SimCity 4: Rush Hour

The Good
Reviewing the "Rush Hour" version of Sim City 4, which adds items like one-way streets, ground level highways, elevated commuter trains and the like, one wonders why EA Games didn't include these great add-ons right out the gate with SC4. Still, these are terrific upgrades. The best part, though, is the traffic-query tool, which allows you to click on any building and view all the traffic patterns to/from this location, including pedestrian, auto, bus and elevated train, basically any traffic pattern type that you have in play at the time. It's incredible.

The Bad
Rush Hour includes some optional side-games that allow you to earn additional cash, or mayor rating points, by piloting a helicopter or automobile around the city. The gameplay controls for both of these are sub-standard, and difficult to master. I had a much easier time with the helicopter than the automobile, but it was still pretty lame. A nice idea, though, but needs more work.

The Bottom Line
Overall, another fine installment in the ever-evolving Sim City series, and well worth the wait -- and the additional money. Once again, I'm completely hooked on this game and find myself staying up into the wee hours of the night playing!

The Good
There isn't really a whole lot to say about this. The graphics are the same as the original, the sounds are too. There are some new roads like the one-way road, but these don't add a whole lot of gameplay value in my humble opinion. Same for some new buildings. Being able to be a corrupt mayor (to a point) is pretty interesting. (Hmmm, could that be a Beta for "SimChicago" ?)

The Bad
Well, the main feature was supposed to be the ability to drive around the city etc. but this is done very poorly. The controls are difficult to learn, the aircraft handle like crap, the cars are very fragile and are difficult to steer, making laughable crashes between cars common place, and making pedestrians (which aren't affected by you running them over I might add) common. The missions themselves are lame. Most of them consist of

1. Getting your vehicle to point A, than B, etc.

or

1. Destroying building A.

The graphics even seem off. The texture quality may fluctuate between great and terrible. Slowdowns are not uncommon, cars will appear in the street from out of nowhere, and invisible walls keep you from running into houses and buildings.

The Bottom Line
This is basically a revenue generator. Avoid avoid avoid.