strategy

I love Rush Hour!

In many ways Sim City gets a whole new feel with Rush Hour. It is not only the much talked about U-drive-it feature, a new building set, or a few more transportation options - quite a lot of smaller changes were made that tremendously add to the gameplay!

First of all, the game runs a lot faster now on my computer(Yipee!).

Then I especially like the changes to the traffic simulation engine. Now you can see how and from where sims get to a building. Not only gives this more transparency to what is actually going on, it also gives the player a lot of feedback. Plus: the traffic simulation makes more sense now (sims now use the fastest instead of the shortest route - so your highways are no longer unused if the onramp is a few blocks away). So cool: now you see trucks clog the roads in industrial areas whereas residential suburban roads are packed with vans and SUVs.

Maxis also added different difficulty levels as well as new tutorials. If you play on easy you no longer need to spend 90% of your time on super-micromanagement tasks like adjusting the number of teachers in every school.

Many people think the U-drive-it feature is purely hype. Well, it is not THAT special. However, after an a while of laying out zones and roads it is always fun to just click on a mission and drive around the city in a police car with sirens on, pushing other cars off the road.

I heard somebody say he feels that Rush Hour breathes a lot more life into his city. And I totally agree. Now you see car accidents on big crossings, you do see trains (or the fancy monorail) bring in commuters from the suburbs in morning and evening hours. In many ways the city just feels more real and alive now.

Sim City with Rush Hour must be the most complex game ever - the sheer detail of what is simulated is breathtaking. And it is also a lot of fun. Intelligent and entertaining! Let's be honest: many things like avenues should have been included in the original game already. Now, with RH, Maxis adds so much to the game that it is hard to complain. I hope we'll see many more expansions like RH.

P.S.: no, i am not paid by Maxis, I am just a happy fan ;)

SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack is an exceptional additon to SimCity 4. The Expansion Pack makes the game more detailed and more fun to play. Numerous modes of transportation is included giving the choice of a monorail, ferry, ground level highways, and other choices. You can see how the traffic flows in the morning and evening rush, and you can see how your sims are getting around with the transportation query tool. You can choose where your sims will work and what car they drive, if you want them to drive. Other features include the capabilities of driving a car, a bus, flying a helicopter, and other types of vehicles, as well. It is a big step forward from prior gaming experience with SimCity 4 and SimCity 3000 Unlimited. There is so much to build and create in this game when building your own city, and this game afford so much opportunity to do more.

Maxis has done a wonderful job at developing the Expansion Pack. It has made playing SimCity 4 much more user friendly and more interesting. Anyone who has played any version of SimCity will really like this one. I highly recommend this game for anyone who loves a challenge of building a city and having control of it.

Joy.

This expansion adds nothing to the original SC4 that could not have been made available as free downloads from EA/Maxis. In fact, the game "updates/patches" not only don't fix the bad AI and pathfinding ability of the citizens (that affects virtually everything else in the game!), but actually end up removing some important elements from the the original game. Those who have the original SimCity 4 are still out of luck for ANY necessary fixes, and must PAY to "patch" their game. Sad - Very sad.