Pop Life

There comes a time in a developer's life where they make a game they are not proud of creating. In the case of Pop Life - that should be this game for developers Monte Cristo. You often wonder why these cringe-worthy hock-fests are produced when they are complete carbon copies of another game with a different theme or lore.

You can understand a bit why this game was made. A publisher likely wanted to capitalize on the success of music reality shows such as American Idol and Pop Idol at the time. The dream was probably to create a game where you could live the life of a rock star - what we got was a clunky replica of a game without any real direction. So what's wrong with Pop Life then?

I'm Only In It For The Simoleons

Pop Life is a simulator game with high ambitions of customizability and immersion. The theme is taking on the persona of a rising music star. You control what they feel like and the path they are going to take to stardom. You'll develop your character's skill set in three essential categories - singing, dancing, and stage effects. If you're planning on becoming the next big thing in Death Metal, you'd be right out of luck here.

The most intriguing thing about Pop Life is the ability to build your house and studio and kind of tailor a pop star life. That's about it, however. The rest of the game is painstakingly grim in terms of variation and progression. There's not much excitement in taking on mini-games consisting of singing lessons, clothing choices, and rehearsals - packaged into 9-levels of star-studded misery.

What was built to live out everyone's musical dream has a remarkably linear path. I guess, arguably, there is only one path to stardom in real life - let alone Pop Life. Even if an industry-written rise to superstardom was your bread and butter - the silly animations and average character modeling doesn't do much. It does not emanate the idea you are living the dream. Far from it, in fact.

It's a No From Me, Dawg

So here we have it - a game that could easily have been a Sims expansion and probably is refunded for being so darn rubbish. Pop Life almost copies and pastes the gameplay and mechanics over from the Maxis classic and gives it a little pop-infused makeover. The foundations were probably set in that being a success - but the outcome is just ridiculous.

Pros

• Level of customization functions enough to keep you in the game
• It's polished in gameplay but clunky in execution

Cons

• The game feels very linear for a simulator
• The levels and progression are simplistic and get silly
• No immersion as a pop star whatsoever

If You're a six-year-old girl then you'll love this: a cheap Sims knock-off starring the winner of a Pop Idol-esque show, a designable pop-pad and all manner of glitter and fab girliness. It's pink, fluffy and proud. If you're a 20-something male with a nascent beer belly, however, you'll give your pop-tart the biggest breasts you can and get bored.

Then again, you're not really the target audience are you? You may snort with derision as you watch Complete Muppet (or whatever you call her) cuddling a teddy bear to increase her happiness bar, but then you'll quite enjoy building a slide in her garden. It's better than the efforts of either the Pop Idol or Fame Academy camps, but that's not saying much. Quietly competent, this is one for the kids.