For years, if not more, I have been itching to play a good city builder on console. I’ve played some, and I liked some, but I never stopped looking for more. I am sure somewhere out there there’s a game that will just click. Is there a perfect game like that? A game that’s not overly burdened with needless mechanics but also is not too simplified? Maybe. I will keep searching. But Imagine Earth is not it.
That is not to say that it’s bad — not at all. Imagine Earth is a perfectly serviceable city builder with a lot going for it. The key theme here is the environment which does not sound exciting but can I see what the developers were going for. Too many similar games completely omit sustainability as a goal, more or less motivating you to exploit natural resources without any thought. This one is different — while not doing things too differently, it does make it clear that only a sustainable colony can survive.
Imagine Earth can get a bit preachy at times, but it also has a lot to offer. The gameplay loop is quite addicting, with a lot of options. Sadly, it’s not as polished as I would have liked: dialogue constantly keeps interrupting your progress, and the UI felt a bit off to me. Writing is what you might expect from such a game — not very good. But such games rarely offer satisfying writing, instead relying on complexity to keep players interested.
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That’s where Imagine Earth shines: it has a lot of mechanics, and the tech tree is suitably large. The game looks nice, too, with colorful and vibrant planets and aliens.
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Verdict
In a lot of ways, Imagine Earth works. It’s a niche game that has enough uniqueness to find its audience, but it’s not what you might call a must-play.