backyard?

There's one thing that has lasted from SimCity 2000 that has changed quite a bit. City Advisors. These advisors play a much larger role in the game than ever before. Each advisor is head of their own departments as follows, Financial, Transportation, City Planning, Environmental, Public Safety, Health and Education, and finally Utilities. All of these advisors are just several clicks away to any sort advice you would need. While being helpful most of the time, the advisors are real people devoted to their department, so they won't suggest increasing the budget of another department. All that is up to you to figure out the balance.

One major addition is the city ordinances. Even more management of the city is needed to either put your sims under control, increase the city's buffers, or just to make your sims happy. These ordinances range anywhere from allowing you to make gambling legal, to outlawing pollution, or having a volunteer firestation. Of course not every ordinance will make your sims happy. Sometimes a group will come to you to propose an ordinance, or to vote down another. You can ask advice from advisors according to what department the ordinance belongs in, but in the end it's up to you to decide.

There's even more to be concerned about now. In SimCity 2000, you didn't have to worry about taking out the trash. It's a whole different story now. If you ignore landfills, and recycling centers trash will pile up in the street, and your sims will leave town. Of course there are other options as well. You can now pay neighbors to take your trash away for you (provided there is a connection between your city and theirs) or if you have the extra space, they'll even pay you to take out their trash. You can also sell any other extra utilities to neighbors. Overflowing with water? No problem. There's bound to be a neighboring city who's got a drought. Built one too many powerplants? There's a solution for that as well. A friendly mayor with a wad of cash would be happy to take some of that extra power off your hands. Who said being mayor was easy?

There's always a few surprises hidden in the game. There are now more rewards than ever before! Rewards are not only based on how high your population is now, but also other areas. If your sims average EQ (Education Quotient) reaches 135 after the year 1999, you'll receive a science center. If there's more than 35 park tiles in your city, you'll recieve a national park. All these rewards have both good and bad benefits. While building a Military Base in your city is bound to boost commercialism, your sims sure won't like it and Residential will take a slight dip. It will also increase crime rates slightly in the surrounding area.

One area that hasn't changed much: disasters. The disaster list has taking quite a dip as several have been cut off, but none the less, they are all impressive. Watching as fire breaks out in the city, or a tornado rips through a suburban area, it's all fun for those who like to tear down as much as they build up.

There's been leaps and bounds here and there. There's an increase in the building number with over 150 different buildings. There's also an increased zoom level where you can watch your sims at work, or the traffic jam in the city center. The infrastructure of the graphics are just amazing, where you can zoom out and see your city from a birds eye view, or even underground and watch your subways at work.

Otherwise, not much has changed. The gameplay is still the same, and will bound to be fun. SimCity 3000 is basicly the same game as SimCity 2000, just with a major graphics overhaul, and a few other features added in.

The final question, is it worth it? There's absolutly nothing wrong with SimCity 3000. It is a great game that will appeal to families, new gamers, and old players alike. But the experience for those who played SimCity 2000 won't be quite the same. The game does introduce a lot in the gameplay, but it's not quite enough to keep you entertained in the long run if you've played it before. Of course, there's not much you can improve on in a classic game, so it is well worth the money. Maxis hasn't quite it a grand slam here, but it is enough for a home run.

Yes! You can buy SimCity 3000 at our online store!

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