City Life 2008

About

City Life 2008 is a city-building simulation game that offers a realistic urban environment. Players can design and manage their own city, controlling various aspects such as zoning, taxation, and public services. The game features six distinct neighborhoods, each with its own unique architectural style and cultural preferences, adding depth and complexity to the city-building experience. However, some users have reported performance issues and glitches, which can affect gameplay.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

67%

Audience ScoreBased on 184 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game features a good soundtrack and impressive graphics for its age, providing an immersive experience.
The unique socio-economic class mechanic adds depth and challenge to city management, making it engaging.
The sandbox mode allows for creative freedom in building and managing a city without strict objectives.

The user interface is clunky and difficult to navigate, which can hinder gameplay.
The game's AI can be unpredictable, leading to frustrating challenges and issues.
It lacks modern features and polish, making it feel outdated compared to newer city-building games.

gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
The gameplay of the city-building game is engaging and offers a unique socio-cultural mechanic that challenges players to manage different social classes and their interactions. However, it suffers from dated graphics, limited transportation options, and a lack of user-friendliness, which can make it feel cumbersome and less enjoyable compared to more modern titles like Cities: Skylines. While the tutorial and variety of maps are positive aspects, many players find the overall experience can become tedious after a short period.
- “While it has its flaws, the game's engaging gameplay and immersive atmosphere make it a great choice for fans of the genre.”
- “The socioeconomic class mechanic adds a great challenge, as you try to manage and prevent conflicts between different groups of people.”
- “There are plenty of maps to play on, providing variety in gameplay.”
- “Even as this game approaches an interesting aspect of city and people classes, I must admit this one aged badly and lacks in terms of animation, user-friendliness, and overall city builder mechanics.”
- “However, compared to other superior games like Cities: Skylines, City Life became boring for me after just two hours of gameplay.”
- “Apart from being dated, the game features no landscaping tools, there are limited mass transit options, the music is totally dull after a while, and the society aspect of gameplay does hamper the design of your cities in the game.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
68%
14%
The game's soundtrack is generally appreciated for its nostalgic vibe, reflecting the styles of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, though some players find it simplistic and dull over time. While it evokes a strong sense of nostalgia, particularly for those who remember the era, there are complaints about the absence of notable tracks, especially the elusive store trailer song. Overall, the music adds a unique charm to the game, but it may not hold up for all players in the long run.
- “I have to say it's nothing much, it's quite a simple game but for its time, it was one helluva unique game and the soundtrack rocks.”
- “The game's setting takes place in what seems like the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with funky music and the styling of residents and cars that evoke a strong sense of nostalgia.”
- “Bought it only out of nostalgia to game soundtrack.”
- “Apart from being dated, the game features no landscaping tools, there are limited mass transit options, the music is totally dull after a while, and the society aspect of gameplay does hamper the design of your cities in the game.”
- “Turns out that I still can't find the song that is played in the store trailer either; it's not in the game's music folder and neither is it played while playing the game.”
- “If the store music is what you're after, better move on.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
29%
29%
The game's graphics are generally praised for their detailed 3D buildings and immersive soundscapes, particularly impressive for a title released in 2008. However, some users feel that the graphics could be improved, especially when compared to more modern games like Cities: Skylines, which offer greater detail and variety. Overall, while the visuals provide a relaxing experience, opinions vary significantly, with some users expressing strong dissatisfaction.
- “The game's graphics and sound effects were also impressive, with detailed 3D buildings and realistic soundscapes that immersed me in the game world.”
- “Great for relaxing and looking at the beautiful scenery of the game's graphics.”
- “Good graphics for a 2008 game.”
- “Graphics could be bumped up, but it is a 9-year-old game.”
- “Bad game and graphics.”
- “Shoddiest game ever, bad graphics. You are better off buying Cities: Skylines; it has way better graphics, more detail, and just more stuff to do.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been criticized for its stability, with users reporting frequent bugs and freezes that disrupt gameplay and display error messages. Overall, the implementation appears to be quite problematic in terms of stability.
- “This implementation of these ideas is very buggy -- it freezes up way too often just to display a bunch of errors on my screen.”
- “The game is a bit buggy for my taste.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive quality, enhancing the overall experience despite some flaws. Players find it particularly appealing, making it a strong choice for genre enthusiasts.
- “While it has its flaws, the game's engaging gameplay and immersive atmosphere make it a great choice for fans of the genre.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences occasional stuttering issues, occurring approximately every minute, which affects overall optimization.
- “There are occasional moments of stuttering, happening roughly every minute or so.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by the relationships between characters, where proximity on the hexagon signifies friendship and opposition indicates enmity, creating a dynamic interplay of alliances and rivalries that enhances the emotional depth of the gameplay.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find humor in the absurdity of their in-game actions, such as building a strip club, which, despite being futile, adds a comedic element to their experience. This blend of unexpected scenarios and playful creativity contributes to the game's overall lightheartedness.
- “With my patience wearing thin, I decided to make one last effort to create something out of the game and built a strip club, which, even though it was completely futile, was a little hilarious to construct.”