To be fair, almost everything in Cities felt useless. It didn't really feel like much of a game at all. Nothing you did really actually mattered at all. Cities was more like an interactive city model building toy than what I'd think of as a game.
Ceasar, Pharoh and Tropico are actual games with goals, win conditions and a point.
I didn't like Cities mostly because nothing you did mattered. Not just slums or anything else. You can kill off half the city by accidently routing waste dumping to the city's drinking water and within 15-20 minutes your city's back to being fully populated.
Trying to play Cities strategically the way you would those other games is going to be disappointing no matter how you build the city. It's just not that kind of game.
Ceasar, Pharoh and Tropico are actual games with goals, win conditions and a point.
I didn't like Cities mostly because nothing you did mattered. Not just slums or anything else. You can kill off half the city by accidently routing waste dumping to the city's drinking water and within 15-20 minutes your city's back to being fully populated.
Trying to play Cities strategically the way you would those other games is going to be disappointing no matter how you build the city. It's just not that kind of game.