Urban Empire

 PC
  • Publisher: Kalypso
  • Release Date: Jan 20, 2017
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
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  1. Riot Pixels
    Feb 22, 2017
    45
    To some extent, Urban Empire is a game that plays itself. Buildings grow higher and higher, factories crop up on empty plots, citizens open up new shops - all without your input. It could've been a fun zen experience, but everything is artificial and lifeless, and, despite milktoast graphics, the game at times is too sluggish.
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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Jan 22, 2017
    The pleasures of a focused strategy title like Civilization lie in juggling the numbers in just the right way to succeed. Those found in a freeform city-builder like Sim City come from unleashing your unbridled creativity on a blank canvas. By sticking on a rigidly deterministic (and, thus, politically questionable, however well-intentioned) reading of two centuries of European history, Urban Empire fails to tap either of those joys, revealing its incessant march towards the present is not an ongoing process actively shaped by individual players, but a foregone conclusion simply waiting to be ushered in.

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 39
  3. Negative: 13 out of 39
  1. Bravo6x
    Jan 22, 2017
    5
    This game is a good example for a good idea, executed very badly and poor. This is a political/economical city management/"tycoonish" game.This game is a good example for a good idea, executed very badly and poor. This is a political/economical city management/"tycoonish" game.
    IMHO: The most important thing in developing a game like this, is game mechanics. Looks like they went for graphics instead. Because the graphics are very good for example. But the game mechanics are terrible. This voting and council system was a very good idea! But for god sake... the votes and the council itself are working like an idiot.
    For example: Sometimes even if you have a lot of money, they don't want to build anything. They vote no to train station, no to new district, no to everything. My first (and probably the last) try in this game was 2.2 hour. In this more than 2 hours i was able to build: 2 district, a police station, a clinic, and gas lamps. Nothing else. I progressed to almost 1900 but i doesn't feel any "accomplishment". Tho voting and council are working very badly and seemingly (other reviews) random. No real simulation or common sense at all. This is the part where this game fails big time. Not mentioned the sometimes inexplicable childish manifestations in game. I'm very sad.. not expected this. And for last but not least: Very overpriced!
    If you are fan of the tycoons, manager, simulation, games: Not recommended to buy at all (at any price)!    … Full Review »
  2. LordMalloc
    Jan 21, 2017
    2
    This game is great in concept, and poor in implementation. I have played 3 games now, trying to work out various strategies and can say this:This game is great in concept, and poor in implementation. I have played 3 games now, trying to work out various strategies and can say this:
    1) This appears to be based on some designers idea of how politics work. Choices you make may or may not do what you think they do, and there is no information denoting what the overall effect might be. I don’t need the game to let me min/max, but I would like to at least understand who supports various initiatives, and what they are likely to vote for. It feels like there is some formula, but it is very unclear what that is. This makes every decision very frustrating.
    2) When information is presented, it is done in an awkward and confusing manner. For example there are lots of stats about each district available, but none of them cover “what does this district need?” or “How do I address problem X?” So even when there is info available, it is still frustrating just trying to make sense of it.
    3) The engine designer must have done the UI also because the way things like bonuses are presented is horrible. “Sales Bonus! Demand -10%!”. Even if the engine calculated a bonus as -10% for something, why in the world would you present it like that. Its just backwards.
    4) Citizen desires, which they call The Wheel of Life are presented as offsets to the current era target. So you have a hard time understanding how much better you need to make things. They should just show it as “11/15” instead of “-4”. Even then, once you learn to understand what it means, how to solve that issue is unclear.
    As I said, this game could be really good and after playing it a few times I can see where they were going with it. But the developer just did a very bad job of putting it into action in a way that makes sense to most people. Sure you can learn how to read their numbers, but I should have to work at learning the strategy, NOT at figuring out how to read their statistics.
    This is a $10 game with more polish than you would expect from that price range and a big publisher.    … Full Review »
  3. Stephenicus
    Jan 25, 2017
    0
    After spending the last week playing this game, 42 hours in total, I have found the game to have some serious issues. The game economy isAfter spending the last week playing this game, 42 hours in total, I have found the game to have some serious issues. The game economy is completely unbalanced. The infrastructure, like electricity, for example, has no positive net value in the long run and costs way too much. You end up spending way more money on infrastructure upkeep than you get back from benefactors (like industry) in return so the game forces you to increase taxes which kills city growth. The game also has issues with zone density. Increasing the density of a zone should not cost any money or have any upkeep, but the game developers decided that rezoning a district from light density to medium density should completely wipe out whatever funds you have saved up, with an upkeep so high that by the time the area develops with medium density and money is flowing again, you're in the hole 3 or 4 thousand (which is a lot in this game), and you're not making a whole lot more than before the rezoning. So the incentive to increase city density (which should be really fun to do), isn't there. In fact, it's the opposite. You avoid rezoning to higher densities, and that to me defeats the purpose of a city building game. I do not recommend this game unless the developers fix these disastrous game-play issues.… Full Review »
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