Virtual City – Review – A satisfying city management game
App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: G5 Entertainment AB
Version #: 2.0
Date Released: 2011-12-19
Developer: https://www.g5e.com/support_iphone#VirtualCity
Price: 4.99
User Rating:
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City management games seem a perfect fit for the iPhone. They don’t require absurdly quick reflexes or precision, and the dragging and pinching motions are perfect for the navigating round the game. Virtual City fully utilises these resources, and is one of the better iPhone games of its kind as a result.
Virtual City is a city-building and traffic management game in equal measure. Trucks and dumpsters are crucial to your success, as you’ll need to establish resource delivery routes of between your buildings. Equally important are buses, which transport your otherwise immobile populace between the city’s sites of entertainment and spending.
There is a decent, if unspectacular, amount of different buildings for you to pepper around the map, most of which are upgradeable. Since it’s a game that’s focused largely on resource management, your city will be largely filled with factories and magazine outlets and will never be as pretty as your average SimCity. Thankfully, there are a few aesthetic objects such as plazas and fountains to offset this issue.
In the campaign mode, you work your way through several levels within several American states. Here, cities are mostly pre-built for you as you’re tasked with dealing with whatever the issue of the day is; whether its establishing trade with a neighbouring city or dealing with local pollution problems.
The other game mode offered in Virtual City is the self-explanatory sandbox mode, in which you’re given a blank canvas of terrain on which you can build your own city. All the buildings are unlocked here, and if you’ve got some serious money to waste, you can purchase additional in-game money from the App Store.
Virtual City may lack in the looks department, with average graphics and little building variety, but as a city management game it’s pleasingly addictive. It takes some time to learn just how it works, but once you get it, it won’t be long before you turn into a profit-mongering urban planner.
Quick Take
Value:Medium.
Would I Buy Again:Yes.
Learning Curve:Medium.
Who Is It For:Fans of City/Traffic management games.
What I Like:Varied and challenging campaign mode.
What I Don't Like:Dull graphics and building variety.
Final Statement:Visually basic but satisfying city management.
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Build the city of your dreams - a residential paradise or an industrial center. Build dwelling houses and industrial buildings. Produce goods and deliver them to the shopping malls. Set up a mass-transit system to take your citizens to places like parks, cinemas and stadiums. Make your city a better place to live by recycling garbage, adding hospitals and fire stations, planting trees, and upgrading buildings to make them more eco-friendly. Make citizens happier by launching spectacular public events. Trade with neighboring cities and accomplish the construction of landmark buildings like Marina, Train Depot, and Spaceship Launch Pad. Help troubled cities get back to prosperity, deal with economic downturn, population crisis, and consequences of natural disasters. Achieve balance between key parameters of your success: Time, Income, Environment, Population, and Happiness.
? 50 Challenging Levels in 5 Settings: Colorado, California, Michigan, Montana, New York
? 18 Distinct Mission Scenarios
? More Than 50 Types of Buildings
? 25 Types of Goods to Transport and Trade
? 7 Production Chains to Master
? 16 Special Achievements to Earn
? Tens of Upgrades and Buildings to Unlock
? Free Play Mode on 5 Large Sand Box Maps
Screenshots
Article By Robert Zak
I'm an up-and-coming freelance writer (or so I like to think) specialising in film, apps and gaming. Aside from writing app reviews on what sometimes feels like a mass scale, I've also contributed work to The Independent and IGN.com, and am on the writing team of the popular Lifestyle blog, WhatCulture.com. Like what you see? Follow me on Twitter @Rob_Zed and get in touch!
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