

SimCity Societies is the evolution of the original SimCity saga: a strategy building simulator that will get you hooked before you can even notice it. Also, it's a great chance for you to start playing the SimCity saga if you haven't played any of these titles before. SimCity Societies is, in short, a very entertaining game: the kind of title that you can play for hours without noticing the passing of time. On the downside, this means that you have so much information in the game's interface that it can become really overwhelming for first-time players. There's also a huge array of objects (homes, workplaces, shop and the like) you can choose from and combine anyway you want. You can freely move around with your mouse and use the wheel to zoom up to street level, until you're able to see your citizens' faces. We also find this incredible level of detail in the game's graphics. You can click on anyone of them and see how they're doing, where they work and whether they're happy of not. From creativity to spirituality, from knowledge to production, the values of your city will affect its general design and layout.Īnother distinctive feature is the attention paid to your citizens, not just as a crowd of people, but actually caring about their individual needs and feelings. The company has since recanted, allowing players to continue building their metropolis when offline, too.In SimCity Societies you have the possibility to create very different towns, not only in aspect, but also in their values. The latest version of Sim City sparked controversy when EA decided that users would have to be connected to EA's game servers to play the game. The game has evolved into a sprawling beast since those glory days on the Amiga. It also introduced several real-world scenarios, such as dealing with the 1970s recession in Michigan. Sim City 2000 saw the introduction of several new types of building - including prisons, schools and libraries - as well as providing the option to build road links into neighbouring cities for the first time. The free download will only be available for a "limited period", so budding city planners shouldn't hang about. Once you've registered for an Origin account and clicked on the download, the game is yours to keep for good.

The download weighs in at a little over 100MB and you will need to install EA's Origin software on your PC to play the game.
