Reviewed on:P4 2.8GHZ526MB RAM128MB ATI Radeon 9000Sim City is now a long series of great simulation games. The game has always satisfied simulation games, however something was missing. Sim City 4 was basically the perfection of the game with just a few bugs that were fixed over the time with patches that could be downloaded on-line. With the latest expansion pack that Maxis just released the game adds a lot of small but significant features that were missing.

The first thing that you will notice is the improved zoom-in modes. Back in the past Sim City’s you would see a plain city and the cars would have crazy drivers that didn’t know where they are gong. Now it’s a different view. There are a lot of details and the cars seem to actually go somewhere. You can also join in the fun with the new Mission or Free dive mode. Some veteran Sim City players might remember that ugly driving mode the 2000 version had. This new one is nothing like it. It will zoom-in to the max and you are free to drive anywhere seeing your very realistic city streets and people. The My Sim mode was also improved and now you get to control every single aspect regarding the transportation of your sim. This goes as far as choosing its vehicle to driving it. You will also get to choose how he gets to work, where he works and where he lives.

The mission mode expands your limits to a whole new level. The first thing that I noticed is that it will help many people new to the game to actually finish their first city. The cash rewards that the missions offer are pretty helpful when you are losing 2-5k a month from your budget. If you don’t care about the cash the mission mode will also help you be evil or an excellent major since you can help crime or good, thus you will either lose or win major points. By doing missions you will also unlock cool buildings, among them a radio, a TV station, casino, etc… The controls in the mission mode are quite simple to understand and use, be it an ambulance or a freight train, an airplane or a boat. The controls for all of them are basically the same but if you get confused just open your eyes since there is a big frame at the top right corner explaining the controls!

The Rush Hour expansion pack, also offers many other smaller features. As the name says it mostly improves conditions regarding transportation and driving. This doesn’t refer to the free drive feature by itself but to other tools like the “query tool”. The query tool will let you know how many cars, buses, pedestrians, etc… go through a certain spot and will help you decided what kind of road to place there. The new types of roads that had been added are avenues and one way streets. The highway systems were also improved and are now much cooler, and let’s not forget to mention the elevated train system. The query tool depends in the “commute time” which is there for more detail of your Sims’ transportation life.

Your system does not really have to be that powerful now. Maxis thought about it and added a whole set of settings that will allow people with older computer models to enjoy the game as much as gamers with the latest technology on their hands. The game was reviewed on a P4 2.8ghz with 512MB ram and a 128MB video card and it worked great.

Overall Sim City 4: Rush Hour is a great expansion. It offers small but important features that you will enjoy while building your metropolis.