Gameloft’s latest title, New York Nights: Success in the City [App Store] popped up for sale this evening. As a social simulation game, you play the role of your customized character, fresh off a plane in Manhattan with little more than the clothes you’re wearing and an entire city in front of you.
New York is split in to six areas: 5th Avenue, Greenwich, Wall Street, Times Square, Chinatown and Central Park. Each section of the city has its own set of NPC’s to talk to and different businesses to explore as you make your way to the top of the nightlife scene.
The game starts with a fairly detailed tutorial in which you meet your brother at your new apartment, make friends with someone on the street (who oddly enough quickly becomes your new roommate), work your first job as a dancer at the nearby Club Awesome. New York Nights: Success in the City plays similar to The Sims, only instead of focusing around your house, emphasis is placed on people, activities, and relationships. A focus that I’m enjoying as the decorating/building aspect of The Sims never interested me that much.
The graphics are colorful, the adventures I’ve had so far have been fairly amusing, and the game as a whole seems to have a good sense of humor. Originally existing on mobile phones, New York Nights: Success in the City is a decent port. The touchscreen interface works well, although it would be nice if there were confirmations on conversation choices since there is nothing you can do but face the consequences of talking about “Car accidents" instead of “Club chicks".
As you work your way through the game, you balance a wide variety of stats. For instance, throughout the day you get tired, increasing “Sleep". Drinking coffee to stay up later decreases your “Sleep", but in turn increases your “Crazy" and “Bathroom" statistics.
New York Nights: Success in the City was well recieved in its original mobile phone release, and having enjoyed what I’ve seen so far in the game, I expect the iPhone port to see the same praise.
App Store Link: New York Nights: Succes in the City, $3.99
