As its name implies, SimCity 4 Rush Hour is all about transportation.
New vehicles, modes of transportation, and entire transportation networks await
you in this expansion game due in the fall of 2003. Some of the new
vehicles include helicopters, zeppelins, ferries, and, of course, new cars to
roam the streets of your cities.
The expansion not only features new vehicles, its adds a major new component
to gameplay. You'll actually be able to take control of vehicles in the
game and drive them yourself. While you can certainly take advantage of
this feature to help a Sim avoid a traffic jam on his way home from work, you
can also control helicopters and emergency vehicles and take a direct role in
controlling crime and reacting to disasters. In addition, to really help
you get good mileage out of this new feature Rush Hour will include
vehicle-based missions. Capture carjackers or stop bank robbers and you'll
be rewarded with new structures and vehicles.
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| All aboard! |
Rush Hour will also give you new types of roads and transportation networks
for your new vehicles. Your cars will get to traverse one-way streets,
wide avenues, and new types of bridges. Trains will be able to run along
elevated tracks and stop at historic train stations or massive rail yards.
New large seaports will include ferry docks, and your choppers can take off and
land from helipads. These additions will not only give your cities more
transportation options, they will also allow you to build regional
transportation networks between your cities. For example, you can create a
ferry service to link cities separated by a body of water. Of course you
can expect new tools and graphs to help you manage it all.
Rush Hour provides more than just new transportation options - you will also
get over 100 new structures to add to your cities. Some structures are
part of new themed sets that can be used to create cities from three different
historical eras, or you can select from the Modern European set and create a
city with a distinct European look. Also included are new structures that
let you add European tourist destinations to your city to complete the effect.
If you're looking for something a bit more American, you can create classic
Americana road marks.
One of the classic SimCity features makes its way into SimCity 4 with Rush
Hour: signposts. You'll be able to add signs to mark neighborhoods and
points of interest to give your cities more character. In addition to the
signs, you'll be able to place labels to mark street names and to name landmarks
such as mountains, lakes, and rivers.
If all of this is still not enough for you, Rush Hour sweetens the package by
adding new disasters. Now that you can control vehicles, what happens if
you can't beat that speeding train to a crossing? A train wreck, of
course. And those pesky aliens are up to no good again, so expect an alien
invasion complete with abductions and crop circles. If the aliens aren't
causing enough mayhem to satisfy your need for destruction, you can take control
of a UFO yourself and show them how things should be done.
SimCity 4 Rush Hour looks to be packed with a lot of features for an expansion game,
and is something for SimCity fans to look forward to. We'll bring you more
in-depth information on the expansion as details become available. Until
then, get your cities ready for a transportation revolution!
