CityZen on Facebook struggles to stand outside CityVille's shadow

Look, Metamoki, we know you felt burned when Zynga took Mob Wars and spun it into Mafia Wars, one of the most successful social games to date. (And rightfully so.) And now they've done it again with CityVille, which released months after CityZen. CityZen is the second and latest game to come from Metamoki, and while it appeared long before CityVille, it cannot be helped but to look at the game from underneath Zynga's shadow. However, CityZen does introduce some interesting features like commute proximity when building homes and businesses, things CityVille would do well to learn from it. Unfortunately, its lack of conveniences and heavy polish that are easily found in CityVille only emphasize the shadow cast.