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
Buy Now
Buy on

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. zerza
    Mar 10, 2013
    0
    I knew this would be a hot mess, its EA after all. I play games for fun, and dont have the time nor the patience to be put out by shoddy developers. EA treats its paying customers like they are beta testers, when the game should be gold standard on the day it releases. Maybe the reason EA was so strict with the actual beta of this game is because they knew everyone would hate it andI knew this would be a hot mess, its EA after all. I play games for fun, and dont have the time nor the patience to be put out by shoddy developers. EA treats its paying customers like they are beta testers, when the game should be gold standard on the day it releases. Maybe the reason EA was so strict with the actual beta of this game is because they knew everyone would hate it and cancel their preorders. They played us as suckers again, I will just continue to play SimCity4.… Expand
  2. JasonTheLazy
    Mar 10, 2013
    0
    Sim City sucks. Your city is very small. DLC on release day, EA just wants to molest your wallet. EA forces you to be online even though their servers cannot handle you. DRM sucks, single player requiring online connection sucks. Don't expect to play this on your laptop unless you have wifi. I hate you EA you are ruining gaming.
  3. thisjustsucks
    Mar 10, 2013
    0
    This game sucks. All of this complete about "this game is great if you get around the server connectivity" is 100% shill hype.

    1. The plots are too small. Bottom line. Specialization is required because you can't build everything. 2. player connectivity is vapid. The sharing of resources is stupid. Oh, wow, my friend is doing the garbage/electricity/water for me? Hooray. Who cares?    This game sucks. All of this complete about "this game is great if you get around the server connectivity" is 100% shill hype.

    1. The plots are too small. Bottom line. Specialization is required because you can't build everything.

    2. player connectivity is vapid. The sharing of resources is stupid. Oh, wow, my friend is doing the garbage/electricity/water for me? Hooray. Who cares?

    3. Zoning tool sucks. Maybe eventually you'd get used to the arbitrary sizes. Most cases you'll just build squares or arbitrary shapes. Most of the time this leads to random misused space. Or, you cram everything together and it doesn't expand enough. Hi, we liked original sim city because it was ON A GRID.

    3. Road placement is sketchy. Wow i'm holding shift but it doesn't connect for one of a few vague reasons. How hard would it be for the game to have ghost planning spaces so you don't build something that gets in the way?

    4. terrain is completely a roadblock. Want to waste space in an already small area? Get hills/cliffs jagged coast on your map. No you can't do things like tunnel, build bridges (sometimes you randomly can) blee blah.

    So whatever, I'm sick of reviews about how its so addicting, so awesome, great except for the server issues. Look at the shill "industry reviews." They're just inventing a game that's behind the broken server, that isn't really there.    … Expand
  4. YourNeighbour
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    It's sad to see a great game series like Sim City die at the hands of EA, the wonderful title was again used as an electric boogaloo to milk money off Sim city fans. Having started playing the Sim City series from 2000 it really breaks my heart to see a sequel being put together so halfheartedly. I have nothing to say.

    Bye sim city
  5. srl
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    I actually like the game, it is pretty addictive. The thing you should understand about SimCity is that is isn't a single-player game anymore (technically, you can play alone but it is much less fun than playing with other people).
    However, they way they have released the game is horrible, an epic fail. Basically, they didn't do any real load testing they are trying to cope with the    I actually like the game, it is pretty addictive. The thing you should understand about SimCity is that is isn't a single-player game anymore (technically, you can play alone but it is much less fun than playing with other people).
    However, they way they have released the game is horrible, an epic fail. Basically, they didn't do any real load testing they are trying to cope with the server load at this moment. As part of this, they have disabled some of the game fetures. Some features are simply bugged out like sharing resources between cities in the same region.
    So that's where we stand right now it's been a almost a week after the game was released, and it is still unplayable. Yes, you can at least join servers now, but you'd still get a very confuisng gaming experience.    … Expand
  6. 3ch3l0n
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    Again a crappy game from EA, which was elected as worst company in the USA.
    They ended up even above tobacco- and arms manufacturers.
    After ruining Fifa and Battlefield 3 with bugs, DRM crap and payable DLC... this is just the next game being wiped out by EA. NEVER have I ever given any game a straight zero. But spend so much money on a game you expect it to work. And if it's not    Again a crappy game from EA, which was elected as worst company in the USA.
    They ended up even above tobacco- and arms manufacturers.
    After ruining Fifa and Battlefield 3 with bugs, DRM crap and payable DLC... this is just the next game being wiped out by EA.
    NEVER have I ever given any game a straight zero. But spend so much money on a game you expect it to work. And if it's not working because of a total despicable feature like the obligation to be always online... that's just humiliating and not worth spending 1 buck to it.    … Expand
  7. dougal83
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    Terrible game. You'd be better off playing a free game on Facebook as the depth is comparable. With technology improving you'd expect larger maps and more detail in games. SimCity 2000 is still the best in series but could do with a graphics overhaul and then we'd have a better game than this goldfish bowl. I cancelled an EA subscription game due to the publisher harming consumers andTerrible game. You'd be better off playing a free game on Facebook as the depth is comparable. With technology improving you'd expect larger maps and more detail in games. SimCity 2000 is still the best in series but could do with a graphics overhaul and then we'd have a better game than this goldfish bowl. I cancelled an EA subscription game due to the publisher harming consumers and now this just confirms it was the right decision. I regularly travel on long train journeys and always online games harm my free choice as a consumer. I simply cannot afford the mobile connection data and it is not reliable enough even if I could. I can't believe the prices being charged at launch for this title... £65 for a couple of themes? I remember when these additions were added value/quality. BOYCOTT EA!… Expand
  8. FuriousKane
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    I specifically created a metacritic account to add my voice to the chorus of others here. The game is just flat out broken. When it does work, creativity is so incredibly limited by the small map size that you have no feeling or experience of designing a city the way you want it because you've got to cram everything in so you can place all of the necessary buildings ever growing fireI specifically created a metacritic account to add my voice to the chorus of others here. The game is just flat out broken. When it does work, creativity is so incredibly limited by the small map size that you have no feeling or experience of designing a city the way you want it because you've got to cram everything in so you can place all of the necessary buildings ever growing fire stations, police stations, water treatment plants, hospitals all cool buildings, but space is at such an incredible premium that its irritating not fun. The party line is that you should play with multiple cities in a region but this feature is completely broken and unusable. And even if it were usable, its not fun. At all. This game, and EA's jaw dropping refusal to refund consumers for shelling out $60 for a brick, is a disgrace. I know not everyone will hold to this promise, but I will this is the last EA game I buy.… Expand
  9. Mddlr
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    Take £45 out your pocket and burn it, at least you will get some warmth. My point is, this game is unplayable and a total waste of cash. The server issues due to online DRM ensure that you wont be able to play this game. No point reviewing this any further, its just unplayable.
  10. Grinchy
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    Server issues and always-on DRM aside the city zones are simply too small, presumably to enforce dependency on multi-player interactions. More like Sim-District than City
  11. Flopdugan
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    What a sad time for gamer's when the 'mainstream' industry keeps shooting itself in the foot like this with its DRM and 'streamlined for the masses' mentality. It’s obvious why this game tanked on so many levels, too much PUBLISHER influence. The root of all evil in the gaming industry these days and the main reason the industry is tanking as a whole, is the corporate, suit wearingWhat a sad time for gamer's when the 'mainstream' industry keeps shooting itself in the foot like this with its DRM and 'streamlined for the masses' mentality. It’s obvious why this game tanked on so many levels, too much PUBLISHER influence. The root of all evil in the gaming industry these days and the main reason the industry is tanking as a whole, is the corporate, suit wearing Jackoff, that has zero creative and artistic ability influencing game development. The 'Suit' has no place in an artistic and creative industry, they just get in the way. As long as publishers keep messing with the development formula games will only be about, how many 'units' are sold, Metacritic scores, and what the current 'trend' is. Just remember EA, you bang the nails in your own coffin.… Expand
  12. Speedster288
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM was not OK when Blizzard did it, and it is not OK now that EA is doing it either. This is a trend that MUST stop within the gaming industry.
  13. Slaymeister
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    I play offline. I play all games offline. Half the time, I'm playing a game as I'm sitting on a plane with no internet connectivity, but I don't play online at other times. I don't care about leaderboards. I don't want achievements. I play games like Simcity because I want a sandbox to play in for a bit before I go back to working on a presentation for my next meeting or trying in vain toI play offline. I play all games offline. Half the time, I'm playing a game as I'm sitting on a plane with no internet connectivity, but I don't play online at other times. I don't care about leaderboards. I don't want achievements. I play games like Simcity because I want a sandbox to play in for a bit before I go back to working on a presentation for my next meeting or trying in vain to catch up on my inbox. I play offline, so that means I can't play Simcity. This new Simcity, tied to EA's servers like a umbilical cord, sucks. Their aggressive DRM goes far beyond mere inconvenience caused by an attempt to strike a balance between playability and ensuring the game is properly licensed by players. This approach is positively antagonistic, with no gameplay allowed without EA in the middle, players needs be damned. Additionally, continued gameplay is beholden to their servers, their desire to continue supporting the game, and the capabilities of their servers to handle the workload. I have always pulled out Simcity games for years after my first play though. But what happens when EA decides the ROI to maintain the game servers isn't there anymore? I can't play this game, and I'm pissed.… Expand
  14. Zeeboid
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    I travel for work and as of yet have been unable to play due to the slow/nonexistent internet connections on airplanes and at my hotels. No other SimCity has required me to be online to play, and I feel as a father and husband with two children, if this is what I get for my money, you have done a dis-service. Please restore off-line single play to SimCity. I am ready to never purchaseI travel for work and as of yet have been unable to play due to the slow/nonexistent internet connections on airplanes and at my hotels. No other SimCity has required me to be online to play, and I feel as a father and husband with two children, if this is what I get for my money, you have done a dis-service. Please restore off-line single play to SimCity. I am ready to never purchase another EA game over this.… Expand
  15. Goordon
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

    1. Small Cities.    I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

    1.

    Small Cities.

    Maxis is lieing at us saying that bigger cities arent possible because of performance restrictions the engine gives us. Thats wrong. The real problem is their DRM always online stuff. They save our cities locally on THEIR servers. Youre not able to create a local savegame. If we would be able to have local savegames, the game would actually easily run on 10 times bigger cities. But because they had to bring in their always online DRM protection they accept smaller cities wich results in a much smaller long-term fun level.

    2.

    Savegames.

    Savegames on their servers? Why? To sync your city region to the other players? Thats maybe a good thing but it's implemented poorly. Sometimes you just disconnect from a server or they have a maintenance running. If you continue playing now have fun seeing your city rolled back hours when you reload your savegame later. Or the savegame is gone fully. Why not create some kind of backup savegame locally? That could'nt be too hard. Just sync it with the online servers the next time you login.

    3.

    Server capacities.

    They try to fix the problem by adding more and more servers. They actually know that this wont help at all. Why? Simple: The single server capacity is just not enough. I've read in a post that one server can take about 90.000 people. Ive no clue if thats true. I dont even care. But even if a server is able to take half a million players, it will result in problems. Always. What they are aiming for is was your money. Now they have it they wait until a few players drop the game because they are frustrated. On Twitter they only answer to "lol look at my city". Like everything's fine. Then, sometimes they say "Hey look theres a new server online! Check it out!". You enter the server and you see the next worst possible design idea ever: The savegames are'nt even synced to other servers. You have to begin a new Savegame on every single server. If your server is full (lets say 90k people play on it), you come back from work and just want to play simcity for another hour you just simply cant. Well you can.. begin a new city. But you can not continue your current city. What the hell Maxis, what the hell.

    4.

    "Experts".

    These people call themselves experts developing such games. Why. Why the hell are these people even allowed to be called like that. Not thinking about the single server capacity why are they miscalculating the load on the first few days? Why are they panicing NOW when its much too late that theres not enough server capacity. Why are they acting like its a big problem to bring up a few more servers online within just one day? Well, if they are doing it right the only thing should actually be setting up a simple server and run their server software wich registers another server in some central server so the players are able to see it. I bet they are'nt even able to do that. They did some hypercomplicated piece of non optimized software. I am pretty sure.

    5.

    The game will never run properly.

    Why? Simply because this kind of game is not able to work out properly. Savegames will disappear as soon as theres a maintenance. And there will always be one. Your cities roll back. You come back from work and your server is crowded. You cannot play. You probably find the time to play it once a week. If youve the time your server is just full and you're done with it. Next week the same. Also: An offline patch is probably not even possible because of their weird system. It would take "too much efford" to make a singleplayer game singleplayer (offline). If youve a nice savegame on a server wich is usually more crowded you can actually forget about it. You will never have fun with this savegame anymore. Savegame port on another server is not possible. Its also not syncing as said earlier.

    6.

    The game itself.

    The game itself is also actually poorly made, mainly because of these small cities, wich could be soooo pretty and big but because of DRM and online restrictions they will never be able to reach a proper size.
    The game feels pretty okay but if you play it for more than two hours you can easily realise how poorly it's made im a coder myself i know alot about whats cheap and whats not Simcity shall be called a pretty facebook game thats it.

    7.

    I've had trust in them to make it properly.

    But this once again shows me has proven me that even multi billion companies are not able to properly create a good and also brainful online experience. Never again. Never.    … Expand
  16. Papagiorgio
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    No excuse for utterly broken always-online DRM and forced "Cloud saves" (i.e. you can't save and reload cities to experiment, a cornerstone of the franchise) for what is fundamentally a single player game.
  17. anmont
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    There is so much wrong with the game, how to begin? I will just iterate the bad items (none of which have to do with the server problems they claim they will fix or their DRM)
    1) Road placement in large grids is frequently buggy, meaning exact placements cant be made
    2) At random points in the game large game logic failovers happen (i.e. no matter how many trash centers you place you    There is so much wrong with the game, how to begin? I will just iterate the bad items (none of which have to do with the server problems they claim they will fix or their DRM)
    1) Road placement in large grids is frequently buggy, meaning exact placements cant be made
    2) At random points in the game large game logic failovers happen (i.e. no matter how many trash centers you place you cannot clear more than 33% of the trash)
    3) It is impossible to control zoning sizes or density of a giving area
    4) You cannot farm
    5) Map sizes are limited to very small areas !!!!
    6) You cannot pass ordinances, edict or other logic based controls
    7) There are no subways
    8) Map overylays (while cool) are very limited
    9) No local single player mode exists (nor saving to your local machine)
    10) lack of ruler based descisions on custom sized grids
    11) no terraforming (your stuck with whatever land shape you have got.)
    12) graphics quality is very low, textures on models are unexciting (i.e. farmville quality)
    on... and on... and on... dont buy it.... It should be a free to play game, and if it were released by anybody but a major game company that would be the only model where this could succeed.    … Expand
  18. Chisan
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Always on blatant DRM? Day one DLC with an EA guarantee for bucket loads of additional DLC? Tiny map sizes to crush your creative ability? All this and more in SimCity! Run the buggy and taxing Origin while playing! Watch as one of your favorite games gets ruined by a money grubbing corporation! Give EA all the money! And when all is said and done, and EA is tired of supporting the serversAlways on blatant DRM? Day one DLC with an EA guarantee for bucket loads of additional DLC? Tiny map sizes to crush your creative ability? All this and more in SimCity! Run the buggy and taxing Origin while playing! Watch as one of your favorite games gets ruined by a money grubbing corporation! Give EA all the money! And when all is said and done, and EA is tired of supporting the servers for some reason or another, you too can lose your ability to play the game you purchased!

    Or, of course, you could just not buy the game. Maybe buy some other game like Tropico 4. Maybe show EA that they need to fix this crap they are doing. Maybe even do some pirating of the game once it is inevitably cracked. Anything to tell them that they've ruined the franchise. And maybe, just maybe, if the Sun and the Moon and Jupiter and Venus and Mars and Mercury all line up perfectly to the Earth and the center of the Galaxy, maybe EA will actually get around to changing some of the features to allow for people to have the proper playing experience. Personally, I'm not above purchasing the game if they actually went and fixed what was wrong. It'd show improvement, yeah?

    TL,DR version: Maybe don't purchase the game. It's bad, Mmkay.    … Expand
  19. Abedecain
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    I was so frustrated and annoyed with this game I took it back to the store and demanded a refund, apparently I was the 5th one that day!

    This game is meant to be a single player with endless creativity, instead its pushed into a small box with lots of other people, I don't think minecraft would of done so well if it had gone down the same route. Do you really think EA cares, all they    I was so frustrated and annoyed with this game I took it back to the store and demanded a refund, apparently I was the 5th one that day!

    This game is meant to be a single player with endless creativity, instead its pushed into a small box with lots of other people, I don't think minecraft would of done so well if it had gone down the same route.

    Do you really think EA cares, all they want is your money, so DEMAND a refund!    … Expand
  20. GOFLuvr
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Electronic Arts recently informed people to stop promoting this game less than a week in stores, and while that speaks volumes, I'm here to share my own experiences with this game and the entire SimCity series. That experience goes all the way back April of 1990, when I started with SimCity Classic, and this was a game I loved that I played for hours upon hours. When I got SimCity 2000Electronic Arts recently informed people to stop promoting this game less than a week in stores, and while that speaks volumes, I'm here to share my own experiences with this game and the entire SimCity series. That experience goes all the way back April of 1990, when I started with SimCity Classic, and this was a game I loved that I played for hours upon hours. When I got SimCity 2000 in 1994, it was not only as addictive, but it was also better with the choice of density for Residential, Commercial, and Industrial zones (RCI as it's long since been dubbed) and signs to give names to streets and landmarks. SimCity 3000 (which I got in 1998) took away signs, and even without the arcologies that SimCity 2000 had, it was still an even better game and extremely fun to play. Then in 2004, i got the Deluxe Edition of SimCity 4, and the difficulty of the game made it less enjoyable, but I still had fun playing SC4, and really enjoyed everything that was right with the game. All of this changed in 2013 with the modern SimCity game!

    Even with the always online feature, I figured I can at least play alone, because the box said so. Something the game's box does not have written on it, is that the saved game files are not stored on the player's computer, and the player as at the whim for when the game is saved., and I honestly never would have bought the game if only I had known these things. I've had computers break my heart because they were too underpowered for some games (or lacked hard drive space), but SimCity was truly the first video game to succeed in breaking my heart for being the exact opposite of what all other SimCity games were (and still are), which is a city builder to obsess over! Another thing with the modern SimCity game, is that it's also been the first game in nearly thirty years of video gaming that I gave up on before I could even play it. While I was ok with needing to be online to play at first, the difficult to access game servers (at least in the game's first week of release in America) clearly establishes a double standard: EA/Maxis expects players to always be online to play the game, but at the same time, players cannot expect the servers to always be online in order to play the game whenever they wish.

    If any good comes out of this, I hope that the corporate suits realize what exactly is wrong with software that requires the user to always be online, and that software pirates are never going to go away. (Not that I'm a pirate or condone software piracy, but I've known about piracy going on for as long as I've first had a computer in 1986.)    … Expand
  21. isitaspider
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    If you want to play a game for several hours, only to have your city go from 4k an hour in the black to 5k in the red all because the game has several serious bugs, and then to watch as your city goes bankrupt right before your eyes, then this is the game for you! Filled with required online-only DRM, even for single player, making it that you can't play this game when their servers areIf you want to play a game for several hours, only to have your city go from 4k an hour in the black to 5k in the red all because the game has several serious bugs, and then to watch as your city goes bankrupt right before your eyes, then this is the game for you! Filled with required online-only DRM, even for single player, making it that you can't play this game when their servers are down, or taken offline, for your convenience. Watch as you produce an overabundance of electricity and water while half your city leaves because the game won't update your power distribution in any reasonable amount of time. Seriously, this game is trash with all the bugs and online-only DRM. Don't buy it until they make it offline.… Expand
  22. wrtworthy
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    I am still in shock about what they have done to the franchise and I feel that I have been ripped off! Stick with Sim City 4. I think the game should be called Simt own
  23. lolzorz
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    I'm not even going to bother reviewing this game as EA already have had an ear full of complaints which are all the same things. Why remove transport options, make the map size smaller, add always online DRM? As well as this, so many other bad features have been implemented, and i'm glad the release was a massive pile of steaming bulls*** because EA may now sort things out.
  24. JTenebrous
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    As a fan of Maxis games since ~1988, and an excited follower of preview news leading up to the release of Simcity 5, I'll be reviewing this game based on my long-anticipated Day 1 gameplay experience: 0. 0, because I didn't buy it. 0, because I'm boycotting EA's latest in a long, colourful history of taking the complete piss of its customers and employees. 0, because I love SimCity, butAs a fan of Maxis games since ~1988, and an excited follower of preview news leading up to the release of Simcity 5, I'll be reviewing this game based on my long-anticipated Day 1 gameplay experience: 0. 0, because I didn't buy it. 0, because I'm boycotting EA's latest in a long, colourful history of taking the complete piss of its customers and employees. 0, because I love SimCity, but I am NOT going to be subjected to Always-Online DRM for single-player games, by EA or any other company in the industry. Decisions like this are terrible for the consumers and terrible for the industry I make games for a living, too, and my heart goes out to all the brilliant creative individuals who will have worked very hard on this game, only to have some money-filching, good-for-nothing corporate suits pull a stunt that would take all that effort and turn it into a product that's currently pulling a much-deserved 1.7 consumer rating on metacritic. And to top it all off, those same suits will now be pointing fingers and eyeing up the developers for deep budget cuts... which I sadly expect to be reading about on a respected gaming review site in a few months.

    Shame on EA! And, apparently, EA honestly believes that some of us will buy their latest false claims that SimCity NEEDS the always-online DRM because the game “offloads a significant amount of the calculations to our servers”, and that it would take “a significant amount of engineering work from our team to rewrite the game” for single player. They obviously think we're all mouth-breathers! I have a latest-gen Intel i7 processor and 16gb ram I don't need their sodding "cloud" to "reticulate my splines", and for that matter, neither would my 3 year old laptop. They may be "offloading calculations" (including the algorithms for ethics and consumer rights) but they better "onload" those calculations back to local hardware like every other game, on the double, or I'll offload some calculations of my own, such as where their games get any consideration with respect to my wallet.

    Poor show, EA.    … Expand
  25. Invain
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Worst simcity game ever. I dont care about DRM but this game feels INCOMPLATE, CLOSED BETA or browser game. I'm so regret my decision to buy this crap.
  26. bogbog
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Even if this were the greatest game in the history of creation (which it's not), it still wouldn't make sense to cripple the user experience by forcing them to always be online to play. That's pure garbage. Buy this game and you support publishers letting you play the game YOU purchased at THEIR discretion. Don't buy this game.
  27. dpofs10
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Wow, a week after launch and the servers still don't work. Just got kicked out and lost 2 hours work and can't sign back on at all. PLEASE don't make the mistake I did and give this company your money for a defective by design product.
  28. PRFR
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    SimCity is the biggest scam in recent gaming history. http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/1a5pof/did_ea_lie_about_theoretical_population_sizes/
  29. abbadox
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    Why are they still selling a broken game, they should stop selling copies of this broken game and fix the server problems, allow people to play offline, and increase the city size. If they solve these issues then start selling the game again. If not then they should refund everyone that paid for a copy of the game and resign from the game making business. This is the worst launch of aWhy are they still selling a broken game, they should stop selling copies of this broken game and fix the server problems, allow people to play offline, and increase the city size. If they solve these issues then start selling the game again. If not then they should refund everyone that paid for a copy of the game and resign from the game making business. This is the worst launch of a video game in recent history and everyone saw in coming except for the development team or they just did not care. I am a long long time fan of simcity games and this is the first one I HATE.… Expand
  30. MissFelixia
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    havent even bought the game to know how bad it really is. sims 4 is better than this rubbish. those giving it scores above 7 have never played a sim city game before. when a 10 year old game is better than a game just released you know something is wrong. sim city 4 has nice big plots of land to build on and doesnt need connecting to the internet. game can run perfectly fine offline. andhavent even bought the game to know how bad it really is. sims 4 is better than this rubbish. those giving it scores above 7 have never played a sim city game before. when a 10 year old game is better than a game just released you know something is wrong. sim city 4 has nice big plots of land to build on and doesnt need connecting to the internet. game can run perfectly fine offline. and this game isnt worth the price it is. maybe £9.99 like sim city 4 is now. oh did people mention you have to download spyware called origin to play this terrible game? just buy cities xl or anno 2070. they are much better games and only £20… Expand
  31. woodruff
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    Besindes the server problems and all, don't people see that EA makes fun of us all? They want to sell us a game with features it doesn't have at all.

    Look: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Miscellaneous-Issues/Traffic-quot-AI-quot-This-is-why-services-and-traffic-are-broken/m-p/737060#U737060 There are no Sims living in your town. They are just mindless bots, going to the next free house    Besindes the server problems and all, don't people see that EA makes fun of us all? They want to sell us a game with features it doesn't have at all.

    Look:
    http://answers.ea.com/t5/Miscellaneous-Issues/Traffic-quot-AI-quot-This-is-why-services-and-traffic-are-broken/m-p/737060#U737060

    There are no Sims living in your town. They are just mindless bots, going to the next free house and the next free shop and the next free working place. And this is why this game has so much flaws. Traffic jams, empty shops and casinos altough everything is full.

    If you build a car lot besides a casino, no sim will go into the casino. They will take the bus to the next free shop. This game is mindless like any other EA games of the early past. Don't buy this stuff.    … Expand
  32. Jaocb_Dang
    Jul 21, 2013
    0
    1. Game fundamental mechanism and logic is not working appropriately. Many bugs have not been resolved.
    2. Map size too small and annoying on-line DRM requirements. Developers are unwilling to change and indifferent to customer's complains and request.
    3. Greedy DLC business model. No modelling ability in spite of their false promise.
  33. wh1ps3r
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    This release absolutely failed. Everything is bugged. I wonder, why other critics talking about, how game is so cool balanced, It's all a big lie. Problem is, you can build city without industry zone without any problem You don't have to even build commercial zones!!! How it's possible, they give it 100?

    Anyway, i rated 0.
  34. SPAZZx7
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    Compared to the depth of the former franchise, this is complete trash. But dont get me wrong, looks fabulous, random events frequent and less than properly animated. Online required to play? Must admit, i would give this a 3, then i see a 10 rating and nearly vomit all across my new desktop. Cant let that bowl of mindless sewage go unchallenged. Online required to play? Lets blow 100Compared to the depth of the former franchise, this is complete trash. But dont get me wrong, looks fabulous, random events frequent and less than properly animated. Online required to play? Must admit, i would give this a 3, then i see a 10 rating and nearly vomit all across my new desktop. Cant let that bowl of mindless sewage go unchallenged. Online required to play? Lets blow 100 bucks after dlc on a game that will only be around less than a year.
    *Opens original box to Sim City 2000* Yea, this still works and its at least 6 years old.

    With the amount of DLC available on launch, this game should be free to play at the least.

    How many game series can EA ruin before customers demand salvation? We wont find out...
    Because they will be lining there pockets while we rage behind there curtain of false advertisement.

    (Second review, first was a bit sloppy)    … Expand
  35. lanman61
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    SimCity is at its heart a single player game. For greedy EA to force always-on DRM on this franchise is frankly unforgiveable. When popularity of the servers goes down EA will pull the plug and your access to the game will be forever gone. Also gone are my ability to manage my own saves so out the window also goes the ability to experiment with your cities without permanently destroyingSimCity is at its heart a single player game. For greedy EA to force always-on DRM on this franchise is frankly unforgiveable. When popularity of the servers goes down EA will pull the plug and your access to the game will be forever gone. Also gone are my ability to manage my own saves so out the window also goes the ability to experiment with your cities without permanently destroying your creations. The city size limits are abysmally small and are not compensated by connecting several of these small towns together. Not only are the cites small but the locations are fixed and unchangeable another very bad move. On top of all that terraforming has also been completely removed from the game. Now I can't shape the land to form my masterpiece. It feels like EA has killed my favorite city building game and replaced it with a cheap facebook imposter.… Expand
  36. Teckademics
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    Trash, EA should learn a lesson to listen to the consumers. Servers a horrible even after they fixed them. Game is buggy and featureless. I'll never bu another EA game again. And that's a shame because I was looking forward to battlefield 4. Just save your self the over priced asking price and use the $60 to buy Tropico 3, 4 and all the dlc along with cities xl 2013 for about $30 if youTrash, EA should learn a lesson to listen to the consumers. Servers a horrible even after they fixed them. Game is buggy and featureless. I'll never bu another EA game again. And that's a shame because I was looking forward to battlefield 4. Just save your self the over priced asking price and use the $60 to buy Tropico 3, 4 and all the dlc along with cities xl 2013 for about $30 if you want a city simulator.… Expand
  37. WoongeeNMH
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    It's been 10 days since game release and there are tons of bugs in this game. Of course unstable server roll backs your city and fail to load it later. My whole city just evaporated. Maxis is only adding more servers to solve problem but leaving behind rest of the problems. Still many servers are full with bad condition. I signed up metacritic to give 0 score on this game.
  38. pseudoname
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. always online drm doesn't let you play game because servers don't let you play the game*UPDATE REVIEW*...ok thats bad enough. but now find out there was NO REAL REASON FOR IT http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=525129 http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/ eat a dick ea, can't believe I wasted my time and money on a game I can't play. never again. and maxis should be ashamed. *UPDATE REVIEW* servers mostly work now. but doesn't change that ea lied like a politician skin rug(like a rug but it lies more. think bearskin but slimy). never again ea customer. my review score would have gone up as they start fixing it if it weren't for ea's bull**** *UPDATE REVIEW* and now my key has been disabled by ea under false claims I started a chargeback....i hadn't but guess what I just did 10 seconds ago asshats? damnit metacritic. allow negative points in a review zero isn't low enough. it was so terrible I had to make an account here(no offense but I hate this site for some reason) just to review it.… Expand
  39. malocite
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    With the name Simcity you would expect a quality gaming experience. Sadly this is not the case with Simcity 5. Simcity 4 is a far superior game. Always on DRM is a massive pain, and to anyone who's ever played an EA game that required servers to authenticate you'll know those servers only stay on for so long. Will your game continue to play 10 years later like Simcity 4 did? Nope.With the name Simcity you would expect a quality gaming experience. Sadly this is not the case with Simcity 5. Simcity 4 is a far superior game. Always on DRM is a massive pain, and to anyone who's ever played an EA game that required servers to authenticate you'll know those servers only stay on for so long. Will your game continue to play 10 years later like Simcity 4 did? Nope. Aside from the BS of their DRM the game is massively broken. Tiny building areas are one problem as well as the complete disaster that is the sims ability to pathfind. Build a road next to an avenue and watch the road get completely clogged while the avenue is ignored completely. I might take another peak at this in a years time if they release an offline playing mode since its been proven the 'glassbox engine' doesn't actually do anything online except run drm and a leader board.… Expand
  40. badman690275
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    i have been able to play for 4 days. i have had to restart several times as my regions just disapear?? there are still many broken aspects of the game no grid guides, no city border guide, firetrucks all go to same house..... even with these expensive losses the city size is the bigest lame out. if u want to play a very limited few city blocks with enormous support buildings, Good Luck toi have been able to play for 4 days. i have had to restart several times as my regions just disapear?? there are still many broken aspects of the game no grid guides, no city border guide, firetrucks all go to same house..... even with these expensive losses the city size is the bigest lame out. if u want to play a very limited few city blocks with enormous support buildings, Good Luck to ya! i cannot get past 120k popualation with only 1 industry. Ive used half my city to have the ability to build an oil refinery and still cannot reach the daily income that will unlock the building that will unlock oil refineries. My city has full oil reserves & i have pumps on every inch. The city size isnt just small, its disproportionately small. The buildings are huge. This is not a fun game… Expand
  41. peterplane80
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    Drm, internet connection, small map but mainly a buggy game and the worst support i 've ever seen since battlefield 3... Thanks Ea Last game i bought on origin or EAgame...
  42. tartarus1312
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    First of all, there is the always-on DRM. EA tried to lie about this by saying the server connection was essential to running the game because a lot of calculations were made on the server. Turns out, that's not the case, as proven by a modder: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/modder-proves-simcity-can-run-offline-indefinitely-20130314/. So the server connection is just for theirFirst of all, there is the always-on DRM. EA tried to lie about this by saying the server connection was essential to running the game because a lot of calculations were made on the server. Turns out, that's not the case, as proven by a modder: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/modder-proves-simcity-can-run-offline-indefinitely-20130314/. So the server connection is just for their ridiculous DRM.

    Second, the game itself is not even good. The AI is dumber than Simcity 4 from 10 years ago. The pathfinding is especially horrible. Vehicles and Sims take completely insensible paths to reach their destinations. This leads to traffic jams all the time which shouldn't exist. School buses run empty but don't pick up children because they are full. Emergency vehicles get stuck in traffic, and also drive past their destination because they're on the wrong side of the road. These are just specific examples of how the game's AI is terrible.

    Thirdly, thanks to EA hating single-player games, and trying to make this an always-on multiplayer game, the amount of space you have to build your city is pathetic. It looks more like SimVille: The Facebook Game than a respectable PC game. I was looking for a modern, updated version of Simcity 2000 and Simcity 4. With today's graphics and CPU power, we could have built sprawling metropolises with stunning graphics. Instead, we have this pile of rubbish.

    I think it is time for gamers to simply boycott EA as a whole. Battlefield 4 is coming out? It's just a game, you can do without it.

    Don't buy EA games. whether created or published by them. Period.    … Expand
  43. gmorales
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    It's a good game, but EA deserves nothing. You know, it's just EA, and its always online connection DRM must NOT be tolerated in a single player experience. Never. Even if now they say that "it was thought as a multiplayer experience". Well NO. I want to play alone, I paid a lot for the game and I had a painful experience even when trying to finish the tutorial. May this serve as anIt's a good game, but EA deserves nothing. You know, it's just EA, and its always online connection DRM must NOT be tolerated in a single player experience. Never. Even if now they say that "it was thought as a multiplayer experience". Well NO. I want to play alone, I paid a lot for the game and I had a painful experience even when trying to finish the tutorial. May this serve as an example for other publishers and devs thinking in doing the same. Among others, Blizzard failed, Activision Failed, an now EA failed. Game is good, but publisher is not. Sorry Maxis, nothing personal.… Expand
  44. 1Khronos
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    This game is truly pathetic and has caused me more grief than actual enjoyment. Not only was it released on the 7th of March for me which is 2 days after the "official" release date, but playing the game has been far from an enjoyable experience.

    For the first week, I couldn't even logon to the game due to EA's servers being inundated with traffic. When I finally could, I realised how    This game is truly pathetic and has caused me more grief than actual enjoyment. Not only was it released on the 7th of March for me which is 2 days after the "official" release date, but playing the game has been far from an enjoyable experience.

    For the first week, I couldn't even logon to the game due to EA's servers being inundated with traffic. When I finally could, I realised how poor the actual gameplay was. Most notably, you're given a tiny map to work with which is a fraction the size it was in Simcity 4 and leaves you very limited options to expand your city.

    To top it all off, one and a half weeks after the game was finally activated on my account, Origin asked me to "re-activate" Simcity and asked for a product key. When I tried entering the product key I paid for, Origin advised me that the code has already been used. When I contacted Electronic Arts, I was told there was nothing they could do.

    This game truly deserves a 1 star rating due to its lack of features and extremely poor handling of its release by Electronic Arts.    … Expand
  45. FreakyLord
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Childish, low-scaled, online, flawed... City simulation algorithms are meant to entertain and not simulate. It's not simcity 5 it's Sims 4. Another franchise built on past developers' skill just jumped the shark.
  46. azio
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Bought this game to support MAXIS and the Sim City Franchise.

    In truth this game is almost as awful as simcity societies. I asked for a refund within 7 days of paying expecting legal protection by the strict UK Statutory rights here but apparently it isn't origins "policy". So they can sell badly written games which are not functional and get away with it, essentially stealing your    Bought this game to support MAXIS and the Sim City Franchise.

    In truth this game is almost as awful as simcity societies. I asked for a refund within 7 days of paying expecting legal protection by the strict UK Statutory rights here but apparently it isn't origins "policy". So they can sell badly written games which are not functional and get away with it, essentially stealing your money for a fraudulent claim of the product being complete.

    I've been trying to play the game online in multiplayer mode, that is not on my own singleplayer, and can never get it to work.

    The reason? Apparently the sim city limited edition does not filter out the servers or cities used by players who have different buildings and a different copy of the game. So this annoying message will come up very often when trying to reclaim an abandoned city.

    The only way is to make a game yourself or find an empty slot, but that has been in fact very hard and almost impossible. The "Load more" button for the available games is badly thought out, and being thrown off 30 or so times is extremely annoying. There is no way to tell if the city is abandoned or not until you click on it. What is this madness?

    Many claims and updates from Maxis, but I esssentially feel robbed. Added to this I have been told that I have no statutory rights, which is as usual the general illegal EA way. I think they should not get away with it this time so am giving an extremely negative review to boycott this game. Since my right to a refund was apparently waived when I signed the origin agreement., This is criminal and at best fraudulently nefarious activity by a software developer and publisher that should know better.

    Stay AWAY.

    Best Wishes,
    Adam

    Best,
    A    … Expand
  47. consiefe
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Broken mechanics such as no need to make any Industrial zones especially and no need for commercials also are unacceptable. There is no meaningful corelation between zones or agents. This game is painting zones with no purpose! Besides all agents are moving mindlessly, creating chaos. ie While there is an avenue goes to point A and a dirt road, they choose dirt one for being a bit shorterBroken mechanics such as no need to make any Industrial zones especially and no need for commercials also are unacceptable. There is no meaningful corelation between zones or agents. This game is painting zones with no purpose! Besides all agents are moving mindlessly, creating chaos. ie While there is an avenue goes to point A and a dirt road, they choose dirt one for being a bit shorter then avenue although traffic is hell on that. Firetrucks respond all together to the same fire while your city is on the fire. List goes on and on. God bless us! That's not even a game.

    Stay away, because i don't think developers will accept their fault and fix these problems.    … Expand
  48. Mistafreeze2009
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    This is SimTown, not SimCity.

    After a week of not being able to play, the excitement of finally getting in was quickly overcome by the crap-tastic way this game is put together. If you can get past the server issues, underlying problems with the game mechanics themselves quickly become apparent. Cars drive in circles, Sims don't actually have designated homes...or jobs for that matter.    This is SimTown, not SimCity.

    After a week of not being able to play, the excitement of finally getting in was quickly overcome by the crap-tastic way this game is put together. If you can get past the server issues, underlying problems with the game mechanics themselves quickly become apparent. Cars drive in circles, Sims don't actually have designated homes...or jobs for that matter. At times I've actually been confused if I was playing a horrible fire fighting simulation, as there are always multiple buildings burning. The icing on the cake: constant disconnects. Login queues. I could forgive the issues with the GlassBox engine for now, it's new. But the always on DRM and constant server issues make this game unplayable. This game could've had endless potential, if it wasn't an EA game.    … Expand
  49. StrifeSociety
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    DO NOT BUY!

    If you insist on buying this game, be prepared to spend a vast amount of time on your city only to get a server error that rolls your progress back a few hours worth. Be prepared for this to happen often. Very often. It will frustrate you. It will make you rage. But most of all, it will make you wish you hadn't wasted your hard earned money on this game.
  50. Briii
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    I preordered this game and was able to log in the day of its release with no server issues whatsoever. So I was actually able to play the game and discover: IT SUCKS. The issues in this game are so fundamental, ridiculous and crippling there is no excuse as to why it was released in this state. I was addicted to it at first, LOVED IT, played it for hours on end. I built a crappy city,I preordered this game and was able to log in the day of its release with no server issues whatsoever. So I was actually able to play the game and discover: IT SUCKS. The issues in this game are so fundamental, ridiculous and crippling there is no excuse as to why it was released in this state. I was addicted to it at first, LOVED IT, played it for hours on end. I built a crappy city, figured out the game, and started a new city. It flourished. Then it fell apart. I didn’t understand, at first…
    Nothing works. Here is how every aspect of the game does not work:
    City Service:
    I have three garbage dumps and maxed out garbage trucks in each one. And yet only 2/3rds of the trash in my city was being picked up. I followed a random truck to discover it only carried 0.1/5 tons back to the dump after driving past tons of buildings filled with trash, for no apparent reason. Several other trucks did the same thing.
    Crime was high in my city; to the point buildings were being abandoned. I built a police precinct and plopped ten patrol police cars. Only two go out on patrol every day. Though it still costs me over a thousand dollars an hour to pay for then ten cars, when only two are used. Never seen them use the helicopter either.
    As everyone else has said, fire trucks only respond to one fire at a time. Ten fire trucks at one fire, while the rest of your city burns down and a huge traffic jam is caused by those fire trucks.
    Resources:
    Then there was water. The water table does not replenish in this game. Simulation? In real life it rains. Fail. You have to make a sewage pipe and then a water treatment center next to it, to filter the dirty sewage water and reuse it in your city. However, the sewage pisses off everyone in your town, because you can no longer treat it and it smells. It doesn’t matter if the wind is blowing the opposite direction and your neighborhoods are on the other corner of the town, it still pisses them off. At least 5 buildings are abandoned EVERY SINGLE HOUR (one minute on fast speed) in my game, DUE TO SEWAGE!
    Trading doesn’t work with other regions.
    Civil Service:
    My town has every type of school there is. It has almost every department in the government. It has a hospital, an amazing public transportation system, a police precinct and the big fire station; as well as little ones to help cover the areas. When my city was doing well, I still made 5-6k an hour. When everyone abandoned it because of sewage and garbage not being picked up (thanks to the game’s issues, not me)I went into the red quick. I saw raising my taxes a couple percentages got me back in the green. I mean, my Sim’s are given ALL of the above FREE OF CHARGE, in return for only 9%? I think they could handle 12%. I mean I pay at least 30% in taxes, on top of paying for my own health care, public transport, college etc. Nope. Even more people abandoned due to “high taxes”. What a joke. If sims are so intolerant to taxes: Why even put that option in the game??
    End story:
    This game is a nightmare. It’s depressing to play. It goes well and you have fun; only to watch your city self-destruct to crippling bugs. If they tested this game for more than an hour, they never should have released it with these issues. I don't care if they "patch it" that could take months and I just doubt it could fix problems that are so fundamental and extreme. The area you build in is tiny and the game has been simplified to be LESS than the one they made ten years ago. All to make EA money (smaller amounts of data for their servers and people with crap computers can buy the game). Please don’t buy this game. As a wake up to the developers that they CAN NOT get away with this crap anymore.    … Expand
  51. Pixelmelon
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    We all know how companies fail. When you decided you're smarter than your customers. Online game-play should have been an option, not forced upon users. I want to play even when i'm on holiday. My villa in Bali does not have an internet connection since its my holiday home, there's no point in me getting a connection when i'm there 3 times a year. I'm a business owner myself, and know aWe all know how companies fail. When you decided you're smarter than your customers. Online game-play should have been an option, not forced upon users. I want to play even when i'm on holiday. My villa in Bali does not have an internet connection since its my holiday home, there's no point in me getting a connection when i'm there 3 times a year. I'm a business owner myself, and know a thing or two about product life cycles. This is a surefire way to kill off a fantastic franchise with a loyal fan base, do something about it while you still can, patience is wearing thin. Mark my words. Cities XL wouldn't wait too long to jump on this.… Expand
  52. NO_FEAR
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM will always keep this game broken as long as it exists, IMO this is a poor investment, the game will only run as long as EA makes money, the day that stops the servers will close and the game will end. It's going to be a short term rental rather than a long term game purchase.
  53. ptiemens
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Even if you get past the horrible drm problems, This game is still really bad.
    Its basicly a dummed down version of simcity 4
    No terraforming, No underground work, Very limited city size The only thing you get back from other players is crime and pollution The engine is extremely flawed, with these so called agents just looking for the most nearby spot, haveing sims take different    Even if you get past the horrible drm problems, This game is still really bad.
    Its basicly a dummed down version of simcity 4
    No terraforming, No underground work, Very limited city size
    The only thing you get back from other players is crime and pollution
    The engine is extremely flawed, with these so called agents just looking for the most nearby spot, haveing sims take different jobs.houses everyday
    The traffic AI is extrmeley buggged

    Save youreself the money and dont buy this trash
    Go for tropico or Anno series if you want a good city building game    … Expand
  54. golgo13
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    LOL we take pride in building DRM into every game. We are also proud we put non-sensical money grabbing features into every game and coming up with lame justifications that make it look like we're doing our customers a favour because our customers love participating in our award winning innovations that maximize the user experience with cutting edge technology that is without peer, soLOL we take pride in building DRM into every game. We are also proud we put non-sensical money grabbing features into every game and coming up with lame justifications that make it look like we're doing our customers a favour because our customers love participating in our award winning innovations that maximize the user experience with cutting edge technology that is without peer, so much so our customers will in their pants with sheer excitement. Come join the experience and become our family we love you. EA… Expand
  55. otisbarker
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    This game encouraged me to sign up for metacritic and give it a 0. Could not login to the game last week. This week, I wasn't able to login because I get the message the game hasn't been activated (even though I've done it since Mar. 5th). Wait 90mins to contact Origin customer service, then they tell me the game was in charge back with the Amazon purchase. This online DRM blows big time.
  56. JusA
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    This game is basically a not even playable painting. The simulations are totally messed up. The city size is a joke. The worst part for me is not the online DRM, but the fact, that you can lose your city any time due to flawed cloud saving. Save your money.
  57. Alienpope
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    The game is addicting, it is fun... UP UNTIL IT YOU OVER. You can spend hours on a city just to see it fail due to server issues and game bugs. Trading with other cities is not working properly, trading with the global market just halts for unknown reasons, tourist suddenly seize to visit (sucks if your city is based around that), gambling buildings will first make a ton of money then theThe game is addicting, it is fun... UP UNTIL IT YOU OVER. You can spend hours on a city just to see it fail due to server issues and game bugs. Trading with other cities is not working properly, trading with the global market just halts for unknown reasons, tourist suddenly seize to visit (sucks if your city is based around that), gambling buildings will first make a ton of money then the next second it will loose thousand's of simoleons an hour leading to your city's doom. Basically this game is a waste of time and by the time you realize that you have already spent hours upon hours on you city. The game is broken. Don't buy it… Expand
  58. infenro
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Without even judging on the always on DRM the actual gameplay and bugs that are still in this game are incredibly bad and lend themselves to Lazy and Bad testing before launch, This game is not worth the very high price tag and should not be associated with such a great series that has has a great portfolio of previous versions. This is very inferior to all of them, It was interesting whatWithout even judging on the always on DRM the actual gameplay and bugs that are still in this game are incredibly bad and lend themselves to Lazy and Bad testing before launch, This game is not worth the very high price tag and should not be associated with such a great series that has has a great portfolio of previous versions. This is very inferior to all of them, It was interesting what they were trying to create here but see this as a warning too all other game designers out there, this is not how you make a game.… Expand
  59. eddy514
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    HORRIBLE GAME and this has NOTHING to do with offline play. They makers use weak excuses like processing power to eliminate the need for the sims to live in their own houses. The sims just show up at whatever house is near so they can wake up poor, sleep rich and then go work in a poor job and end up poor again in less than 48 hours. If you have an industrial city with heavy need forHORRIBLE GAME and this has NOTHING to do with offline play. They makers use weak excuses like processing power to eliminate the need for the sims to live in their own houses. The sims just show up at whatever house is near so they can wake up poor, sleep rich and then go work in a poor job and end up poor again in less than 48 hours. If you have an industrial city with heavy need for workers, they will come for half the day and then your factory will act like it never had workers to begin with so it will become unhappy and abandoned. You can build a freight storage and for what for NOTHING. You can build coal storage and cant send it to another city via trade so whats the point of building mines when you can just import everything. There is no supply chain because of the fact that nothing matters in this game, everything acts on its own. Fire dept send all their trucks to one fire while 10 others burn the city down. garbage goes uncollected, students go without an education, and power takes ages to reach a corner of the city because the yellow dot hast traveled there yet! What yellow dot stops by my house to give me power, once it flows in real life it flows. WEAK VERY WEAK GAME!!!… Expand
  60. eleus
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    There's so much completely broken in this game beyond the online-only (DRM) aspect and server woes. Purchasing this game is really the purchase of a massive, and massively expensive, beta, which shows the contempt EA and Maxis have on fans of the franchise. The AI is so unbelievably stupid even with the incredibly small size of city areas.

    There's a reason EA won't refund most requests    There's so much completely broken in this game beyond the online-only (DRM) aspect and server woes. Purchasing this game is really the purchase of a massive, and massively expensive, beta, which shows the contempt EA and Maxis have on fans of the franchise. The AI is so unbelievably stupid even with the incredibly small size of city areas.

    There's a reason EA won't refund most requests through Origin. They know you're unlikely to buy it later when it's "fixed." They know that will take a while, if at all, and those quarterly profits are important.

    Purchasing this at this point tells EA and Maxis to continue treating games and gamers the way they have for such a long time. It's accepting the utter crap that comes out of their mouths. The latest blog post with "straight answers" is such a vile piece of trash that I cannot believe that anyone is buying the game and/or defending anyone at EA/Maxis. It's atrocious. It is a fact that EA confirmed there'd be an offline mode and that multiplayer was simply optional for those who wanted that experience; multiplayer was not off the table. It was not a "from the ground up" quasi-MMO. That is an excuse made after it was so obvious that offline was easy to achieve and totally possible and even more fun. It's an excuse after realizing that the servers don't do much, and what they do is done so poorly that you're wasting your time. Nothing is in real-time. Nothing that couldn't be achieved faster from PC to PC. It's just such a crock.

    Seriously, nobody can blame EA and other publishers if they continue to buy games and tacitly approve of their "design" (DRM) or doublespeak. Rubbish.    … Expand
  61. souldream
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    Game box sold in Europe poland Disk space used 1.8 GB and only 3 langages available, not only they are greedy to put all langages but they have not put English on DVD. Polish hungary russian ).

    The game is fully loaded with bug. Server are overloaded savegame lost in space ... The game is sold as Alpha stage!!!!!!! Would not recommand this game to anyone until a new review    Game box sold in Europe poland Disk space used 1.8 GB and only 3 langages available, not only they are greedy to put all langages but they have not put English on DVD. Polish hungary russian ).

    The game is fully loaded with bug.
    Server are overloaded savegame lost in space ...
    The game is sold as Alpha stage!!!!!!!
    Would not recommand this game to anyone until a new review of fixed server DRM.

    Sim DRM is a no go do not buy it or you will not have any pleasure !
    An old Amiga gamer sad to see that EA/ Maxis do not care about games     … Expand
  62. moocat
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Always-on DRM, servers unavailable, your progress getting corrupted (game servers messing up), hackers able to take over any of your cities and ruin them, blatantly payed off reviewers, misquotes on their web site to make bad reviews sound good, huge traffic issues that ruins any city after just hours of play, severely limited map size unnecessarily dragging out the game, huge amount ofAlways-on DRM, servers unavailable, your progress getting corrupted (game servers messing up), hackers able to take over any of your cities and ruin them, blatantly payed off reviewers, misquotes on their web site to make bad reviews sound good, huge traffic issues that ruins any city after just hours of play, severely limited map size unnecessarily dragging out the game, huge amount of bugs (several game breaking), blatant lies about the simulation (the inhabitants aren't actually simulated, they are just "actors" who take any available job/house), hidden content already in the game that is locked and will be sold as DLC later...… Expand
  63. daeveman
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Forget about all the other Simcity games you played in the past. This should be renamed Scamcity. According to official statement from Lucy Bradshaw, Maxis General Manager, this is a MMO. All sims are agents, when they go to work they just enter the first building with an open job, when they go home enter the first home with open slot, if its full they move to the next one, just likeForget about all the other Simcity games you played in the past. This should be renamed Scamcity. According to official statement from Lucy Bradshaw, Maxis General Manager, this is a MMO. All sims are agents, when they go to work they just enter the first building with an open job, when they go home enter the first home with open slot, if its full they move to the next one, just like mindless lemmings. Firetrucks and Police can only attend one event at the same time, meaning if you have 20 firetrucks, they all go to the same fire even if the other side of the town is burning down. You can have one city with only residential lots as long as you keep yous sims happy with parks. You don´t need commercial or industrial lots, as ridiculous as this sounds. And to the top of this, the ridiculous DRM which demands you to be always online while playing this "game". RIP Simcity, hello Simville CEO.… Expand
  64. Giuseppe
    Mar 16, 2013
    0
    Get your money back, if local laws allow it. That is all I can recommend about this game. This game has been crippled by a bunch of corporate suits that couldn't care less about their customers.
  65. Big_Nookie
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    Huge step back from Simcity 4. Restrictive DRM and online only. Buggy and dumbed down from previous games. Maxis and EA lie about online requirements and "computations" being done by their servers. I will never pre order a EA or Maxis game again. I feel cheated and tooken advantage of. Graphics are nice but I've gone back to Simcity 4. More fun and mod supported, the way PC gamingHuge step back from Simcity 4. Restrictive DRM and online only. Buggy and dumbed down from previous games. Maxis and EA lie about online requirements and "computations" being done by their servers. I will never pre order a EA or Maxis game again. I feel cheated and tooken advantage of. Graphics are nice but I've gone back to Simcity 4. More fun and mod supported, the way PC gaming was meant to be.… Expand
  66. Chaka
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    Cities collapse at 150k. Pathfinding is a joke (cars always try too reach nearest Position). Fire cars are a joke (all try too reach the same fire). Space for building cities is a joke too...
    Ist not possible to trade oil or coal, you can only make presents ...
    and so on
  67. Plantface
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    Weeks after its release and after 'everything returning to normal' according to EA the game is still plagued by connection issues.

    After having spent a lot of hours into several cities on different servers, all my cities got deleted when randomly getting a 'city could not be processed properly' and doing a failed roll back to the last known normal state. Not worth the money, not worth a    Weeks after its release and after 'everything returning to normal' according to EA the game is still plagued by connection issues.

    After having spent a lot of hours into several cities on different servers, all my cities got deleted when randomly getting a 'city could not be processed properly' and doing a failed roll back to the last known normal state. Not worth the money, not worth a in-depth review.    … Expand
  68. Cadi2002
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    Biggest piece of junk yet. Played for 5 hours when i got it yesterday today they cant find my saved city and keep trying to get me to play with others. I don't want to I just want to build a city and have fun like in the old Simcity. Don't wast your money.
  69. gemini420
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    SimCity has potential, but falls very short of achieving its potential (very short of achieving.)

    If you feel like wasting hours fudging around with traffic jams and broken game dynamics, being kicked out of the single player city you have been creating for hours and then have to start it all over again, then you may be interested ... I feel ashamed for buying this game. D'oh,    SimCity has potential, but falls very short of achieving its potential (very short of achieving.)

    If you feel like wasting hours fudging around with traffic jams and broken game dynamics, being kicked out of the single player city you have been creating for hours and then have to start it all over again, then you may be interested ...

    I feel ashamed for buying this game. D'oh, Electronic Arts! I should have known better     … Expand
  70. DaveWave
    Mar 18, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I tried playing this for 40 hours but have given up. To enjoy the game you need to control more than one city. Switching between them takes ages and not possible if the servers are down. This problem will never be fixed.
    On top of all the bugs I've been promised a refund by an EA director.
    Use Google/facebook to find EA employee names then send emails like this for John Doe.
    johndoe@ea.com
    john.doe@ea.com
    jdoe@ea.com

    Good luck    … Expand
  71. Nine
    Mar 23, 2013
    0
    My original review was 10, despite the huge problems at launch, the way DRM kill your cities one by one (unable to load, blank cities, and so on), the 1000000 bugs, and sooooo many others problems. You can't except a such work even with an alpha version. But well, the game looks to be a very good one. After 150 hours of play, I see now how there is no game at all. Just make a city full ofMy original review was 10, despite the huge problems at launch, the way DRM kill your cities one by one (unable to load, blank cities, and so on), the 1000000 bugs, and sooooo many others problems. You can't except a such work even with an alpha version. But well, the game looks to be a very good one. After 150 hours of play, I see now how there is no game at all. Just make a city full of residential zone and park and you win. This is the new SimCity, and this is definitly without me. THIS WHOLE GAME IS A SCAM, FROM START TO THE END.… Expand
  72. Mog1
    Mar 21, 2013
    0
    Absolutely, appalling forgetting for a second that we've been completely mislead about the always online features which are a complete joke and just an excuse for the always on DRM the game is buggy, unfinished and completely flawed. This is not the game marketing has described, the gloss of enjoyment will fade after a couple of hours after you realize nothing works the pathing, theAbsolutely, appalling forgetting for a second that we've been completely mislead about the always online features which are a complete joke and just an excuse for the always on DRM the game is buggy, unfinished and completely flawed. This is not the game marketing has described, the gloss of enjoyment will fade after a couple of hours after you realize nothing works the pathing, the sims, the economy. It's a joke avoid at all costs. Of course, that's when it works at all the always on DRM means you can't even play it most of the time. People who buy this, be warned, when EA pull the plug on the servers, which they do routinely for games that are no longer new and profitable, you'll be left with nothing. You don't own this game, you're just playing until EA tires of running the server then it's game over. This would all be fine if there was any point to it, but the online play is pointless. AVOID AVOID AVOID.… Expand
  73. DareJedi
    Mar 18, 2013
    0
    EA does not need always DRM cause they killed all special games. Customers do not need to buy EA games. They are game killer. This game isnt SimCity it is SimsCity(Town).
  74. krunchysock
    Mar 19, 2013
    0
    I am completely ignoring the DRM issue. My issue is with both Size, and complexity you have neither in this game. Even when you expect to have at least one or the other. Please do not support this product. Give it about 6 months.. and MAYBE they will have it patched enough to be somewhat fun. I honestly can't beleive i pre ordered this game.
  75. Osito
    Mar 19, 2013
    0
    I registered purely to give this game a zero, which is exactly what it deserves. Even if you can get over the disingenous excuses for the DRM, this game will let you play it for two days solid, then casually delete your game as if it never existed. Happened to me on 19/03/13 after two days playing, so it can't even be excused as a launch issue. The one good thing is that they gave meI registered purely to give this game a zero, which is exactly what it deserves. Even if you can get over the disingenous excuses for the DRM, this game will let you play it for two days solid, then casually delete your game as if it never existed. Happened to me on 19/03/13 after two days playing, so it can't even be excused as a launch issue. The one good thing is that they gave me simcity 4 deluxe for free, which I'm now playing instead.… Expand
  76. RANDUMB
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    If you create anything more dense than a small city suburb 3 things will happen. 1) Your streets will become completely congested with traffic. 2) You will use up about one half of the playable space of your city to provide water, sewage treatment and garbage disposal. 3) Once you have enough enough civil services (ie. police fire coverage) you will go bankrupt because you are using upIf you create anything more dense than a small city suburb 3 things will happen. 1) Your streets will become completely congested with traffic. 2) You will use up about one half of the playable space of your city to provide water, sewage treatment and garbage disposal. 3) Once you have enough enough civil services (ie. police fire coverage) you will go bankrupt because you are using up so much of the usable space for your city. This game should have been called 'SimSuburb' not 'SimCity'.… Expand
  77. pick999
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    Seriously this game is a letdown. EA keeps ruining franchises. Simplified game, overpriced game, the infamous DRM, day 0 DLC. Not only ruin the franchise, the gaming industry.
  78. Nebenezer
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    This is not the worst game ever. This is however the worst and most disappointing case of anti-consumerism I have witnessed in my lifetime.

    As a life long fan of the SimCity games series I am in shock EA would release this game under the name SimCity. Anyone who played sc4 will immediately see the glaring diversion from the legacy established by previous games. As a gamer with a brain I    This is not the worst game ever. This is however the worst and most disappointing case of anti-consumerism I have witnessed in my lifetime.

    As a life long fan of the SimCity games series I am in shock EA would release this game under the name SimCity. Anyone who played sc4 will immediately see the glaring diversion from the legacy established by previous games. As a gamer with a brain I am saddened and intellectually offended that EA would hold back fundamental aspects of the previous iterations (terraforming, subways, reasonably sized building areas, etc) with the intention of selling these things as dlc in the future.

    This game is incomplete. EA is selling a fraction of a game for full retail price.

    This game could have been epic but EA has exploited and destroyed yet another legacy from what used to be a consumer driven industry.

    EA states that releasing a version of this game consistent with its legacy does not fit their "vision" for the new SimCity... I state that paying $60 for a fraction of a game experience then purchasing the rest of what should have been part of the initial game in the form of DLC over a period of time does fit with my vision of what I want and expect from a SimCity game.

    Absolute exploitation of a legendary game series. Tantamount to fraud.    … Expand
  79. TheHeff
    Mar 20, 2013
    0
    Always on requirement, tiny city sizes and single point of entry into a city. Absolute crap. I am a long time fan of the SimCity franchise but EA/Maxis have done what one comes to expect from EA and EA brands these days... the player base over and screw the game.

    Medal of Honor (dating back to Allied Assault... You never did fix the Liberation mode lag, did you EA?) Battlefield Mass    Always on requirement, tiny city sizes and single point of entry into a city. Absolute crap. I am a long time fan of the SimCity franchise but EA/Maxis have done what one comes to expect from EA and EA brands these days... the player base over and screw the game.

    Medal of Honor (dating back to Allied Assault... You never did fix the Liberation mode lag, did you EA?)
    Battlefield
    Mass Effect
    Dragon Age
    SimCity

    5 examples of EA's cluster****ed approach to gaming. There are loads more examples.    … Expand
  80. mjfan97
    Mar 21, 2013
    0
    I'm sure I'd be happy to pay for a good game from a hard-working company, but that's not you, EA. Because of your BS unacceptable business practices I must insist on giving this game a definitive 0 for two reasons:
    1. Always-online DRM
    2. Broken gameplay elements This is complete BS EA! It's alienating gamers and your solution will be to probably buy some more DLC Packs. That's    I'm sure I'd be happy to pay for a good game from a hard-working company, but that's not you, EA. Because of your BS unacceptable business practices I must insist on giving this game a definitive 0 for two reasons:
    1. Always-online DRM
    2. Broken gameplay elements

    This is complete BS EA! It's alienating gamers and your solution will be to probably buy some more DLC Packs. That's alright. I'll just give my money to companies who actually DO deserve it.    … Expand
  81. Ahazy
    Mar 21, 2013
    0
    This is a very poor attempt at a simcity game. Not only can this game not be played offline, but it's riddled with bugs, design errors, and nazi style DRM. It looks like EA managed to destroy SimCity too, but I'm sure they will fix it with overpriced DLC. Count on it.
  82. marcolevo
    Mar 21, 2013
    0
    I'm very sad... I just want to play this game in single player whenever i want and I don't want to be always online. The size of the cities is very too small, this is frustrating and boring! Nice the simulation but not worth the price of the game. This is not the SimCity i knew...
  83. childofmaxis
    Mar 22, 2013
    0
    I have played every Sim game since Sim Ant, except for all the Sims expansions and sequels. The main reason i have stopped playing these games is this; Will Wright no longer has any creative input on the Sim Anything franchise. It is a glom of the conglomerate of EA. This game advertised itself as the "winner of 27 awards" In the pre-release trailer. Winner of 27 awards? For what?I have played every Sim game since Sim Ant, except for all the Sims expansions and sequels. The main reason i have stopped playing these games is this; Will Wright no longer has any creative input on the Sim Anything franchise. It is a glom of the conglomerate of EA. This game advertised itself as the "winner of 27 awards" In the pre-release trailer. Winner of 27 awards? For what? Creating a tilt shift city viewer? This game is a dumbed down version of Sim City, think of it as a garden, where you can't actually kill anything, but you can make it look reeeal bad. I am going to play my copy of SimCity 2000, still the best one.… Expand
  84. dogshtally
    Mar 22, 2013
    0
    I'm a software tester by trade and an avid fan of Sim City games over the years. I feel deeply insulted by this game. It's clearly not fit for purpose. Even after patching up to the latest updates, performance is dreadful, there's zero resilience in the game it crashes. I've had to kill it twice from the task menu and both times my City's have ended up corrupted and lost. It runs like aI'm a software tester by trade and an avid fan of Sim City games over the years. I feel deeply insulted by this game. It's clearly not fit for purpose. Even after patching up to the latest updates, performance is dreadful, there's zero resilience in the game it crashes. I've had to kill it twice from the task menu and both times my City's have ended up corrupted and lost. It runs like a dog. Hype about the graphics and look and feel of the game is pathetic. I will NEVER buy an EA games again… Expand
  85. sl5581
    Mar 24, 2013
    0
    promised online features don't work until now (no rankings, region play full of errors)
    - tiny map sizes
    - dumped down difficulty (only problem is the fight against bugs) - no logic simulation recognizable (traffic ui terrible, sim behavior terrible, satisfaction system terrible) - less complexity than in sim city 4 (no water, electricity lines, no orders) - much less buildings     promised online features don't work until now (no rankings, region play full of errors)
    - tiny map sizes
    - dumped down difficulty (only problem is the fight against bugs)
    - no logic simulation recognizable (traffic ui terrible, sim behavior terrible, satisfaction system terrible)
    - less complexity than in sim city 4 (no water, electricity lines, no orders)
    - much less buildings diversity (no highways, trails, monorail, fusion power, toll system, one way street, metro, military base)
    - few statistics

    everything i liked in sc 2000/3000/4 has been canceled/dumped down DONT BUY    … Expand
  86. Ripoz4200
    Mar 23, 2013
    0
    Please let this be a lesson to single player game devs. The marketplace does not want DRM. Please do not support Game Companies that are forcing us to have access to the internet to play a game. I love my ISP but I dont want to have to be connected to play a game I paid $60 for. EA sucks and so does DRM... Avoid both...
  87. luquinhass12
    Mar 24, 2013
    0
    The size of the city is awful! It destroyed the entire game, not sure what was going on in the minds of developers to make that decision. Crazy? Who knows!!
  88. Limonka
    Mar 24, 2013
    0
    Too bad they sold (and released) an alpha with a broken DRM system.

    Even if you ignore the overly stupid, useless and idiotic DRM, the game doesn't stand on its own: they haven't made a proper AI for each element of the game, many parts of the game logic/mechanisms aren't even fully implemented and finished. That product needed 6 to 12 more months (at least) to be finished, but    Too bad they sold (and released) an alpha with a broken DRM system.

    Even if you ignore the overly stupid, useless and idiotic DRM, the game doesn't stand on its own: they haven't made a proper AI for each element of the game, many parts of the game logic/mechanisms aren't even fully implemented and finished.

    That product needed 6 to 12 more months (at least) to be finished, but apparently EA just doesn't care.    … Expand
  89. beeper917
    Mar 25, 2013
    0
    I preordered the game direct from Origin. What a mistake! Never preordering again.

    The always online and server issues have been harped on to death. That aside: This game is ridiculously bad!!! To call it a game is being generous. The core of a SimCity game isn't even here. RCI doesn't function at all. You can build a city with no water, power, police, etc., zone ONLY RESIDENTIAL and    I preordered the game direct from Origin. What a mistake! Never preordering again.

    The always online and server issues have been harped on to death. That aside:

    This game is ridiculously bad!!! To call it a game is being generous. The core of a SimCity game isn't even here. RCI doesn't function at all. You can build a city with no water, power, police, etc., zone ONLY RESIDENTIAL and as long as taxes are low you'll have a 500k city with top approval ratings. This isn't the only issue the game has. There's a metric ton of bugs, but I thought this was most relevant as the bugs may get fixed but this seems to be a bad design decision.

    This isn't a game, it's a screensaver. Don't waste your money. Biggest gaming flop since E.T.    … Expand
  90. myhooha
    Mar 24, 2013
    0
    They should renamed this as SimTampa, since that's the closest you'll get to creating a city. Shame on you EA and Maxis, for allowing this to happen.
  91. netpunkradio
    Mar 25, 2013
    0
    This game is nowhere near what was advertised. Even with all the launch issues and DRM issues aside, it's just not what was advertised. The connectivity of the cities (the whole reason they used for DRM) just doesn't exist, the interaction is not noticeable at all.

    On a purely simulation standpoint... there is no simulation... zoning purely residential still results in your city    This game is nowhere near what was advertised. Even with all the launch issues and DRM issues aside, it's just not what was advertised. The connectivity of the cities (the whole reason they used for DRM) just doesn't exist, the interaction is not noticeable at all.

    On a purely simulation standpoint... there is no simulation... zoning purely residential still results in your city flourishing. You can build 5-6 medical clinics and still only cure 23 out of 50 sick people... the same as if you had just a single clinic.

    The specialty buildings are just as limited if not more limited than they were in prior titles. The buildings that had unique pro's and con's to them that dramatically altered your city. Now they are dumbed down into categories that don't even work.

    In the end I should've known better, EA keeps putting out unfinished or unpolished products and people still buy them. I'm really disappointed and if I could get my money back I would.    … Expand
  92. sturmtiger
    Mar 25, 2013
    0
    I was very excited when I saw that SimCity was going to be made. After my purchase I am yet another that will not spend another dollar for E.A. games. This game is little more than a screensaver. There are so many bugs I couldn't begin to list them all here. This is the only game I have ever felt warranted warning others NOT to spend money on. It is simply the worst game I have everI was very excited when I saw that SimCity was going to be made. After my purchase I am yet another that will not spend another dollar for E.A. games. This game is little more than a screensaver. There are so many bugs I couldn't begin to list them all here. This is the only game I have ever felt warranted warning others NOT to spend money on. It is simply the worst game I have ever purchased. Save your money this thing is a real turd.… Expand
  93. omgitsphil
    Mar 25, 2013
    0
    This game has about a 4hour max play time. Once you get your city up and running it will come crashing to a hault from glitches/bugs or as Maxis calls it 'by design' errors. Traffic jams up. Which effects everything from Firetrucks responding to fires, trucks delivering goods, people going to work. You don't even need to try to play the game. Just build a city with only low wealth highThis game has about a 4hour max play time. Once you get your city up and running it will come crashing to a hault from glitches/bugs or as Maxis calls it 'by design' errors. Traffic jams up. Which effects everything from Firetrucks responding to fires, trucks delivering goods, people going to work. You don't even need to try to play the game. Just build a city with only low wealth high density residential. You don't even need to provide them with power or water. They will just keep moving in. I for one will never purchase another EA product or online only game for that matter.… Expand
  94. violentj
    Mar 26, 2013
    0
    Wow, I'm so glad that I decided not to buy this game. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and tried out the beta, but after my test run, I was not compelled to keep my order. My initial impressions were the same as all those highlighted by most reviewers here. That is...

    1) Small city size and severely decreased regional flexibility, 2) Forced online play for a single player game, and 3) A    Wow, I'm so glad that I decided not to buy this game. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and tried out the beta, but after my test run, I was not compelled to keep my order. My initial impressions were the same as all those highlighted by most reviewers here. That is...

    1) Small city size and severely decreased regional flexibility, 2) Forced online play for a single player game, and
    3) A dumbed down experience overall.

    I guess not much has changed from the beta. The funny thing is that I saw tons of reviews echoing these complaints in the beta forums, yet EA has completely ignored feedback from their customers. How stupid can you be? And look at the difference between the user reviews and the critic reviews! It just goes to show that all these "critics" are completely worthless and full of crap. I truly mourn for all those who suffered the loss of $60 for this game. It's nothing short of a tragedy.    … Expand
  95. Jaypanwan
    Mar 26, 2013
    0
    Games is buggy in so many ways. No motivation to play this game after a few hours. when you realise all the bugs there is no more fun to play. Lost money.
  96. Violett
    Apr 2, 2013
    0
    Ok now I've changed my mind. I voted 5 of 10 for this game. Yes, I know launch was awful, but the game itself isnt so bad. That was until I built one big city. The bugwave overwhelmed me. So many bugs and not a single solution, not a single patch, now I cant play my city due to bugs. What I payed money for Its 0 of 10, complete fail. Thank you EA, thank you Maxis, this was the lastOk now I've changed my mind. I voted 5 of 10 for this game. Yes, I know launch was awful, but the game itself isnt so bad. That was until I built one big city. The bugwave overwhelmed me. So many bugs and not a single solution, not a single patch, now I cant play my city due to bugs. What I payed money for Its 0 of 10, complete fail. Thank you EA, thank you Maxis, this was the last product I bought from you.… Expand
  97. Ozelot
    Mar 30, 2013
    0
    Its not worth to play. You are not able to connect to a server and if you lose connection because the server crashed (which happens a lot) you'll will lose your work of hours. The glassbox engine is a fail and the game is not realistic. The map is way to small and you will finish this game in 2 hours because your map is full. In 1-2 years EA shuts down the servers and you wil not be ableIts not worth to play. You are not able to connect to a server and if you lose connection because the server crashed (which happens a lot) you'll will lose your work of hours. The glassbox engine is a fail and the game is not realistic. The map is way to small and you will finish this game in 2 hours because your map is full. In 1-2 years EA shuts down the servers and you wil not be able to play anymore because of the DRM. Do not buy this game!… Expand
  98. Airaindust
    Mar 31, 2013
    0
    The 'simulation' is a lie. The fact that sims switch job and homes everyday screams of laziness and an inability to comprehend what a simulator is. I grew up on SNES Simcity and SC 2000 both those games still get played on occasion but I don't see myself ever re-installing this game to play again. It was a waste of 60 and If you really want it I just say wait for a sale. This game is aThe 'simulation' is a lie. The fact that sims switch job and homes everyday screams of laziness and an inability to comprehend what a simulator is. I grew up on SNES Simcity and SC 2000 both those games still get played on occasion but I don't see myself ever re-installing this game to play again. It was a waste of 60 and If you really want it I just say wait for a sale. This game is a travesty and a black eye to the memory of Simciy. I have lost my faith in MAXIS.… Expand
  99. SergeantSoz
    Mar 31, 2013
    0
    Death to EA for releasing a broken product and refusing to give refunds. Constant online c'mon Sim City is a good single play game. What if my internet sucks. It lags out, I lose connection to EA's crappy servers and lose my progress. You can't make big cities either. I didn't buy this and I'm so glad. I'm boycotting EA. Microtransactions, online required, and all of that is a con artistDeath to EA for releasing a broken product and refusing to give refunds. Constant online c'mon Sim City is a good single play game. What if my internet sucks. It lags out, I lose connection to EA's crappy servers and lose my progress. You can't make big cities either. I didn't buy this and I'm so glad. I'm boycotting EA. Microtransactions, online required, and all of that is a con artist move against consumers.… Expand
  100. scschwarz
    Apr 1, 2013
    0
    Terrible, buggy, unplayable game. Crashes my modern, up-to-date gaming computer on startup every time. Maxis tech support is useless and even though they can't make it work they won't do a refund. Don't buy downloadable games and DON"T BUY THIS GAME.
Page:

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]
See all critic reviews »