Maxis is well-known for its classic SimCity and its "sequel with no equal," SimCity 2000. These games have produced a ton of spinoffs from other companies as well as Maxis itself. But even though a lot of these spinoffs from Maxis are fine programs, none of the games in its Sim series seem to be able to match the originals in fun or popularity. The latest installment in the Sim line is SimIsle, and while it is a good game, it doesn't look like it's going to surpass either of the SimCity titles.
SimIsle puts the player in charge of an series of islands. In sharp contrast to SimCity, you don't just develop the islands - there are specific missions which must be carried out. Each island has its own goals that need to be met, like bringing tourism up to a certain level or exporting a certain number of exotic animals. But before you get upset about a limited amount of islands to play on, there's an island, marked with a big question mark, which randomly generates an island for you to develop. Also, if you don't want to work within the parameters of the mission and just want to run things for a while, there is a free-form option that allows you to practice and get the hang of things.
This all sounds awfully easy, but I soon found out SimIsle is very deceptive about the simplicity of accomplishing things. The player has headquarters on each island which house agents, each with their own skills. One agent will know construction and be able to build things like oil rigs and warehouses, one will know the local culture and can fine tune-tourist attractions to the area, one knows about employment and can get local manpower, and more. It's the player's job to assign the right agent to do the correct job at the right point on the island to achieve a certain objective. Piece O' Cake, right?
Well, let me tell you about how my first experience on the tutorial island went. The overall objective was to discover an endangered species, export a hundred specimens to the rest of the world, and get 1000 tourists to visit the island. I used an agent with the exploration skill to find the animal right away, but I needed to set up a game reserve to increase their numbers before I could start exporting. Money wasn't a problem since I started out with a decent amount, but I lacked local manpower to do the actual building. There were local villages around the island, but they had neither the population or training I needed to help with building a game reserve. An agent was sent to train the natives in farming more efficiently in order to boost the population, and while that did work I had to send an agent to the village to train the natives in order to become "unskilled" labor. When I got enough folks trained I was finally able to fence off my game reserve. But then came the poachers, who kept killing enough animals to keep me from breeding the amount I needed to export. What I needed were wardens to keep the poachers out, but that meant I need "skilled" workers, which could be found in the city after they were trained in the local mines. But I had no city - the closest thing I had was a town. In order make my town a city I had to increase the population, establish health care, and build a college, a church and recreational facilities. It's a very involved process which requires the player to think ahead, place buildings in the right places, and just plain manage things well.
The graphics are nice, but that's about it. SimCity 2000 had better graphics as far as the landscape is concerned, and the graphic representation of the terrain in SimIsle is muddled to the point of not always being able to easily tell where the land is smooth and where it's uneven. The distant view is easy enough to see, but when you get right next to a part of the island you're trying build something in, it's downright frustrating when trying to find a nice level piece of land without being able to see clearly. SimIsle helps out with this problem by changing the color of the cursor over a spot that you can build on.
Overall, SimIsle is a fun game to play that can really be involving at times. It did seem to have its slow spots and lacks that sense of creativity found in the SimCity titles, which for some people might not necessarily be a bad thing. Fans of SimCity will probably find SimIsle a little too confining, but those of you who didn't like SimCity because of the lack of direction, you might want to check out SimIsle and it's mission-based scenarios. It has a pretty good blend of management and problem solving which makes a solid addition to the Maxis Sim series.
