Sim City: Rush Hour
U-Drive-It is a new add-on to Rush Hour, a mode where players can take control of cars, planes, and many other vehicles and drive them around the city. There are two modes of driving: Scenario Mode, where the player has a limited amount of time to win money or prizes, or Free Drive, that allows the player to drive freely.
If the vehicle sustains excessive damage (either by crashing into other vehicles or traversing into water), it will burst into flames and subsequently explode. This is shown by a colored diamond above the vehicle- in game called a "plumbob" (much like the ones in The Sims) which can turn from green to red in respect to the vehicles' current state.
Some vehicles have certain individual features, such as a police siren on police cars or the capacity to damage sections of the city with munitions from vehicles such as tanks, helicopters and jets. Also, some boats may cast fish nets or tug other boats to safety.
GameSpot has related U-Drive-It to Streets of SimCity, and indicated the feature including an enhanced physics model partially based on that of SimCopter. However, while Streets of SimCity and SimCopter can alternate between a first- and third-person view, U-Drive-It is restricted to third-person.
The newest addition to the roads section are one way roads and avenues. One-way roads are the same size as normal roads only they stretch into one direction, while avenues are dual carriageway roads the same size as highways, with some shrubbery in the center strip (defined by the wealth of buildings on the road). Avenues existed in SimCity 4's predecessor, SimCity 3000; but not in the originalSimCity 4.
The ground highway was also a new addition, which is cheaper but more obtrusive than elevated highways, but still carries the same capacity and can connect to roads in the same way. The t-intersection for highways was also introduced. Another addition is a toll booth which you can put on roads, streets, highways, or avenues to get money. However they make traffic problems worse and lower the player's mayor rating.
Public transportation
Major changes to the public transportation section were made. The monorail, a fast moving above-ground railway, was introduced for high density areas. Unlike its similar partner, the above-ground railway, the monorail is much more modern-looking and faster, and has the advantage that it can be built over ground level roads and railways, much like an elevated highway.The elevated rail is cheaper than the monorail and can connect to the city's subway system.
The public parking garage was also introduced, which when used with stations and bus stops can be used to create a "park and ride" system.
Water transport
The ferry system was introduced as the only change to the water transport section. The ferry system came in two types: Passenger, for people only, and Car and Passenger, for both.
Route query
Another new feature in Rush Hour is the route query; with it, it is possible to check the routes the Sims use to get to their jobs, allowing the player to see directly where the Sims need to go and how they do it.
Disasters
Two new disasters are included in the pack, UFO attack and Autosaurus Wrecks. The UFO attack summons a mother ship which fires a destructive blast and spawns smaller ships. Autosaurus Wrecks is a robotic monster made of road vehicles, which bears similarities toMechaGodzilla. Autosaurus will go on a rampage, and eventually explode.
Music
Composers Jerry Martin and Andy Brick worked with the seventy-piece Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra to record five songs for the soundtrack in Olomouc, Czech Republic. The remainder of the soundtrack was composed by Martin, as well as The Humble Brothers, Walt Szalva, and Edwin Dolinski. EA Games freely hosts the soundtrack for download.
Reception
Critics took the release fairly well, but some criticised EA Games and Maxis for not including the extra features in the original SimCity 4 release. Still, the game was awarded anaggregate game critic score of 79 at MetaCritic.
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