SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow Expansion Pack

 PC
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 111 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 111
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 111
  3. Negative: 69 out of 111

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Interitus
    Dec 22, 2013
    2
    The idea is actually pretty fun, sadly it doesn't deliver. The big additions to the game are mega towers (their answer to not expanding the city size). Omega. An addictive substance that causes mass pollution and The Academy; a place for research. Really, once you have tried those, there is not much else. Omega is especially one of those things you need to dedicate most of a city to. TheThe idea is actually pretty fun, sadly it doesn't deliver. The big additions to the game are mega towers (their answer to not expanding the city size). Omega. An addictive substance that causes mass pollution and The Academy; a place for research. Really, once you have tried those, there is not much else. Omega is especially one of those things you need to dedicate most of a city to. The footprints for the mega towers are so enourmous that they become hard to find spaces for. Especially in some of Sim City's already cramped maps. And there are the bugs. Bugs that have existed since release are still around. Despite it supposedly being patched, I still watch various trucks try to deliver to the same place. Mega towers seem to cause everything to wildly fluctuate in a way that doesn't make sense. Even if you have enough to support it. Overall not enough was fixed or added for me to want to play with what the majority of this expansion adds on a regular basis.… Expand
  2. CMoGreen
    Dec 12, 2013
    3
    I am sorry but E.A. has ruined one of my FAVORITE games of all time. I cannot believe they continue to get away with the sheer disregard for producing quality games. PLEASE people do not support this game. If had the pleasure of playing SimCity when Maxis and Will were in charge you will feel the same way too. I love all the simcites prior to Socieities and Simicty 5. They ruined theI am sorry but E.A. has ruined one of my FAVORITE games of all time. I cannot believe they continue to get away with the sheer disregard for producing quality games. PLEASE people do not support this game. If had the pleasure of playing SimCity when Maxis and Will were in charge you will feel the same way too. I love all the simcites prior to Socieities and Simicty 5. They ruined the Sims. To them its more about money than it is having people enjoy a good quality game. We love simcity for the sheer enjoyment of allowing our imaginations and design run wild. Well they nerfed that in this game. I would play Cities XL over this and Cities XL is riddled with bugs!!… Expand
  3. MyT
    Nov 29, 2013
    0
    Don´t suport this game!
    we want the real maxis! not this money maker DLC´s, DRM games and etc.
    Please people, don't suport this kind of games or they will become more and more normal
  4. faceless-1
    Dec 2, 2013
    2
    This expansion is small DLC for full exp price, to already broken game. I think EA cannot be serious about this cash in released in beta state. Old Sim City was legendary game but this is out of control. Stop Raping Sim City franchise.
  5. IceBlood
    Dec 31, 2013
    0
    Broken expansion for already broken game. It really feels like I have to start with same words for every expansion review. Nothing is fixed in this overpriced expansion. Just avoid and wait for better in future. The year 2013 was awful for PC gamer but lets hope the year 2014 brings the golden age.
  6. Ataro
    Aug 21, 2014
    1
    EA games aka LSC aka Legal Scamming Company. The *disease* (name I wont call by name) of the gaming industry. People leading the company are only motivated by one thing and that's greed for money.

    That being said lets head over to this game bearing the name Sim City. They managed to destroy one of the best gaming franchises in existence of gaming history. City size plots no bigger than    EA games aka LSC aka Legal Scamming Company. The *disease* (name I wont call by name) of the gaming industry. People leading the company are only motivated by one thing and that's greed for money.

    That being said lets head over to this game bearing the name Sim City. They managed to destroy one of the best gaming franchises in existence of gaming history. City size plots no bigger than a couple of football pitches, they should call it Sim Neighborhood (of a small town). Broken game mechanics and trying to hide it with all kinds of in-game lies. Well I guess I can go into extreme detail but I'm not in the mood to even bother with this one to much. You'll see enough reviews and extended comments around the net.

    O and one other tip, don't EVER buy a game from EA EVER again. EA, known for bringing out utterly broken money leaching games for the last couple of years, throws in over a dozen DLC's for ridiculous prices only to fix an already broken game to a tat less broken.    … Expand
  7. capthavic
    Nov 24, 2013
    3
    Looking at this on its own there are some interesting new additions to play with. The mega towers look very cool and a futuristic city adds some nice variety from the normal plain building aesthetics. However there is simply not enough new content or any real changes to the game to warrant a $30 price tag in my opinion. If they had increased city sizes or taken out the DRM then maybe itLooking at this on its own there are some interesting new additions to play with. The mega towers look very cool and a futuristic city adds some nice variety from the normal plain building aesthetics. However there is simply not enough new content or any real changes to the game to warrant a $30 price tag in my opinion. If they had increased city sizes or taken out the DRM then maybe it would be more worthwhile. As it stand this is just a glorified DLC pack that only highlights the problems with such small cites spaces. Save your cash and wait for a sale.… Expand
  8. Mikimax
    Nov 27, 2013
    1
    EA yet again continues with bad business practices by not listening to their fan base. No bigger maps, no realistic building, no subway, highways, etc. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS GAME!!!
  9. Tempster
    Nov 15, 2013
    0
    To be honest every so called improvement that made it to this overpriced steals even more space on the by far too small city tiles. There are still no bigger cities possible, no terraforming etc. Those supertowers are bugged as hell (at least here shows Maxis/EA consequent "design"). The Sims living in the tower complain about no jobs and no shopping. Right above them is a shopping complexTo be honest every so called improvement that made it to this overpriced steals even more space on the by far too small city tiles. There are still no bigger cities possible, no terraforming etc. Those supertowers are bugged as hell (at least here shows Maxis/EA consequent "design"). The Sims living in the tower complain about no jobs and no shopping. Right above them is a shopping complex which complains about having no customers. And right above the shopping complex is an office complex which complain about not having any employees. Those 3 problems are in one single building. This was only one example. The AI in this game is so pathetic that Maxis/EA obviously chose the greedy easy way to squeeze even more money out of a completely ruined franchise. The game that Klimax32 must be a different one than SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow (better title: SimCity: now even worse), or he is paid by EA. Please people, don't buy this steaming piece of crap!… Expand
  10. lilkillpappy
    Nov 23, 2013
    0
    I will not buy, and I encourage you all to avoid buying any game with a DRM that forces you to be online. We have been asking them for a long time now to stop doing this, but they will never listen, so I will never buy their products.
  11. The_true_critic
    Nov 24, 2013
    1
    Ok enough. EA WE'RE SICK OF YOU! You're destroying development studios, filling them with bad critics related to your need of money. Want to make money? EXPANSION PACK! Want bigger maps? EXPANSION PACK! Want mods? DLC! S*** EA! Stop!
  12. Scritty
    Dec 18, 2013
    1
    With the main game still broken disconnections and losing cities still a common event. All the restrictions are still in place tiny cities and always on DRM that is to say the very least temperamental then this expansion pack (ahem really calling it an expansion pack with this little content?) is to coin a phrase "polishing a turd".

    It does help balance the game for single    With the main game still broken disconnections and losing cities still a common event. All the restrictions are still in place tiny cities and always on DRM that is to say the very least temperamental then this expansion pack (ahem really calling it an expansion pack with this little content?) is to coin a phrase "polishing a turd".

    It does help balance the game for single players (i.e 95% of the community) by making cities viable as specialists meaning you could consider some of the larger worlds with multiple cities as dispersed "city like2 structures as opposed to playing in the small villages the game offers as standard.

    But this is a patch worth of improvement barely worth $4.99 as a download only DLC. The pretty new graphics are incongruous to say the least and I would rather they weren't there at all. They don't overlay every structure and are so stylized and "niche". A 50's style view of the future maybe? Don't know but I don't like it.

    Very poor. For the game to now be over 9 months old with the same main issues it had at launch day speaks volumes for how much EA give a damn about this franchise's loyal player base. Back to Cities in Motion 2 and Sim City 4 for me.

    This is overpriced. Too little too late and leaves the major errors firmly in place.    … Expand
  13. GwionBach
    Nov 12, 2013
    0
    So let me get this straight. I buy the expansion, then I have to restart my launcher twice, then I get a horrible unskippable cutscene (their terrible promotional trailer is actually an unskippable intro cutscene, too!), only to find it's the same horrible, dreadful, nearly unplayable game with a few extra building types that don't do much.
  14. Bemaze
    Nov 13, 2013
    7
    I thought this was a good expansion that added some real depth to the simulation of the city and delivered some of that original SimCity trial-and-error experience. On the surface you would be forgiven for thinking the additions were just cosmetic, but in fact they add new dimensions to building up your city and are somewhat interdependent. Transitioning my vanilla city to megatowers wasI thought this was a good expansion that added some real depth to the simulation of the city and delivered some of that original SimCity trial-and-error experience. On the surface you would be forgiven for thinking the additions were just cosmetic, but in fact they add new dimensions to building up your city and are somewhat interdependent. Transitioning my vanilla city to megatowers was not as easy as I thought it would be and there were some precarious moments where my economy went into a freefall deathspiral requiring quick intervention. You have to carefully plan your towers because once you have built a level you cannot change it unless you demolish all the levels above it, and you are limited to 8 megatowers with 8 levels each on a given map. There are lots of choices as to what you can put in a megatower which gets you thinking in a new dimension other than planning zones.

    At the same time you can convert your industry to OmegaCo, however this requires expensive Oil, Ore and Processors to keep running, and unless you have a strong industry a venture into this project can quickly sink your city but the potential profits make you want to try nonetheless.

    The Academy gives you a good reason to have wealthy residents (which you could almost make do without before), as you need them to keep your ControlNet running and you can unlock lots of research projects that improve the things you can do with Omega and Megatowers.

    The downside to all this is that before you really had to think about what the 'character' of your city was going to be. Was it going to be an industry-heavy city, or a research city or just a suburb for the wealthy, whereas now your city wants to be all those things. Sure you can have your cake and you can eat it, but the problem is that once you have built your first super-city of the future you are unlikely going to want to do it all over again just to get the same outcome.

    Overall this does what an expansion pack should do, it will bring you back to the game for a while and breathe some new life into it. Unfortunately the patient is still frail, and I doubt I will still be playing this in two weeks.    … Expand
  15. Qgal5kap
    Nov 23, 2013
    0
    Putting out an expansion pack without addressing the flaws of the original, is in my book, and epic fuk up.
    I am disgusted by EA, and have been for quite some time. Make the damn thing work, without bugs!!
    Increase the size of the cities, and stop concentrating on DLC, and expansions before the core game works properly!!
  16. thanaton
    May 15, 2014
    0
    The maps are still small, you can build up now but not out and it still feels restricted. This game simply doesn't feel fun to play with small maps.

    BIGGER MAPS!
  17. Nudo
    Nov 14, 2013
    8
    I've just ended my first play with the expansion pack for Sim Cities. In my opinion it ads a lot of what I as a fan want form Sim City. The mega structures, the cool tech and the neon lights. Its what i wanted....
    But in the original game! It bugs me that this expansion is so expensive, and that I by buying it actually give in to EA and their blatant disrespect for their gamers.
    All inn    I've just ended my first play with the expansion pack for Sim Cities. In my opinion it ads a lot of what I as a fan want form Sim City. The mega structures, the cool tech and the neon lights. Its what i wanted....
    But in the original game! It bugs me that this expansion is so expensive, and that I by buying it actually give in to EA and their blatant disrespect for their gamers.
    All inn all a good buy, but if you want to keep your morals intact steer clear.    … Expand
  18. Klimax32
    Nov 13, 2013
    10
    After putting 120 hours into the "Vanilla" Simcity, I must say this expansion is the fo sho. After a fascinating and informative cutscene that cleverly explains the new features clearly, (AND IS ALWAYS SKIPPABLE, not sure why GwionBach provides that misinformation) I was ingame creating "New Vegas" with zero server instability whatsover. NO VANILLA NIGHTMARES haha!

    With a fresh city,    After putting 120 hours into the "Vanilla" Simcity, I must say this expansion is the fo sho. After a fascinating and informative cutscene that cleverly explains the new features clearly, (AND IS ALWAYS SKIPPABLE, not sure why GwionBach provides that misinformation) I was ingame creating "New Vegas" with zero server instability whatsover. NO VANILLA NIGHTMARES haha!

    With a fresh city, you'll quickly discover the futuristic parks transform all nearby territory including buildings and roads, making them look neon and sweet. Maxis once again did a stellar job with the futuristic art concepts and graphics. Updates abound and traffic is less of a problem, your sims seem to sleep at night, leaving the roads available for whatever service trucks you having running around.

    The expansion feels more mission and morality based this time around, greed is actually technologically advantageous and fuels your cities with profit, but at some insidious costs later on. Green technology is the other avenue you're invited to explore, but at the burdon of being expensive and timely to research. Play this Yin/Yang correctly and the possibility is there to create a sim Utopia. Worth mentioning is this expansions feels MORE DIFFICULT, I've failed my first few cities so far on the desert-schemed Desolation map, but am still hopeful because of regional benefits of the failed cities!

    The mega-towers are sweet, you can customize them to suite your current sim needs. All the futuristic upgrades are satisfying always with that Maxis charm since playing SimCity on the Super Nintendo.

    Awesome graphics, enhanced futuristic sound track, smart and applicable future concepts, stable servers, and a more cerebral experience overall, this game is worth the money, and forces you to think strategically, and resourcefully. Good luck.    … Expand
  19. rovaira
    Nov 15, 2013
    10
    I've played Simcity since release through the ups and downs. Simcity got better over time, is playable, and fun to play. The expansion; Cities of Tomorrow adds a lot fo the game. First off the mega towers are awesome. You can add residents, offices, malls, parks, a school, and other things. Commuters come and go from the tower which is fun to watch. There are some bugs or confusion onI've played Simcity since release through the ups and downs. Simcity got better over time, is playable, and fun to play. The expansion; Cities of Tomorrow adds a lot fo the game. First off the mega towers are awesome. You can add residents, offices, malls, parks, a school, and other things. Commuters come and go from the tower which is fun to watch. There are some bugs or confusion on different aspects of the towers, but nothing game breaking. The graphics got a nice upgrade. You can even carry the new monorail looking thing (train tracks above the ground) to non COT cities if you own the expansion by buying control net from your COT cities. They really did a good job with this expansion.… Expand
  20. Candinoelle
    Nov 13, 2013
    9
    The expansion is a great addition! Yes, bigger city plots would have been nice but I feel the issue was addressed with the new mega towers. If you play in sandbox mode, you can expect to grow your city quick and have populations in the hundreds of thousands in no time. In addition to the added features, I feel that many of the general game functions have been improved as well. ThisThe expansion is a great addition! Yes, bigger city plots would have been nice but I feel the issue was addressed with the new mega towers. If you play in sandbox mode, you can expect to grow your city quick and have populations in the hundreds of thousands in no time. In addition to the added features, I feel that many of the general game functions have been improved as well. This expansion definitely renewed my interest in this game. It is a little pricey but the gains are worth it.… Expand
  21. Phear
    Nov 13, 2013
    8
    This is pretty good expansion pack. The mega towers really add a lot to the original game. Each tower has 8 stages which you build one stage at a time. The low wealth residence stage holds 1200 people for instance, and you place 8 of them per tower. This really helps getting a higher population because of smaller maps which they said can't be fixed. The mag train is kinda nice as well toThis is pretty good expansion pack. The mega towers really add a lot to the original game. Each tower has 8 stages which you build one stage at a time. The low wealth residence stage holds 1200 people for instance, and you place 8 of them per tower. This really helps getting a higher population because of smaller maps which they said can't be fixed. The mag train is kinda nice as well to help alleviate some traffic issues. Unfortunately you are limited to 8 (i think) towers per city. There are other advancements as well to power, sewer, trade port, police and such.

    I think this expansion pack is must for all SimCity owners. It diffidently makes the game more playable.    … Expand
  22. Aldrendanu
    Nov 15, 2013
    9
    There is a ton of new content which is a blast to play. They have solved some of the issues like having police/fire drones which don't have to sit in traffic. Mega Towers create a much easier way to manage your population/jobs numbers. Overall it was definitely worth the price of the expansion. Now granted, I am one of those people that would love to see bigger cities but the leadThere is a ton of new content which is a blast to play. They have solved some of the issues like having police/fire drones which don't have to sit in traffic. Mega Towers create a much easier way to manage your population/jobs numbers. Overall it was definitely worth the price of the expansion. Now granted, I am one of those people that would love to see bigger cities but the lead developer did post and say that they had a team working on it and it wasn't feasible because the majority of peoples computers wouldn't be able to run it. I can understand that because there is a LOT of animation in the game for each building. So, I'm chalking the smaller city thing up to a design choice and deciding to accept it. Additionally, there are a few bugs that I've encountered. I'm not marking off for those bugs because the developers have been very responsive in resolving those issues since launch and like almost all video game content some bugs are expected. Hopefully they will be resolved very soon but even with the bugs they're not deal breakers. The game is still a lot of fun.… Expand
  23. Zapness
    Nov 19, 2013
    10
    It may be overpriced, and while the advertising sucked, plus no one asked for a future expansion but it is totally worth it. While you may not be able to build out, you now build up with megatowers. There may be a few bugs such as money fluctuations (Go from -$9000 an hour to +9000 and hour) and there only being one type of car, its nothing that cant be patched. But if you choose to getIt may be overpriced, and while the advertising sucked, plus no one asked for a future expansion but it is totally worth it. While you may not be able to build out, you now build up with megatowers. There may be a few bugs such as money fluctuations (Go from -$9000 an hour to +9000 and hour) and there only being one type of car, its nothing that cant be patched. But if you choose to get it, be sure to have 100's of kgal of water excess because megatowers are quite needy.… Expand
  24. overthere2
    Nov 28, 2013
    7
    Great for playing with my 8 year old daughter but I can see why the grown up simmers are disappointed its a sandbox just one for kids. Would be nice if they weren't trying to gouge so much on the DLC as well
  25. EpicSurvivor
    May 13, 2018
    8
    I am rating an 8 instead of a 7 just because how the game sucks you in if you are new to the series or haven't played Simcity since 4 and get sucked into it like I did. Having spent $5 on Origin Access I acquired access to this game. It was something that caught my attention and was willing to try. Its been 5 days counting the day of this review and I have played well over 10 hoursI am rating an 8 instead of a 7 just because how the game sucks you in if you are new to the series or haven't played Simcity since 4 and get sucked into it like I did. Having spent $5 on Origin Access I acquired access to this game. It was something that caught my attention and was willing to try. Its been 5 days counting the day of this review and I have played well over 10 hours straight every day. I couldn't put it down. I was addicted to it. Unlocking new tech, and trying to master the game and unlock everything was a fun and very rewarding challenge. 54 hours later and I can say I finally feel satisfied that I have accomplished everything available in the game. That being said the game is a solid 7 no less. Its not innovative but it has something about it that just hooks you and makes you want to keep trying and learning until you finally master it. Absolutely worth $5 through Origin access. Hell this game is worth $5 by it self. Really recommend it. Its a good break from R6 Siege (800 hours), COD (BO2 1000 hours) Battlefield 3-4-1, Killing Floor, GTA 5. Totally worth it on sale. Check it out!… Expand
  26. Arcon
    Feb 24, 2015
    2
    Logged 50+ hours into the game and can tell you it is an absolute bugfest even now by 2015. Yes, that's right, EA just ignored the bugs and have moved on to making a new version.

    It is fun at first until you put in some time and get your city up and running then all the glitches, lack of good information(you get notices 'more workers needed!' but the indicators do not tell you which of    Logged 50+ hours into the game and can tell you it is an absolute bugfest even now by 2015. Yes, that's right, EA just ignored the bugs and have moved on to making a new version.

    It is fun at first until you put in some time and get your city up and running then all the glitches, lack of good information(you get notices 'more workers needed!' but the indicators do not tell you which of the three types of workers is lacking). All in all, just skip this game or be an idiot like me and let EA once again steal from you.    … Expand
  27. scradam
    Jan 11, 2015
    5
    The new expansion adds some pretty cool features. The Megatower stuff in particular is fun. However, as with the original release, the game is still horribly buggy. For example, the Great Works feature is half broken in various ways (which can be very frustrating if you were depending on a Great Work and then finding out it cannot be used because of a bug - especially after dumpingThe new expansion adds some pretty cool features. The Megatower stuff in particular is fun. However, as with the original release, the game is still horribly buggy. For example, the Great Works feature is half broken in various ways (which can be very frustrating if you were depending on a Great Work and then finding out it cannot be used because of a bug - especially after dumping millions of simoleons into building it. The expansion came out over a year ago, so it's safe to say that these things probably aren't going to get fixed. EA has probably abandoned this franchise because of such a botched release.… Expand
  28. iduncan91
    Apr 15, 2015
    0
    What a disaster, as if the base version of the game wasn't bad enough, they added this overpriced expansion but fail to address the glaring issue: the city is too small! In the 90's we got used to big cities in sim city, then they take several steps back and produce this junk. What a shame.
  29. Misterdiony
    May 18, 2021
    5
    Cities of Tomorrow actually raised some hope back then when an attempt was made to add much-needed features to the base game. While it truly added some more fun to the game, the future told us it was only the last money grab before they moved on.

Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Games.cz
    Jan 20, 2014
    50
    An entertaining and functional enhancement, which, however, must build on the original game's not very stable foundations. It's more of a quantity and building diversity extension than an answer to the game's most poignant problems along with its limitations.
    Read full review
  2. Worth Playing
    Jan 14, 2014
    70
    Cities of Tomorrow isn't a bad expansion if you're already a big fan of SimCity and are itching for new ways with which to test your city-building skills within Maxis' sandbox.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Dec 30, 2013
    50
    Enjoyable new content, but strangled by enduringly small lots and an inability to save, load and experiment. [Jan 2014, p.92]
See all critic reviews »