SimCity

 PC
User Score
2.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4557 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 602 out of 4557
  2. Mixed: 428 out of 4557
  3. Negative: 3,527 out of 4557
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  1. AnonReviewer570
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    I bot the game. I suffered through server issues and have actually played more then 20 hours this week. I see lots of requests for reviews of actual game play so I thot I'd write one.
    Still giving this game worst rating even disregarding server issues and losing cites i spent hours on because the server doesn't feel like saving my game at any point.
    Anyway, so the actual game play    I bot the game. I suffered through server issues and have actually played more then 20 hours this week. I see lots of requests for reviews of actual game play so I thot I'd write one.
    Still giving this game worst rating even disregarding server issues and losing cites i spent hours on because the server doesn't feel like saving my game at any point.

    Anyway, so the actual game play was really fun.. for the first 6 to 8 hours then EVERYTHING STOPS WORKING. Every part of the city seems to be break eventually. Everyone stops going to school, buses stop picking people up, trucks stop delivering. My education adviser says build more schools when my fully functional school classrooms sit empty. Basically all of the features seem to stop working after 6 to 10 hours of play. Gifts to neighboring cities simply disappear. Maps with big mountains are impossible to get roads up to where you are supposed to build the city. My mayor's mansion has no place to plant the flag so i cannot move on to other upgrades. The game seems completely unfinished definitely not ready for release. My fire trucks can not get out of the station because of traffic. Seriously no one lets the FIRE TRUCK in. It's blaring lights are on, but they just drive past it never letting it into the street. Same for police and ambulances. I see cars driving down a street in circles. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. Those hours of fun just feel like a trick once everything stops working. I spent 10 hours building this city up only to realize it's a sham of an unfinished beta of a game. Why do I have to send maxis man out on patrol every minute for him to do his job? Why do I have to pay the super hero 1000 dollars to drive around all day to catch a single criminal?

    There are numerous missing UI components. I.E. where is the back button when joining a game so I don't have to go back to main menu every time I join a full game. Where is the filter to filter out full games? How about filtering so I only see regions actively being played so I don't join a dead one. I hope EA doesn't find out my email and ban my origin account for giving a bad review. They do that if you complain on their forums.
    also read they hired Chinese spammers to comment positively about the game. Why just comments, why not buy review spams on metacritic? Oh, probably because of that successful lawsuit against that movie company(Sony was it? i forget) that paid off reviewers of Rob Snider films. Their legal department probably said fake reviews no, comments yes. I am tempted to dispute the charge with my bank to get a refund since EA smugly refuses, but that'd get my account banned for sure and I'd lose my other games. Simply vile, evil evil company practices at work here. Now i understand the hate. Yes, it makes me strong.. gives me focus.    … Expand
  2. f0lly
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    EA should have seen this coming from the D3 fiasco. Not sure what is so hard for publishers to understand GAMERS DON'T WANT YOUR ALWAYS ON DRM OR DUMBED DOWN VERSIONS OF GAMES.
  3. Mitzkal
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    The game is nice, but:
    -Why I can't play offline on my private regions?
    -Why cities are so small? -Why I can't edit the region by creating new ways of communication? Lack. -Why I can't dig holes or raise the ground to create such a subterranean avenue running through my city, as I often do with the 4? -Why is not there God-Mode??? SERIOUS LACK! -Why I can't save locally at any    The game is nice, but:
    -Why I can't play offline on my private regions?
    -Why cities are so small?
    -Why I can't edit the region by creating new ways of communication? Lack.
    -Why I can't dig holes or raise the ground to create such a subterranean avenue running through my city, as I often do with the 4?
    -Why is not there God-Mode??? SERIOUS LACK!
    -Why I can't save locally at any moment, under penalty of having to redo things when the server throws me out (often)?
    -Why there's not a list of games I have started on different servers?
    -WHY I CAN NOT PLAY IF NO SERVER HAS AUTHENTICATED ME???????
    I hope that Maxis get out soon the updates for fix this problems or lacks.    … Expand
  4. ishist
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    The game itself I would give a 6/10. Tiny maps, half of the standard city sim features missing, forced to rely on other cities. These are the criticisms I would level at Maxis. Overall, it only gets a 0 because the scale doesn't go into the negatives. EA has (like countless times before) taken a much loved franchise and perverted it. They have stolen it's innocence, dressed it up inThe game itself I would give a 6/10. Tiny maps, half of the standard city sim features missing, forced to rely on other cities. These are the criticisms I would level at Maxis. Overall, it only gets a 0 because the scale doesn't go into the negatives. EA has (like countless times before) taken a much loved franchise and perverted it. They have stolen it's innocence, dressed it up in scandalous trappings, and put it out on a street-corner to make them money. Yes, EA is an abusive pimp.

    Also, forced online singleplayer mode. because Simcity wouldn't be Simcity without leaderboards right? and....deathmatches?    … Expand
  5. wikchi
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    Cant buy it because Amazon took it off, dont want to use origin crapware.

    Servers havent been fixed since launch thats 4 days of not been able to play the game... Oh i didnt buy it are you serious? I feel sorry and angry for anyone blind or desperate enough to continue buying crapware from ea
  6. Tridus
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    Revising downward, because the game is still broken and at this point it's just a total joke. Even Polygon's review has been changed to 40 (from 95) on their website. EA has resorted to disabling all the social features that they claimed made always-online necessary in the first place, so now it's just a bald faced lie. It's DRM, period. That DRM is breaking the game. As it stands rightRevising downward, because the game is still broken and at this point it's just a total joke. Even Polygon's review has been changed to 40 (from 95) on their website. EA has resorted to disabling all the social features that they claimed made always-online necessary in the first place, so now it's just a bald faced lie. It's DRM, period. That DRM is breaking the game. As it stands right now this product is not fit for sale. They also disabled cheetah speed, a feature of every other Simcity game. Pathetic. If you get past all the server problems, the city size is still absurdly small (no doubt because their servers can't handle larger ones), but who cares about that when the game flat out doesn't work reliably?… Expand
  7. CornerBoy
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    So the game's been out for 2 days now, and I still haven't been able to play due to the ridiculous online only feature. It actually seems like people pirating the game are the only ones able to play.
  8. Jebbel
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    All server problems aside; This game lacks most of the features that made previous simcity games so great. The city size is a big joke, always online DRM is resulting in people not being able to play the game, losing savegames and a whole list of drama. Terraforming is out... Agriculture is out... modding is out... but I'd say the city size is the biggest mistake they've made. You can makeAll server problems aside; This game lacks most of the features that made previous simcity games so great. The city size is a big joke, always online DRM is resulting in people not being able to play the game, losing savegames and a whole list of drama. Terraforming is out... Agriculture is out... modding is out... but I'd say the city size is the biggest mistake they've made. You can make a village at best but don't expect to make the huge scale cities like you're used to in SC4 for example. The modding scene is what made simcity 4 immortal. Obviously this has been taken out to suck more money out of you through DLC. I'm sorry to say... but SimCity is now officially dead. Back to the great modding community over at simtropolis and playing a REAL simcity… Expand
  9. williamflipper
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    There is a big potential inside this wreck train but for the price asked is offensive toward any consumer.
    It feels like a Cityvile or any sim/facebook type of game pumped up by high budget, You can not avoid to play with other players and also YOU NEED other players to share their resources because the game design doesn't allow the player to be self-sufficient with resources and able to    There is a big potential inside this wreck train but for the price asked is offensive toward any consumer.
    It feels like a Cityvile or any sim/facebook type of game pumped up by high budget, You can not avoid to play with other players and also YOU NEED other players to share their resources because the game design doesn't allow the player to be self-sufficient with resources and able to covers the citizens needs    … Expand
  10. 3THO
    Mar 8, 2013
    4
    The game is great, when the bigger maps come out, it will be perfect. So I am very happy with the game.... but the always online DRM is hell.... Origin says I played simciy for 11 hours... I played it for like 1 hour.... with connection! And it did not save my city!!! I understand the overwhelming dislike and the average of a 1.6, but this is not fair towards the game! Yes the game isThe game is great, when the bigger maps come out, it will be perfect. So I am very happy with the game.... but the always online DRM is hell.... Origin says I played simciy for 11 hours... I played it for like 1 hour.... with connection! And it did not save my city!!! I understand the overwhelming dislike and the average of a 1.6, but this is not fair towards the game! Yes the game is very limited because of the small maps, but it is manageable untill the bigger maps will come out... which ofcourse we will have to pay for, thanks EA! The game is worth a 7.5 and with bigger maps (4x4, 8x8) at least a 9. But because of Origin.... it is not worth even more than a 6. Verdict: The game does not deserve to be hated, but Origin and EA do.... so EA YOU DESERVE THE 1.6 AVERAGE! Also, Maxis...... You are to be blamed too! You let this happen!… Expand
  11. WitchdoctorB
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    EA went so over the top to try and prevent pirating/used game sales that they completely destroyed what the game was intended to be, a great time sink when you do not have access to the internet or are traveling ect.. Not many fans of this type of game are going to play this instead of their staple games when they have the choice. Also not being able to save your city then completelyEA went so over the top to try and prevent pirating/used game sales that they completely destroyed what the game was intended to be, a great time sink when you do not have access to the internet or are traveling ect.. Not many fans of this type of game are going to play this instead of their staple games when they have the choice. Also not being able to save your city then completely destroy it through whatever hilarious methods the old sim citys provided just takes away one of the most entertaining aspects of the game.

    My wife walked by when I was playing the beta and got all excited because she though I was playing a new version of "The Sims" that seems to be the target audience of this new game. It is so watered down from what it should have been its gross.

    Anyone giving this game more than a 0 does not understand that us fans need to send a message to developers that this crap watered down DRM filled of a game is not acceptable and I will BOYCOTT all future EA games until they turn the company around.    … Expand
  12. lordark71
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    Can't be connected Bravo EA EA Money factory I hope you ll not try again and plummet a good licence
    Perhaps because most cannot get on the servers to play. A complete fail from EA once again, I will not be giving Maxis my money again EA can suck my
  13. noctune
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    The game is almost certain a good game, If you ever could get it to install. When a single player game like SimCity get server problems its a big issue for me. I have several old Simcity in my shelf and I enjoy the type of game. But buying a game to enjoy to be hindered by DRM is just stupid. I wish I didn't bought the game right now. Rating 0/10
  14. Peddster
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    Horrible "always on" DRM. Unable to save game at will, if it crashes or internet is gone you lose your progress in the game. Ultra tiny maps, no comparison to old versions of the game. plus 59€ for a PC game. are you kidding me? :O

    i want to love this game, but i can not.
  15. Menaxene
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    When I began SimCity, the few first minutes were good, but it's not the sequel what I needed, as a SimCity's fan there are too many server crashes, seize of a map is ridicilous (seriously, it's a bad joke), you can't play without to be connected to Origin (also a bad joke). So if you don't buy the game realy, what does it cost so much? EA and Maxis can to be sure of this I will not buyWhen I began SimCity, the few first minutes were good, but it's not the sequel what I needed, as a SimCity's fan there are too many server crashes, seize of a map is ridicilous (seriously, it's a bad joke), you can't play without to be connected to Origin (also a bad joke). So if you don't buy the game realy, what does it cost so much? EA and Maxis can to be sure of this I will not buy their DLC and others games of them.… Expand
  16. Deadalon
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    Game built around DRM with zero thought of how much service the company needed to add to make that work. Is it worth it for preventing piracy? To let paying consumers not be able to play? Ofc not. If companies want to prevent piracy of games they need to find other ways than always online. D3 and now SimCity have hopefully done enough damage for players to never buy a DRM alwaysGame built around DRM with zero thought of how much service the company needed to add to make that work. Is it worth it for preventing piracy? To let paying consumers not be able to play? Ofc not. If companies want to prevent piracy of games they need to find other ways than always online. D3 and now SimCity have hopefully done enough damage for players to never buy a DRM always online game again.… Expand
  17. FarscapeSDC
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    Dear heavens, I really dislike this game, which was particularly hard for me to do, considering how much I like the previous ones. I don't wish to turn into one of those "IT'S NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL!" screaming fanboys, but here I have no choice. While I will concede that many of the game's aspects have been streamlined and made more accessible, but they have made it too easy. At noDear heavens, I really dislike this game, which was particularly hard for me to do, considering how much I like the previous ones. I don't wish to turn into one of those "IT'S NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL!" screaming fanboys, but here I have no choice. While I will concede that many of the game's aspects have been streamlined and made more accessible, but they have made it too easy. At no point did I feel like an actual mayor, having to make difficult decisions about whether to fund the police or the hospital, whether to pay for a school or a motor-way, but instead I felt like a child playing in a really advanced sandbox.
    And, of course, the "Always online DRM" is absolutely pathetic and an utterly stupid idea.
    My recommendation, don't bother with this game, buy something else.    … Expand
  18. svict4
    Mar 8, 2013
    9
    So many people are going on about the business model for this game.. and fine, you are totally right, the launch sucked and that's because of the DRM.. but the actual game is awesome!! I haven't had so much fun in a simulation game, and that's why it had positive reviews by critics. Got a problem with launch yourself? How about you just breath deeply, sit back for 2 days or so and give itSo many people are going on about the business model for this game.. and fine, you are totally right, the launch sucked and that's because of the DRM.. but the actual game is awesome!! I haven't had so much fun in a simulation game, and that's why it had positive reviews by critics. Got a problem with launch yourself? How about you just breath deeply, sit back for 2 days or so and give it another try. I have had flawless play time for the past 4 or so hours.. giving that it is 2-3 days after the initial release. You shouldn't not-buy a game because it is DRM. If the game is good, then buy it and give it a rating based on how the GAME is, not how the business model is. It's fair to take aim at the company for doing the DRM, but the game itself shouldn't suffer if it is up to scratch.… Expand
  19. harbalck2
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    The game, if you can actually get past the server issues to access it, actually seems fairly fun and engaging. The problem is you're extremely unlikely to actually be able to access it, and even if you do, odds are that you'll be disconnected soon enough and lose everything you've done up to that point. That mutiplayer is being shoehorned into a singleplayer game is bad enough, that aThe game, if you can actually get past the server issues to access it, actually seems fairly fun and engaging. The problem is you're extremely unlikely to actually be able to access it, and even if you do, odds are that you'll be disconnected soon enough and lose everything you've done up to that point. That mutiplayer is being shoehorned into a singleplayer game is bad enough, that a game in a traditionally singleplayer series can only be played while online is terrible, but the fact it has been implemented so awfully is unforgivable.
    Note the server issues are bad enough that at least one critic review has been changed (Polygon's: from 9.5 to 4) but due to metacritics policy this isn't reflected in the game's metascore.    … Expand
  20. dockmann
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    This is probably one of those moments where everyone with just a sense of knowing about history will be left in such disbelief that this can happen, that it's actually not even funny. It's more enraging. I mean obviously we only have to look back to Diablo 3, and what a failure that was. But as happens so often, some people just don't learn from history, and therefore they fail. This isThis is probably one of those moments where everyone with just a sense of knowing about history will be left in such disbelief that this can happen, that it's actually not even funny. It's more enraging. I mean obviously we only have to look back to Diablo 3, and what a failure that was. But as happens so often, some people just don't learn from history, and therefore they fail. This is such a disgrace, and I definitely believe this incompetence from EA will make me think again about buying games from them, this is just plain stupid. There should definitely be a total refund policy be put in place for this.… Expand
  21. Xalon
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    Yet another epic game series completely ruined by EA. So broken, it's totally unplayable. How many hundreds of times have we allowed EA to pull the wool over our eyes now? I'm looking forward to the next command and conquer being a piece of garbage also.
  22. Karas_
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    -1 point for the graphical aspect of the game including animations making your city really beautiful and living.
    -0 for the launch, the always connected "thing", the size of the maps, the friends system not working, the arrogance of Maxis, and the "The Simsization" of the game making it more casual
  23. sidewinder32
    Mar 7, 2013
    8
    Very good game in overall. I enjoy it. Graphics are excellents, Game play need some tweak. Essentially server broke only one time for me and DRM is not a big deal at all. Overreaction of fan for the base score.
  24. the-epikninja
    Mar 7, 2013
    8
    A wonderful creative game where you can harness the full potential of your imagination and put it to action. Unfortunately, the server issues tends to be a problem. There are times where people tend to mess around with their city, which greatly affect your own city. DRM can also be an issue, if you want to play SimCity in a place where there's no internet. The game though is good fun and IA wonderful creative game where you can harness the full potential of your imagination and put it to action. Unfortunately, the server issues tends to be a problem. There are times where people tend to mess around with their city, which greatly affect your own city. DRM can also be an issue, if you want to play SimCity in a place where there's no internet. The game though is good fun and I recommend it to everyone. -the-epikninja… Expand
  25. Reddywicks
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    What good is a game that you purchase when you cant even play it due to the requirement of online only and servers that dont work when you want to play the game. What ever happen to the days when you buy a game and can play it when you want, how you want with out restriction and being told you can not play what you payed for due to our servers not working or required servicing.
  26. a20012322
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    I managed to play SimCity for a couple hours and it was ok at best and then I got disconnected. The regions are too small and I didn't have enough time to see what the resource specialization would do after running out or what the water table does when you run out. Does it ever come back I can't tell because the game stopped working. Now that the servers are limping along load times areI managed to play SimCity for a couple hours and it was ok at best and then I got disconnected. The regions are too small and I didn't have enough time to see what the resource specialization would do after running out or what the water table does when you run out. Does it ever come back I can't tell because the game stopped working. Now that the servers are limping along load times are now expected to be in the minutes scale and if you play solo you need to switch between cities more frequently which means you will be spending a lot of time in front of a loading screen. In addition for the foreseeable future "non-essential features" such as the leaderboards, social aspects, are non-functional. One of the worst gameplay changes they have made is the removal of the accelerated time mode which is critical to playing the game enjoyably unless you want to wait for a very long time for anything to happen. I have also lost game progress when the client randomly disconnects as there is not even a button to save to the cloud or a good way to warning you that you've lost your DRM connection and have two minutes before you get booted out.

    In addition trading when the servers were working took forever to complete and takes the resources away the moment you gift them and if you switch to the other city it can take tens of minutes to complete. All the while you can be waiting.

    The glassbox simulation system seems a bit strange in that technically it is all just flowery GUI for what is quite simple. For example electricity and water are treated as parcels when in reality that is not possible and more so for electricity. When you lose power and build back capacity it can take a long time for the city to react and similarly for water. The map size is also quite constrictive and the lack of terrain editing functionality is a fairly glaring omission. You can not also create your own regions as in previous games and automatic road connections can get quite fiddly at times. If your roads are even a degree off and running near the edge of the map it can present difficulties creating a smooth section of road.

    A lot of the focus of the new SimCity 5 seems to be centered around the roads and basically everything must be attached to a road or it will not function or even be placeable. (You can't even place parks without snapping it to a road) The automatic grid guides are also not very smart and don't tell you anything about how far apart is too much and the zone tiles give no indication of how much space will be needed for the larger high density buildings. Generated curved road is an absolute nightmare and the snaps go all over the place.

    In short, game design is a step backwards, game doesn't work properly, features have been removed that are critical to the game. And in a few years the game may just cease to exist if they turn off the servers.    … Expand
  27. ed2728
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This was released in Australia a few days ago and I haven't been able to play for more than about 90 minutes despite origin telling me I've played for over 5 hours!!!! WTH... I waiting in que isn't really what I'm after here. I can't believe I paid $99 for this game off origin. Really really disappointed. I like the idea of multiplayer, I can see how it might add a bit to theThis was released in Australia a few days ago and I haven't been able to play for more than about 90 minutes despite origin telling me I've played for over 5 hours!!!! WTH... I waiting in que isn't really what I'm after here. I can't believe I paid $99 for this game off origin. Really really disappointed. I like the idea of multiplayer, I can see how it might add a bit to the experience. MASSIVE BUT THOUGH, I just want to build a city by myself, and single player is definitely where people will spend the bulk of their time as the game develops.... So why must we have to accept this online DRM. Further compounded by the fact that we will be at the whim of EA servers which is just a horrible thing to look forward to. Really disappointed so far. I would get a refund if I could, cause this really isn't worth the grief. WHY HYPE THE HELL OUT OF SOMETHING IF YOU CANT LET PEOPLE PLAY THEIR SINGLE PLAYER GAME THEY PLAYED FOR...................… Expand
  28. kataang0101
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Forced required permanent internet connection to play a bloody single player game. Horrible servers support a craptastic game. F U EA. You can go to hell. Never buying another one of your stupid games.
  29. OnlyOneWing
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I will never again support Origin, EA or always online DRM. I am sick of this game after only two days. There are so many problems with the game. From graphical glitches to network glitches, it is a mess. Besides, other than graphics(which aren't all that great) and online features(which aren't all that great) it isn't much different from any other simcity game.
  30. Deepestblue
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    Starting issues seem to be normal with Online- and/or MMO-games today, but my point to only give 1 point is the terrible game design. Another franchise that has been killed by taking the former core pieces out of it. I know it has been mentioned many times, but the tiny (not small, tiny!) map sizes are completely out of discussion! I don't care if there are technical restrictions thenStarting issues seem to be normal with Online- and/or MMO-games today, but my point to only give 1 point is the terrible game design. Another franchise that has been killed by taking the former core pieces out of it. I know it has been mentioned many times, but the tiny (not small, tiny!) map sizes are completely out of discussion! I don't care if there are technical restrictions then make the simulation different! Anything that worked in 1989 will easily work in 2013. Why can't old game jewels be simply modernized a tiny bit, slightly, with caution? Why do today's game designers think they have to do everything differently just to create the next casual DLC-cashcow? Why the fuzzy, absolutely not stunning graphics? Why the child-like presentation?

    On top, when finally playing the game, I have to conclude that in regards to gameplay and mechanics it's simply inferior to the good old SimCity Will created decades ago. Sad ending (for now) for a once wonderful franchise. 1 point and not 0 for the good tutorial.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

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