Game review: City Life

Publisher: Auran Games         Developer: Monte Cristo           Released: 15th May 2006           Players: 1            www: auran.com         Rating: G         

City Life has been the proclaimed as the revival of the "city builder".

After the massive success of the Sim City saga (which started way back in 1989), Monte Cristo have delivered what could be the new era in city simulators.

However in City Life, it's not just building sky-scrapers and hotels – you must also manage the population as well to ensure that everyone is getting along as a society.

This game requires innovation, quick-thinking and plenty of patience.

The gameplay is simple at first: you choose a terrain and climate (moderate, tropical, mountainous, etc) before being given a set budget and a key building for your city, the town hall. The in-game construction system is fast and easy to pick-up thanks to a neat and detailed interface.

Soon you'll be laying down roads, motorways, bridges, skyscrapers, shopping centres, airports, power stations – the only constraint is your moola budget.

City Life aims for realism and players will have to use clever thinking to ensure their city functions efficiently and effectively, taking careof where important buildings are placed and keeping an eye on what buildings are vital for operation.

Your city is also occupied by various citizens, all of differing social classes – each with their own desires and needs.

Failure to separate or please certain classes (from the rich suits to the poor slums) will result in riots or chaos within your city.

Graphically, the 3d engine makes City Life a beautiful experience.

You have complete control over the camera angles, allowing you to zoom in and see your bustling city in all its glory.

You can go from a birds-eye view in the clouds down to pedestrian level and literally walk amongst your occupants of your city.

For the realism side of things – there are phases of each day as well and you'll see dawn, morning, afternoon and evening and how your city adapts to each.

The end result is a highly detailed, glorious game that you can truly feel like a God in.

City Life is cram packed full of hours of gameplay and will satisfy any fan of real-life simulator games.