When it comes to reasons why games fail to make a positive impression, or at least feel lackluster, there are a number of ways that can happen. For some the problem is there’s simply too much ambition colliding with the wall of reality representing what they’re capable of implementing. There can be technical shortcomings, an abundance of bugs, or conceptually sometimes the game just doesn’t feel like it works at all. Project City is a more unusual case though, and that’s an effort that feels like it was defined by a vision, and that plays well enough that it seems to have been implemented with some care, but I suppose is so lacking in impactful ambitions that it's more interesting as a sandbox experiment than a game. That’s roughly where I ended up landing with Project City.

In terms of an elevator pitch, it feels like this would be the most bare bones, or perhaps “de-mastered”, version of a Grand Theft Auto game possible. With basic graphics that look like they could have been composed in MS Draw, though that doesn’t mean that they don’t work on a general level, it’s definitely a visual style that takes some getting used to. One part of the struggle is that even having played all manner of retro and pixel art-driven titles over the last generation, this looks particularly simplistic. The other, which is a related casualty, is that it’s honestly so stripped down visually that it can be a struggle to understand what some objects are, with so little detail to go on.

Nevertheless, once you get started and experiment a little you’ll find a pretty basic version of a game like Grand Theft Auto waiting for you. Mind you, before GTA exploded in popularity with Vice City, the original 2 versions were much simpler 2D affairs, though even they were far more detailed than this. If you remember those versions though, this could be an early and much less robust prototype I suppose, with you being able to drive around, run people over, start fires, and create a bit of mayhem, to then be chased by the cops and forced to lie low until the heat dies off. You’ll also have the option to do more responsible jobs, but given the lack of detail and variety that comes with that limitation, honestly going with crime and mayhem in some form is about all that hopes to make the experience much fun. The thing is, while this feels like a game that was implemented to meet a pretty specific vision, and it works, but that doesn’t make it consistently engaging, at least not for very long, in an eShop packed with more enticing options.