The Urbz: Sims in the City

City Livin’ for Your Sims

NA release: 9th November 2004
EU release: 12th November 2004
JP release: 13th January 2005
Developer: Maxis
Publisher: EA
NGC Magazine Score: 58%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

While The Sims and Busting Out were unique Sims games made specifically for consoles – and not ports of the PC version – EA and Maxis still thought that this wasn’t enough. So they designed a spin-off specifically for consoles, focusing on socialising and gangs. While many of the core elements of The Sims are here, there are also a lot of differences.

You’ll spend very little time at your apartment. You can still buy stuff and decorate it, although early on you simply don’t have the money for it. You’ll have to do jobs which, instead of your Sim vanishing, involves hundreds of quick time events. Get the timing wrong and the game will cheat you out of money by your job closing and not paying you. The jobs are easily the biggest problem with The Urbz

Each area of the game is controlled by a different gang, and will contain everything you need to sleep, eat, shower and urinate and as you don’t have set job days, it doesn’t feel like managing your sim (you only have one, although others can temporarily join you). There are a few objectives, but the main thing is increasing your reputation via clothes and socialising. Each area has a few options for you to pick one that counts as the “in” clothes for that area and socialising is picking commands like typical Sims.

But with all the focus on socialising, there’s no relationships. You can’t get a partner and even though the game features various drugs, illegal fight clubs and other vices, there’s no woohooing in the game, which just seems odd for one centred around partying 24/7. As you become friends with various Sims, they’ll teach you a new interaction, and some of these need to be used to complete objectives.

The main objectives involve getting into a private party room (increase your reputation then wear the right clothes), which gives you an object for a special interaction and then wait around for a villain to use the interaction on. And that’s really most of the game. The interactions between the different Sims is still charming, so it’s still a fun game, it’s just simplified too much in some sections and a faff in others.

Fun

After watching your Sim behave like a complete idiot in varying locations, desperately trying to fit in with his posse of loathsome digital losers, you’ll soon start to wonder why you’re wasting your time with this. There doesn’t seem to be any point to it all. So why on earth should you bother playing?
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #101

Remake or remaster?

The console Sims would be a good re-release.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get The Urbz.