Games You Might Have Missed: The Urbz Sims in the City
What happens when the Sims become solely focused on reputation and styling? They go from just Sims to Urbz: Sims in the City.
Welcome to Games You Might Have Missed. A look at games that didn’t necessarily sell a lot of copies but may be worth a few bucks and a few hours. In this edition we look at the Sims spinoff, The Urbz: Sims in the City.
In this edition of Games You Might Have Missed, we go to Urbzville where gamers created their own Urb to explore with. The life simulator encourages Urbz to socialize and stylize across nine different districts. The game was developed by Maxis and published by EA Games. It was released in November of 2004 across PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles. Let’s take a deep dive into the game.
Did You Miss Out on Urbz: Sims in the City?
Gameplay
Gamers create their avatar known as an “Urb” and choose one of nine districts to start from. Each district has its own theme that is displayed by the style, decor, jobs, and other Urbz to interact with. Some examples include the skate punk-themed Kicktail Park, the biker-themed Gasoline Row, or the high fashion-themed Diamond Heights.
Once gamers have made their Urb and chosen a district to start in, the goal is to get enough reputation by socializing with other CPU Urbz in the district. Each district has social interactions that the CPU Urbz likes and doesn’t like. For example, the laid-back Urbz in Kicktail Park enjoy a good joke, whereas the socialites of Diamond Heights enjoy gossiping. Knowing what the Urbz of each district likes is the key to earning more reputation. This also unlocks other social interactions that can be done with other Urbz. Once enough reputation is earned, the next district unlocks. Other apartments for Urbz to live and party at also unlock as reputation is gained.
Other goals of each district are to dress the part and buy clothes at the clothing shop of each district. How do you earn the cash to buy clothes? By completing the job at each district to earn Simoleons (in-game money). By leveling up physical and mental attributes, higher levels of jobs can be unlocked that earn more money. The jobs consist of button sequencing to successfully execute the job. The more accurate the gamer is, the more money is earned.
The overall goal for each district is to have a high enough reputation and the correct style to be let into the exclusive area of each district that is controlled by a bouncer. This allows you to meet Darius at the nightly midnight party and get a special power social move (more on that later).
In addition to working, styling, and socializing, gamers must take care of their Urbz basic needs. Without adequate food, sleep, hygiene, bathroom needs, and entertainment, the Urbz mood will suffer and other CPU Urbz will not interact with the gamers’ Urb. Each district offers different ways for gamers to keep their Urbz needs kept up.
A local cooperative mode is also available where gamers can play co-operatively to work their way through the districts.
Plot
The game starts with the player meeting with Darius, an Urb with the highest reputation in the city, as well as Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am. They both expect big things socially from the gamer-controlled Urb.
As mentioned earlier a certain reputation is needed to gain access to the bouncer-controlled area in each district. This is so Darius can give the gamer a power social at the midnight party. Once gained, the gamer needs to wait until the following afternoon when a villain shows up to torment Urbz of the district. Once the power social is used on the villain, they leave the district forever and drop a piece of Darius’s secret machine. Once the villain is banished from each district, Darius’s Penthouse is unlocked as an apartment for the gamer-controlled Urb to live in and Darius’s secret machine (a personal money printer).
Enough rep is needed to unlock all nine districts and gain access to the midnight party at each district.
Music
The Black Eyed Peas, whose band members all appear in the Cozmo Street district recorded parts of the soundtrack for the game. The lyrics were recorded in Simlish, which is the language of the Sims world. This included a re-recorded version of the band’s hit song “Let’s Get it Started” into Simlish.
Critical Response
The game was met with mediocre reviews with much of the criticism aimed at the repetitive nature of the game. It was also met with mediocre sales that did not meet the goals that EA had set for it. A sequel had been discussed but was scrapped after the reviews and sales of the game.
Should You Play It?
If you are a fan of life simulator games such as The Sims, you will likely enjoy parts of the Urbz. The game allows a lot of character and apartment customization that can keep you engaged, even if the main plotline and gameplay feel redundant after a couple of hours.
Plan on giving Urbz: Sims in the City a try? Have a hidden gem of a game you love? Leave a comment below!
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