SimCity

 PC
User Score
2.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4557 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 602 out of 4557
  2. Mixed: 428 out of 4557
  3. Negative: 3,527 out of 4557
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  1. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 28, 2023
    5
    Not good, not fun... It looks pretty and includes some good new concepts to city builders, but the obligation to specialize your city and the tiny space for build your city, kills the possibility to play as sandbox
  2. Izoeros
    May 10, 2022
    5
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  3. Jim74656
    Dec 2, 2021
    6
    REVIEW EDITED: I originally had given this game a 0/10 due to a glaring issue where you could not start multiple cities, however since the last review this issue seems to have been resolved, so I am changing my score to reflect the changes, I just hope EA would continue to improve the game like making city build areas larger, much larger, as this game had potential!!
  4. reviewslol
    Sep 18, 2021
    7
    Is it a good simcity game? No, but it's a decent online game. If you didn't play simcity, you should get this game.
  5. Fallconex
    Dec 17, 2020
    5
    Did not live up to expectations. Weak mechanics, boring gameplay. Don't even try it
  6. Miotke
    Dec 1, 2019
    5
    Meh                                                                                      
  7. PaulJazz24
    Feb 8, 2019
    5
    Graphics are wonderful with those pastel colors: everything seems a plastic model seen through camera lens: Stunning.
    The gameplay is completely different from SimCity 4, but very fun and addictive.
    It has many big bugs, never fixed, the game was abandoned 1 year after the release. What a pity! Otherwise it deserves 10.
  8. Review123
    Feb 18, 2018
    7
    simcity review 2, oh yeah now thats better, they fixed a lot of bugs, but i still feel that something is needed.
  9. JulienFizzy
    Oct 22, 2017
    5
    At any given time the game system becomes tediously boring. It was quite unusual that agricultural sectors and more diversity in the transport system were not included. There was also no possibility of expanding the land. Looking back, you can see that they stayed halfway despite innovating with GlassBox game engine.
  10. rrafemi
    Jan 15, 2017
    5
    Estoy realmente decepcionado. Es muy frustrante que el juego directamente no te permita hacer NADA de nada. A cada paso das te dice que "no es posible esto o colocar lo otro"

    Habiendo espacio de sobra para colocar un parque o un monumento el juego te lo impide porque "se superpone con una casa" cuando hay espacio mas que de sobra y ni toca la línea marcada de la casa. El juego no da    Estoy realmente decepcionado. Es muy frustrante que el juego directamente no te permita hacer NADA de nada. A cada paso das te dice que "no es posible esto o colocar lo otro"

    Habiendo espacio de sobra para colocar un parque o un monumento el juego te lo impide porque "se superpone con una casa" cuando hay espacio mas que de sobra y ni toca la línea marcada de la casa. El juego no da lugar a la imaginación. Es realmente frustrante no poder hacer nada porque el juego siempre te lo impide.

    Las versiones anteriores de la saga no ponen tantos impedimentos a la hora de construir y poner incluso cosas simétricas. Ni siquiera el juego para móviles te pone tantos impedimentos.

    Un despropósito y una enorme decepción.    … Expand
  11. JakGLaDOS29
    Dec 30, 2016
    7
    I still havent come across a computer powerful enough to give a decent experience. The graphics require a horrendous amount of energy and GPU strength. But when in game, its an amazing experience. In single player, building a city in sandbox mode will forever be one of the best game experiences I've had. The game would have been a great success. Its gameplay is incomparable, and I reallyI still havent come across a computer powerful enough to give a decent experience. The graphics require a horrendous amount of energy and GPU strength. But when in game, its an amazing experience. In single player, building a city in sandbox mode will forever be one of the best game experiences I've had. The game would have been a great success. Its gameplay is incomparable, and I really love it. Maxis decided to do so many things wrong, it turned into a nightmare. Online only, unforgivable tech requirements for us people running old business pc's that have fans louder than a hairdryer, or MacBooks which do run the game, but don't give you the experience it advertises. I mean maybe it is 2016, but I'm a casual gamer and I'm not looking to blow so much money on a computer to play one goddarn game. At its core, Simcity is epic, but all the faults came together at once and spoiled it for everyone. I mean even the price was ludicrous. It is worth playing now if you have the means, but at release it was an utter flop.… Expand
  12. Triasadi
    May 19, 2015
    7
    I've done much research on the game before I purchased it because it was on sale, It's quite a good game. Most of the reviews here are irrelevant since Maxis had fixed the server problems and added a single player mode for SimCity. The game is very fun but every city I made usually last for only about a day or two because most people in the region has either stopped playing or abandonI've done much research on the game before I purchased it because it was on sale, It's quite a good game. Most of the reviews here are irrelevant since Maxis had fixed the server problems and added a single player mode for SimCity. The game is very fun but every city I made usually last for only about a day or two because most people in the region has either stopped playing or abandon their city. A better communication system should be added. And the biggest weakness in the game is the city sizes. The size of a city in SimCity is very small and square. It doesn't let me have much space for me to expand my city. The concept for a multiplayer city builder sounds great, but in reality, not everyone is a top-notch city planner. So playing with other people maybe enjoyable. So far I've been playing for about 20-30hrs, and I really enjoyed the game. I recommend buying it when it's on sale.… Expand
  13. eddroos
    Feb 21, 2015
    6
    THE REAL PROBLEM IS ONLY ONE: Maps size!

    The game is perfect until you can't edit the map, trees, lakes and more. Also until the public transport and more things has changed, the game and graphics are really, really good! But the main problem is that the map size is so small, so when you are starting, like 2 hours you have constructed in the half of the map and in 4 hours your map is    THE REAL PROBLEM IS ONLY ONE: Maps size!

    The game is perfect until you can't edit the map, trees, lakes and more. Also until the public transport and more things has changed, the game and graphics are really, really good!

    But the main problem is that the map size is so small, so when you are starting, like 2 hours you have constructed in the half of the map and in 4 hours your map is full. So you start to boring as you don't have anything to do, you only can see your city and after some hours your city crashes and is the end of it.

    So is a good game at the beginning, after some hours, no days, it's boring and you feel frustrated as you have to do the same ALWAYS!
    You can do different things, but always the map is full after some hours and the city collapses!

    Good graphics, new things, etc., but you don't have the correct map size.    … Expand
  14. newalu
    Jan 17, 2015
    7
    I've owned this game on 17 Dec 2014 and im writing this based on the build of that day.the copy i have was the complete edition with all the DLCs included.
    I've been a huge fan of simcity4 and played it for a very long time, i can see why ppl are upset about this game, it had lost of problems when it first started and it had DRM up the ass, however i think EA realized that and they (with    I've owned this game on 17 Dec 2014 and im writing this based on the build of that day.the copy i have was the complete edition with all the DLCs included.
    I've been a huge fan of simcity4 and played it for a very long time, i can see why ppl are upset about this game, it had lost of problems when it first started and it had DRM up the ass, however i think EA realized that and they (with time) worked around it.

    you can actually play offline now and you can port maps form online to offline.

    now the game it self is pretty fun and gets you what you expect out of a simcity game, it is a bit easier and less challenging that simcity4, however this is not the biggest problem with this game, the biggest problem is that the map size is WAaaay too small. you can fill it up in 1 hour or 2 Max. this is a huge let down as the game is beautiful and form what i seen lots of thoughts went to it.this leads up to you filling up the landscape before you can build most of its buildings.

    if you get this game its a very beautiful game with lots of things that you can try, i recommend getting the complete edition because of the content it ships with it.however as i said before this space which you can build on is really small and you wont be able to build a huge metropolis as you could on simcity4 or other games.

    this games is not bad on its own but its not any better than other games ether in the same series or other competitors.    … Expand
  15. Supat97
    Nov 20, 2014
    7
    Did You Guy Remember The Sim City DRM Disasters In Last Year In This Year They Have Patch That You Can Play Offline But The Maps Is So Small and Few Bugs However This Is Good Way To Go Check It Out
  16. Qutory
    Sep 23, 2014
    5
    Fun game overall. However i found it having a lot of bugs or dead end situations. A tunnel blocked in a mountain without being able to remove it, exit to main menu without reason, stuck in a mini tutorial because lacking some prerequisite or the fact that i am unable to reset a city are just a few things that ruin the overall experience.
  17. hemmo1986
    Sep 9, 2014
    5
    Simcity holds a special place in my heart. Being able to create your own living and breathing city is always addictive and great fun, and it's no different for this entry to the series.

    However while it still remains fun to manage and build your own cities the game is let down by some annoying and questionable design choices. One of these critical choices is the map sizes.In previous    Simcity holds a special place in my heart. Being able to create your own living and breathing city is always addictive and great fun, and it's no different for this entry to the series.

    However while it still remains fun to manage and build your own cities the game is let down by some annoying and questionable design choices.

    One of these critical choices is the map sizes.In previous games you could build massive cities and it would take days to fill the map, however with this new edition within a few hours you will have completely used all of your space to build your city and will be forced to start a new city on a different map.

    The other critical issue is the choice of always online and a big emphasis on multiplayer, which puts a huge damper on the game.

    What could have been an amazing game is unfortunately ruined by a few bad design choices.    … Expand
  18. rawsl
    Sep 4, 2014
    5
    It's a very beautiful game, but the simulation is lacking depth and the size of cities is just to small. I can only recommend it to people who want to play it as casual game.
  19. AAHK360
    Jun 20, 2014
    7
    I played this game for around 29 hours, and I can say that SimCity 4 was a lot better.
    Now what I hate about it that there is no "blocks" meaning that you can build even stuff, It's so random so you will have some empty places that you can't build anything on, which I hate, in SimCity 4 you could see the actual blocks in the ground and when you put a building you knew exactly how many    I played this game for around 29 hours, and I can say that SimCity 4 was a lot better.
    Now what I hate about it that there is no "blocks" meaning that you can build even stuff, It's so random so you will have some empty places that you can't build anything on, which I hate, in SimCity 4 you could see the actual blocks in the ground and when you put a building you knew exactly how many blocks it's going to take.
    also, you can't longer modify terrain, and you only have what they gave you, small cities which I also hate.
    I really can't find words to describe, but I prefer to play SimCity 4, and it could've been better for them to add the new stuff and increase the graphics to the older SimCity and call it a new SimCity!
    It's still playable though, and there is some nice stuff here and there, but the way that you build and the small cities just kills every thing.    … Expand
  20. vXxo0oxXv
    Jun 16, 2014
    7
    I think this game is great. I've owned it for a few days now, and for those few days I have not stopped playing. I haven't had this much fun with a city builder in a long time.

    I understand some of the hatred here. Firstly, the maps are pretty small. This can seem like an annoyance at first, but it really makes you think a lot more about how you layout everything. Megatowers also let    I think this game is great. I've owned it for a few days now, and for those few days I have not stopped playing. I haven't had this much fun with a city builder in a long time.

    I understand some of the hatred here. Firstly, the maps are pretty small. This can seem like an annoyance at first, but it really makes you think a lot more about how you layout everything. Megatowers also let you build your city up, instead of out, so you can still have high populations, without taking up so much surface area.

    It it's current state, the game has no bugs, no server problems, and the option of offline play. So you can flush 99% of the complaints here down the drain.

    EA/Maxis took a pretty big risk changing the game as much as they did, but I appreicate that. Most sequels these days just regurgitate the same game and put a 60$ tag on it. The new presentation and UI is very nice, and I think it's awesome they added trading, and commodity resources. It really adds a new appeal to the classic SimCity theme.

    Not to mention multiplayer! Playing with friends is a lot of fun, and it's cool coordinating city roles with your buddies online, and filling in for each other's gaps.

    Picked it up with the expansion on sale. Great buy.    … Expand
  21. DanteV
    May 23, 2014
    6
    Not the worst but its not the best SimCity neither. The game contains too many bugs and glitches like Maxis trying to launch this game on deadline. I would say the new expansions like Cities of Tomorrow and other more did made the game a little more interesting, but bugs and glitches ruined it. Also the city size is a little dumb-down, limiting the player's creativity.
  22. ye73812
    Apr 28, 2014
    7
    Having read the very mixed reviews for the game, I figured the only way I'd find out if it was any good was to buy it and try it for myself. Downloading from Origin was fairly straightforward and the game was up and running within an hour of purchase.

    Visually, the game is very very good. It looks like an animated model at extreme zoom levels and it's quite nice to just sit back and    Having read the very mixed reviews for the game, I figured the only way I'd find out if it was any good was to buy it and try it for myself. Downloading from Origin was fairly straightforward and the game was up and running within an hour of purchase.

    Visually, the game is very very good. It looks like an animated model at extreme zoom levels and it's quite nice to just sit back and watch the sims go by while having a coffee. It's like Sim Parisian Cafe! The tutorials are straightforward, the controls straightforward and the user interface is very visually appealing.

    On the downside, some of the building menus are a bit hard to navigate. You'll often be asked to build a church, for example, and then give up because the church is hidden in the City Specialization -> Culture -> Worship menu. The maps are small, although it does make the game more challenging and, dare I say realistic, as you can't just plop a building down and build a few houses for the workers - you really have to think about how to balance competing land use demands in order to make the city work.

    A lot of complaints centre on map size, and it is true, they are much smaller than they were in Sim City 4. However, intelligent region play can overcome the limitations of city size by enabling resource sharing, effectively turning separate cities into a conurbation.

    My main gripe is the DLC. It is absolutely terrible. $10 for a building set that gives you a double decker bus, Big Ben and a couple of British-looking buildings? $5 for a few airships or $10 for an amusement park that appears to promise the kind of creative madness of Roller Coaster Tycoon, but ends up being more like Zoo Tycoon. EA removed the modding freedom that Sim City 4 gave us in order to maximize profits from DLC. I don't mind that so much, they are a business and they have to generate revenue, but don't expect value for money because there really isn't much to be had. Wait for the GOTY edition or some bulk bundles and save your cash, because the current DLC is not worth it.    … Expand
  23. XhAPPYSLApX
    Mar 20, 2014
    7
    (After the "Offline Update" was released.) Before I start... I get why everyone hates this game. But dang it I just can't hate it, it looks nice, plays nice, and it just is a good game. The interface is really well made, I like the idea of roads being what controls the density, and I love how the city looks, and it is much faster to create a big city than it is in Simcity 4, and yet it(After the "Offline Update" was released.) Before I start... I get why everyone hates this game. But dang it I just can't hate it, it looks nice, plays nice, and it just is a good game. The interface is really well made, I like the idea of roads being what controls the density, and I love how the city looks, and it is much faster to create a big city than it is in Simcity 4, and yet it made a single mistake, a mistake that ALMOST ruined it for me. The city sizes, or should I say the lack there of. They should not have done this, but the reason why is so that they could force multiplayer on us, but now that the offline update is out, why not make new regions with much bigger cities for singleplayer play only? but even then I still get much enjoyment out of seeing my city grow, only if I could see it grow even more. If I were to compare this to SimCity 4 I would rate it a 6/10, but on its own, it is a pretty good game imo.… Expand
  24. Elscorpeo
    Feb 28, 2014
    6
    I found the game to be somewhat fun and irritating it seems to me that EA failed to to give and deliver there promise to make the game fun instead the game is just sad yet amusing now that simcity has "multiplayer" make's it worse and that online DRM isn't helping ether and there isn't even a single player or an offline mode. simcity 5 i should say this game make's all the other simcityI found the game to be somewhat fun and irritating it seems to me that EA failed to to give and deliver there promise to make the game fun instead the game is just sad yet amusing now that simcity has "multiplayer" make's it worse and that online DRM isn't helping ether and there isn't even a single player or an offline mode. simcity 5 i should say this game make's all the other simcity game's look like gold. i feel sad for Maxis for partnering up with EA and destroying one of my favorite game's.… Expand
  25. Troublewalking
    Feb 21, 2014
    5
    I rate this game a 5. As it is a SimCity game and it featured most of the things you would of expected from a SimCity game. It even had some nice features like you could play online with others. It had a nice feature where you could play multiple cities in a region at the same time. Specializing each city. Therefore one could be the commercial area. Another the residential. Another theI rate this game a 5. As it is a SimCity game and it featured most of the things you would of expected from a SimCity game. It even had some nice features like you could play online with others. It had a nice feature where you could play multiple cities in a region at the same time. Specializing each city. Therefore one could be the commercial area. Another the residential. Another the industrial. So in theory and what you got when you bought it, it was probably a 10.

    However what destroyed the game was EA's greed. They forced you to join Origin. They forced you to play the game online. But then they didn't have the capacity on the Origin servers to handle the masses of SimCity fans who were trying to build their cities. Remember everyone was forced to play online. This caused lag. Which in a city sim, that was happening in live time causes massive problems. From the cars, to crime, to pollution. This could cause whole sections of your city to just fall apart with no apparent way to fix it. It also caused the game to behave illogically and not be able to handle multiple specialized cities very well. For instance when I built a commercial area that was near a residential city, that was also sending electricity, water and other resources to build up the commercial city. The game was sure there weren't enough people to support it. Even though the residential city needed tons and tons of jobs and places to shop. Same with the industrial. You could start up a regular city and then rebuild it. But it's illogical multiplayer flaws coupled with lag could just ruin your gaming experience. This was especially a problem for those serious builders. As EA was trying to promote building competitions. The lag made things ugly really fast.

    When you couple this lag with bugs, bad pathing, and illogical flaws in the new ai the game was all but doomed. It's sad really as most of these flaws would of eventually been patched and everyone who purchased this game would of been happy rating it 8 or better easily. And most of the flaws were probably caused by the lag of the server you were forced to play on.

    I played solo, or private games where I invited friends. I have highs speed internet, but being forced to play on the Origin server which was lagged out of it's mind, just ruined the game for everyone. It is so sad because if we could of played this game solo, or on our own servers this game would probably have been a classic. Which all of us would be replaying for years to come.

    But instead EA decided they would stop game hackers by forcing them to play on their servers. Sadly those who cracked the games are probably the only ones who can enjoy the game in the state I last saw it. And this policy for what was traditionally an offline game, ruined it. Without stopping the hackers. In fact it was a PR problem for EA as they said you couldn't play the game offline. But people were quickly finding evidence that the game could probably be patched to be able to play offline.

    If EA just put out a patch that allowed us to play the game on our own computers or our own servers this game would be saved. Which would save the game for those who want to use the game on Origin, because Origin wouldn't have it's servers lagged. And it might help restore EA's reputation.

    Sadly EA already stole the money from all who bought this game. And sadly it seems EA is not concerned with keeping SimCity as customers.

    In the end the game launched so badly that EA had Origin give players a free game. Which is okay, if you actually enjoy having to log into someone else's server just to play a game. But it's quite annoying when it destroys a classic franchise. And a game that should be able to be enjoyed offline.    … Expand
  26. djferris
    Nov 19, 2013
    5
    Simcity is the best bad game ever. When you first get into it, the happy go lucky nature of it coupled with its bubbly and user friendly UI and graphics will have you smiling ear to ear. As you start to "complete" your first city or two the flaws really come to surface and they really take away a lot of the fun.

    It's lost the charm of the Simcity series but you can still find a good few    Simcity is the best bad game ever. When you first get into it, the happy go lucky nature of it coupled with its bubbly and user friendly UI and graphics will have you smiling ear to ear. As you start to "complete" your first city or two the flaws really come to surface and they really take away a lot of the fun.

    It's lost the charm of the Simcity series but you can still find a good few hours of entertainment here. Hopefully the next installation will get rid of the "dumbing down" and back into actual city building like Simcity 4.    … Expand
  27. COLOAGNT1
    Oct 29, 2013
    6
    I'm relatively new to the game so far and have the following to say:

    PROS Beautiful graphics Nice new features (ie adding features to existing structures) Streamlining of "monotonous" tasks (ie power lines/water pipes) CONS Small build sites Some say this is unimportant, definitely not true. Hopefully since this game is an "online" game that can theoretically "evolve", this can    I'm relatively new to the game so far and have the following to say:

    PROS
    Beautiful graphics
    Nice new features (ie adding features to existing structures)
    Streamlining of "monotonous" tasks (ie power lines/water pipes)

    CONS
    Small build sites Some say this is unimportant, definitely not true. Hopefully since this game is an "online" game that can theoretically "evolve", this can eventually be expanded. If city sites are to be small, they should also show some variation instead of just being same sized square boxes.

    Some reviewers state that a city in real life "cannot have all things"... simply not true. New York City for instance is not "buildable" in the games current form. The game really does need the ability to "expand" beyond a square box borders.

    Elimination of some items (ie subways)

    Fact that you're "buying" a game that may someday be no longer supported, in a sense you're "buying" a game that's in some ways being treated as a rental.

    While a good start (I hope they don't stand pat), the regions concept is just not realistic in the sense that you have multiple "squares" for cities... while the land separating these squares are never "develop-able".

    In the end, I'm not sure if I had it to do all over again, I would spend $60. The online feature of the game is not that big a deal however the unrealistic nature of the game (in the name of multi-player) is pretty disappointing when compared to past versions. I'm open to something "new" but not if it only "limits" your "powers", so to speak.

    Right now, I'd advise people to wait to see if the developers improve the game. In some ways it's an improvement but in too many others, it's a regression.

    Looking forward to playing it but overall, fairly disappointed.

    One last thought Similar to EA Sims franchise, they tend to "nickel and dime" you for every new minor feature... that seems to be where they're headed with this as well. Before offering all these new "bells and whistles" for a price, they really need to expand the space on which you are able to build.

    It's interesting they did not name it SimCity 5... Truth be told, it's more like SimCity 2.8 3.2...

    Sim City 4 is still superior to this new effort.    … Expand
  28. Jake_
    Oct 29, 2013
    5
    I have begun to really hate EA and Origin recently, too many bad decisions have resulted in SimCity being unplayable most of the time, due to servers being full or not having a good enough internet connection. The Game is good, you just can't get on there 50% of the time. EA It's in the game (of you can actually get on it in the first place).
  29. Thunderballs
    Oct 26, 2013
    6
    It's a decent game, but it gets old after only a few cities. Origin is a pain in the behind and isn't even close to being on par with Steam. Unless you want to constantly drop $30 for expansion packs (Think Sims 3 style)... than I wouldn't bother getting this game. Sim City 4 will get you immensly more entertainment value for your hard earned
  30. ChoicestGames
    Sep 9, 2013
    7
    The new SimCity is a casual, online-only, sandbox game involving lots of micromanagement with little useful data to guide your actions. The pretty miniature cities means you can create good looking desktop wallpapers but that's about all it's really good for once you've figured the game out. This is fine if that's what you're looking for in this game but it's about as far from the originalThe new SimCity is a casual, online-only, sandbox game involving lots of micromanagement with little useful data to guide your actions. The pretty miniature cities means you can create good looking desktop wallpapers but that's about all it's really good for once you've figured the game out. This is fine if that's what you're looking for in this game but it's about as far from the original SimCity formula as you can get. While Maxis should be lauded for being bold and trying something new the design and implementation was so poorly done they may have done irreversible damage to their reputation.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
21
#21 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 39 out of 75
  3. Negative: 10 out of 75
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 5, 2013
    65
    Given enough patches and DCLs, SimCity might eventually become the game that should have been on its release and justify the ambiguous choices that its developers made. [May 2013]
  2. Games Master UK
    May 9, 2013
    68
    Hints at great things but is limited by small cities and promises it can't deliver on. [June 2013, p.80]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    May 9, 2013
    40
    There's more problems with this game than I have words. Looks great though. [June 2013, p.80]
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