City Rain Review (PC)

I believe in alternative energy sources as much as the next guy. I never litter and sometimes pick trash off the ground to toss it into a trash can. I also hate SUV’s and can’t stand how you can’t go anywhere in America without a car. That is, unless you live in the incestuous cesspool of disease and grime known as “the city”. However, I also can’t stand environmentalist nut jobs that pretend they are some minority in caring about the environment. Let’s face it, when car and industrial companies start touting the fact that they have gone green in their television ads, you’re just the new marketing gimmick. The Big Bad CEOs from Captain Planet are figments of your imagination.

So when tasked with a review for City Rain my first thought was “Aw man, I actually have to play a game about this crap?”. The premise may as well be straight out of Captain Planet, as evidently there is one giant corporation left that just loves to spray sludge and oil all over the place. It doesn’t help that the campaign and objectives are so riddled with typos and bad grammar that it would make your English teacher quit their job, get drunk at a dive bar and die depressed and hopeless in a ditch along the highway. Your ultimate goal in the game is to replace all of the out-dated dirt spewing machines of Satan Incorporated with new space technology that turns waste disposal into rainbows and puppies. Isn’t environmentalism great?

Only City Rain does make it great. The deeper you get into the game the more you realize there is more to it than some poorly constructed soap box. The general concept combines elements of Tetris and Sim City together into a pretty fun and addictive game. You need to keep the environment healthy and sustainable, true, but you also need to make sure the city has proper education, is safe from crime and other disasters, holds plenty of jobs and a few other vital statistics to running a city. If the city is low on employment you can add shops or factories, the latter of which nets you more revenue and jobs at the cost of some sustainability. There is a realistic balancing act that accepts there is nothing perfect about environmentalism. The goal is instead to minimize pollution and other problems that are a constant nuisance to the environment.

The twist is that the game keeps some of the building controls out of your hands. There are three groups of buildings that spawn each “round”, which is similar to each time a new Tetris piece drops. Each group contains a number of specific buildings that are related to certain statistics or purposes. You cycle through them and choose the one which you need most for the current conditions. The most common group contains homes, shops and factories. The uncommon group contains hospitals, landfills, police stations, squares/parks and schools. The rare drop is a set of energy plants, ranging from solar, thermal, hydro and windmills. Each building has a different effect on cost, most of them draining cash on the city economy. Choosing specifically what building you want to place is important, and becomes especially thought provoking when a more uncommon drop appears. At times whole city blocks will be arranged in puzzle like pieces, capable of being rotated to fit precisely where you want them. These can both benefit and detriment your progress.