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. delar
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    There is NO WAY a true reviewer can ignore the always on DRM which requires you to log into EA's servers to play SimCity 2013 when they do their reviews. The overwhelming positive reviews from so called "reviewers" points to a very real issue with they way they are reviewing games. First reviewers should be required to review games they way they are on launch day 1, not a week or laterThere is NO WAY a true reviewer can ignore the always on DRM which requires you to log into EA's servers to play SimCity 2013 when they do their reviews. The overwhelming positive reviews from so called "reviewers" points to a very real issue with they way they are reviewing games. First reviewers should be required to review games they way they are on launch day 1, not a week or later after the game is out or patched 10+ times. Second reviewers can not separate game design from game service which from the reviews so far is obvious they are not. Now I'm not suggesting reviewers vote ONLY with their emotions and frustration but that reviews can not say that a game is 80%+ favorable when if they were honest the normal player can't even PLAY THE GAME AT ALL. The fact that I'm even having to say this in the first place shows how out of touch game reviewers are at this point. Might as well have game developers review their own games with A+ ratings and at least be honest about the deceit.… Expand
  2. sparth
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    What's the point of the developers spending so much time and effort making this game when we can't even get onto the server to play it. Cloud based gaming is just rubbish. I would much rather have my save file saved to my PC and thus allow me to play without wondering whether EA will have its server's fixed
  3. drakinor
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    The game itself is actually pretty decent. The simulation runs nicely, the graphics are good, the devs did a great job on the game. The delivery and DRM is killing it though. I think most players feel like they are being teased by EA since in 3 days it has spent more time offline causing issues than actually allowing people to play. I would rate it better but the fact is the Digital RightsThe game itself is actually pretty decent. The simulation runs nicely, the graphics are good, the devs did a great job on the game. The delivery and DRM is killing it though. I think most players feel like they are being teased by EA since in 3 days it has spent more time offline causing issues than actually allowing people to play. I would rate it better but the fact is the Digital Rights Management that EA has forced on us is causing so many issues that they ruined a game that would otherwise be a 7 or 8… Expand
  4. DarthSmee
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Most of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-settersMost of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-setters that will make this the norm for computer games one day. Consoles are already on this slippery slope. Remind EA that your money is in their bank account. This is a good game ruined by a fat-cat corporation. Their DRM is not just for piracy protection. Spore was pirated before it was even released so the DRM does nothing to curb piracy. Yes, this review sounds political but just compare the computer game industry to what it was 20 years ago, and also keep in mind the gaming industry makes more money than the film industry. Gaming is big! And you pretty much get told how to play your games these days… Expand
  5. jonnyc2114
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    can't get into my OWN game, can't play, can't save my progress has be deleted twice and i've been required to go through the tutorial twice. what a shame shame but knowing who developed the game i can't say i'm suprised EA would drop the ball on something like this...what a shame
  6. volksmeta128
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    The game is crippled by always-on DRM. How is it acceptable to wait in a queue to play single player? The plot sizes are reduced and the town relations happen on their own. Stay away from this game,
  7. Herrnewbenmeist
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I have been able to play all of a couple token hours because of server issues. Problems-

    1. Can't play, servers are down 90% of the time I want to play. 2. Major issues with vehicles. I had fire department helicopters to put out fires. All three of them took off at the same time and got stuck in mid air. I had to fix this by demolishing my fire department and re-building. Idiotic.    I have been able to play all of a couple token hours because of server issues. Problems-

    1. Can't play, servers are down 90% of the time I want to play.

    2. Major issues with vehicles. I had fire department helicopters to put out fires. All three of them took off at the same time and got stuck in mid air. I had to fix this by demolishing my fire department and re-building. Idiotic. Broken.

    3. Saves are not local. So, I play my city, the servers freak out. All progress after their save file is gone. Backups seem to take place erratically. I have lost as little as minutes of progress, to about an hour.

    4. Frustrated with losing progress on my main city, I started a new city. I was 15 minutes in before the game crashed and I was booted to desktop. When I logged back in my new city was gone. Nothing. The servers hadn't made a save of it.    … Expand
  8. kameeleon
    Mar 7, 2013
    10
    Just trying to balance out the vast amount of negative reviews. Since Metacritic doesn't require proof of ownership this whole section is useless anyway Or at least would be if people didn't read it and take user scores seriously. Anyhow If people have issues with DRM or online play then write a letter to EA or don't buy the game. Don't punish the dev's that poured their heart and soulJust trying to balance out the vast amount of negative reviews. Since Metacritic doesn't require proof of ownership this whole section is useless anyway Or at least would be if people didn't read it and take user scores seriously. Anyhow If people have issues with DRM or online play then write a letter to EA or don't buy the game. Don't punish the dev's that poured their heart and soul into this game for the past 5 years. There's a reason why it's sitting at 91% from the critics right now. This is the direction games have been going for years. Get over the fact that you'll have a harder time downloading it from the pirate-bay. This is going to be one hell of a game. P.S. I also find it amusing that a game that has only been publicly available for a few hours has so many negative reviews. Why don't you actually try playing it first?… Expand
  9. book-ag
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Poor Customer Service. Poor design. Poor execution. This one is entirely on EA. NOT WORTH BUYING. WILL NOT ISSUE REFUND. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ATROCIOUS.

    SINGLE PLAYER GAMES SHOULD NOT REQUIRE ALWAYS ON INTERNET CONNECTION!!!
  10. Jakscandal
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    EA just destroyed its reputation for the sake of their DRM by making this abhorrent excuse of a game The SimCity franchise has been completely dismantled servers are never up, games are booted, can't save your progress and if you manage to start your game again you have to start from the beginning ...
    absolutely disappointing
  11. bryno
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I knew it was not going to live up to any type of hype or expectations that I had but I love love the series and genre, little did I know just how bad it would be. I just don't see how I can ever trust EA ever again, maybe the game could be saved by modders but that will never happen just as long as EA can churn out the DLC which this game requires to function properly.
  12. omo
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    I can't believe the ~200 people who gave it positive reviews. You do not pay money for a game you can only play maybe half the time. That cannot be worth a 10. Granted hopefully things will improve over time but anyone thinking of paying money for this game should think twice about how EA will ultimately screw you and your playing experience, jar you awake from the addtive fun-ness thatI can't believe the ~200 people who gave it positive reviews. You do not pay money for a game you can only play maybe half the time. That cannot be worth a 10. Granted hopefully things will improve over time but anyone thinking of paying money for this game should think twice about how EA will ultimately screw you and your playing experience, jar you awake from the addtive fun-ness that Maxis has always put together. If they were even half as competent as Blizzard, they won't be getting this kind of thrashing.… Expand
  13. nowsacake4u
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    DO NOT BUY. Always online DRM, servers have been down for days now since released. Even if you do get in there's a 75% chance that a few hours into play your game data will be lost and everything you worked on will be wiped. Yes that's right your entire city put back to square one in a blink of an eye. Gee what a great online service, everything you have is wiped instantly. A completeDO NOT BUY. Always online DRM, servers have been down for days now since released. Even if you do get in there's a 75% chance that a few hours into play your game data will be lost and everything you worked on will be wiped. Yes that's right your entire city put back to square one in a blink of an eye. Gee what a great online service, everything you have is wiped instantly. A complete disappointment for SimCity from someone who has played and owned all others.… Expand
  14. AxemBlack
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    First, I'm disgusted that EA gutted Maxis years ago and parades this unfinished product as the "return of Sim City. Pah!

    I bought this game two days ago and haven't been able to play it once because of server issues. This leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and a feeling that i should have known better than to buy another of EA's dung heaps. The worst part is, once EA gears up to release    First, I'm disgusted that EA gutted Maxis years ago and parades this unfinished product as the "return of Sim City. Pah!

    I bought this game two days ago and haven't been able to play it once because of server issues. This leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and a feeling that i should have known better than to buy another of EA's dung heaps. The worst part is, once EA gears up to release the next installment, they will likely shut down the SimCity5 servers, and you will have to buy the sequel, since this $60 purchase you are now making is tantamount to renting the game for a few years.

    EA, Blizzard, and Activision all need to go out of business, or break apart into smaller studios that were the source of their success. These colossi of corporate greed are so entrenched in the market that they don't think twice about rushing production and watering down the product in the name of shareholder profit.    … Expand
  15. Falconer
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    A step too far.
    I bought this single player game, loaded up my disc, installed the game and went to play. That was the best part of the experience. It was all downhill from there.....
    The servers were down and when up you have to wait in a queue to actually get into the game. So as of yet I have not actually played the game I paid £40 for. Right now it is a dead paper weight. What    A step too far.
    I bought this single player game, loaded up my disc, installed the game and went to play. That was the best part of the experience. It was all downhill from there.....
    The servers were down and when up you have to wait in a queue to actually get into the game. So as of yet I have not actually played the game I paid £40 for. Right now it is a dead paper weight.
    What annoys me is not that EA seem overly obsessed with copy protection but that they have created a game that should be a single player game just like all the previous games. You should not have to login to a server to be able to play it. There are so many other ways of doing it that the fact they went in the direction they did cannot be defended. I hope reviewers slam the game based upon that because it isn't needed or wanted. You should get a simple code that you enter into Origin to register your game to your account and then do what you want, play offline if you want. Going this route is a step to far and is nothing more then wanting to spy on you and control what you do. It is more like a facebook system then a computer game. EA messed this one up badly.    … Expand
  16. tylerstravis
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    The most expensive countdown clock ever. Seriously, how can a game be reviewed if you aren't even able to play it. It's outrageous that a company would try this.
  17. tomandresen
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Have yet to be able to actually play. Servers down. This "game" should have been called "Sim Error 37". Stay away from this for the time being, and spend your money on something you can actually play.
  18. StUnNeR_H2K
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This is my first review on metacritic.

    Obviously anyone who has played the game already knows why this is my first review. I have used metacritic for years to get info on games and to help me make informed decisions on purchases, so that I buy games that are worth my time and that I don't waste money on them. The case with SimCity is really the tale of two situations. One the    This is my first review on metacritic.

    Obviously anyone who has played the game already knows why this is my first review. I have used metacritic for years to get info on games and to help me make informed decisions on purchases, so that I buy games that are worth my time and that I don't waste money on them.

    The case with SimCity is really the tale of two situations. One the Critic Reviews are skewed since they were able to play the game before the masses. While obviously the game seems to operate well when the population is small, that is not the case for the end-user.

    Now you can take this review as just me venting my frustration, but how as a consumer am I supposed to make educated and informed decisions when a Critic review is false. Now I'm not blaming the Critics. In no way are they at fault for the reviews, but I do think they should be allowed to re-review the game in it's current live state.

    So what exactly is the games problem... almost everything. Since they decided to take the ALL online route, that seems be growing in popularity, the game needs the online component to even work. Including a OFFLINE mode option, was not even included for individuals who maybe wanted to just play the game the way SimCity was originally created to be as a giant open sandbox of city building amazement. Now before you say "well go play the original game! It's still there!", that doesn't excuse the fact that people spent anywhere from 40$ to 80$ depending on where and when you purchased the game and what edition you purchased.

    The game is almost completely un-playable. The server errors include everything from unable to connect/load to completely erasing everything you just did in the last few hours.

    Social features. The key component to the online only part, and these features don't work. It takes forever for anything to update. I spent over an hour last night attempting to invite an individual to the region I was playing in, since it took an entire hour for them to show up.

    Achievements and accomplishments are server specific. So if I take the publisher's advice and move to another less populated server then all my previous accomplishments are gone, and only exist on the previous server.

    The positives. The game actually has many, but sadly they don't work since the entire game has failed to launch properly. In a technological age where things like this could have been easily avoided (Hello worthless three public betas), it makes no sense as to how something like this could have happened. When the game does work though, it provides great entertainment and the region aspect (again when it works) is an exciting feature and brings a whole new dynamic to the game many of us grew up to love. (To bad they didn't really how many of us grew up loving this game)

    My review will stand on this game. I planned to call friends to play or go purchase the game, or encourage them to jump in, but now I won't even mention I wasted my time playing it or attempting to. On top of that why invite more friends? The game can't handle more players, in fact I hope all my friends stop playing just so a little more server space will remain for me.

    If you buy this game, actually if you even spend a penny on this game you wasted your money. If some one gives it to you for free... you will lose money since time is money and all this game does is waste time with you looking at error screens and loading screens.    … Expand
  19. Steinus
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    The game is defective. It's as simple as that. The servers are down or experiencing difficulties and it's not possible to play the game away from the servers. EA must be doing something right, though, as they managed thousands of players to buy an unplayable game that costs over 100$ or 70£. (600NOK)
  20. Dooger88
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    For once there is a broken record that I enjoy listening to. I never knew i could get so much enjoyment out of reading terrible reviews. EA embarrassed themselves big time on this one. I mean WTF. Are they seriously keeping people from just installing this thing and playing with no worries? Is your internet up? Do the servers have room? Did you city even save? I was one of the "lucky"For once there is a broken record that I enjoy listening to. I never knew i could get so much enjoyment out of reading terrible reviews. EA embarrassed themselves big time on this one. I mean WTF. Are they seriously keeping people from just installing this thing and playing with no worries? Is your internet up? Do the servers have room? Did you city even save? I was one of the "lucky" people that played for a few hours. It was enjoyable, I searched for a way to expand my city for about 20 mins thinking, "this can't be the full size"... "there has to be a way that you can buy more space with your Simoleons. Nope. Thats it. All the land you get. So you have to start demolishing entire blocks to deal with the never ending need for more fire stantions and water treatment plants. I had 6 fire stations (mostly upgraded) on that little plot of land and they were still complaining at me. I won't even go into the lack of subways and pipe laying.. heh heh. All puns aside, this was a pretty big disappointment..... Not even to mention I CANT EVEN PLAY NOW!! EA.. you s**k. Youre a greedy corporation that wants to rob gamers of the exact reason you are in business. I will happily seek a pirated version of this and wont be spending anymore money on your products. I would say I am going to seek a refund, but we all know that won't happen. I will just delete my account and wait for somebody to upload an offline, and more importantly, playable version. Maxis, you should have known better. I mean come on. To develop such a devoted following and in one fell swoop piss 99% of them off. Bravo btw, I don't know if that has been done with such a blaze of glory. RIP Simcity, you will be missed.… Expand
  21. AceMe
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM, smaller, non-connected cities due to engine limitations, DAY 0 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT, poor customer service and delivery of product (waited almost an hour to connect to my single player game), and a swath of simplifications in the gameplay that ruins it for a SC veteran like myself. Don't bother to get this game. Save some money and buy Sim City 4, or Sim City 2000. YouAlways online DRM, smaller, non-connected cities due to engine limitations, DAY 0 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT, poor customer service and delivery of product (waited almost an hour to connect to my single player game), and a swath of simplifications in the gameplay that ruins it for a SC veteran like myself. Don't bother to get this game. Save some money and buy Sim City 4, or Sim City 2000. You can play them OFFLINE as well.

    Real Talk.

    This is an $80 facebook game. This origin (spyware) dumbed down piece of garbage, not only costs $80 for the full game (any lesser version witholds ingame content), but comes intact with intrusive, always-online DRM. Many people, even reviewers, were unable to access their games or load old saves because this. As a consumer, we should have a zero-tolerance for this sort of practice and boycott any game which is essentially an $80 rental. As to the content of the game, the city plots are abysmal in size, deals with neighboring cities is done automatically, connections with other cities (highways and rails) is done automatically, and much content like subway stations have been cut. The overall nature of the game is so limited that it when taken into context with it's social gaming aspects, you have to conclude that would be better fit for a facebook or iphone game.    … Expand
  22. wadhah
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I couldn't even start playing since the game came out, this is outrages, paying 80 bucks for your game and then it doesn't start at all, EA should fix this ASAP.
  23. degg
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I guess it may be an okay game, IF YOU COULD EVER GET ON THE SERVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!! get rid of the DRM, online always and preferably get it off origin and on to steam!
  24. germantickler
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Day 3, still have yet to play. This is absolutely criminal! EA, I want my money and time back.

    I am posting on as many forums as I can in hopes that this will persuade others to NOT purchase this 'game'. I would give this less than a zero if I could.
  25. otinanai
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Pros: good graphics Cons: tiny cities (why is it called Simcity anyway?), always online DRM, servers not working, rollbacks, very bad car AI (example: cops all follow each other while there is rampant crime all over town), a ton of bugs (it's pretty much still in beta), no terraforming, all around unrealistic(why are there buses and streetcars in a 2km x 2km square?), city regions are tooPros: good graphics Cons: tiny cities (why is it called Simcity anyway?), always online DRM, servers not working, rollbacks, very bad car AI (example: cops all follow each other while there is rampant crime all over town), a ton of bugs (it's pretty much still in beta), no terraforming, all around unrealistic(why are there buses and streetcars in a 2km x 2km square?), city regions are too far apart, very few maps, no subways, time stops on the cities you aren't working on (unrealistic), very low replay value compared to the other Simcity games...… Expand
  26. Tipa16384
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Unplayable due to network issues Customer support had me deleting folders in game directories and such, but nothing could make the game finish updating or stay connected. The one time I was able to connect and start a city, the game hung and crashed and I lost all progress. Once was put into a half hour queue, at the end of which, it refused to connect. The multiplayer nobody wanted andUnplayable due to network issues Customer support had me deleting folders in game directories and such, but nothing could make the game finish updating or stay connected. The one time I was able to connect and start a city, the game hung and crashed and I lost all progress. Once was put into a half hour queue, at the end of which, it refused to connect. The multiplayer nobody wanted and always online DRM has taken a great franchise and ruined it. Apparently complaining to EA can lose you access to all EA games forever, so Metacritic is the only option. Asking me to buy their day 1 DLC when I can't even play the game is just icing on the cake.… Expand
  27. elgringo
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Programmed as quick money grab with poor game mechanics. If you can play this game at all because of the poor always online servers you'll find yourself in an oversimplified version of SimCity 4 with comical graphics. This game takes you by the hand and does the thinking for you. Being Mayor of a city? More like being major dump!
  28. Shidosh
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Kip Katserelis at EA development studio Maxis sai "We've got experience from Spore and Darkspore," Katserelis said, citing other recent Maxis games. "EA is an on online company. We're definitely watching what's going on at Blizzard, and we're putting in backstops and checks to try to prevent those kind of things from happening."
    Apparently not....
    On a game like Sim City that require a    Kip Katserelis at EA development studio Maxis sai "We've got experience from Spore and Darkspore," Katserelis said, citing other recent Maxis games. "EA is an on online company. We're definitely watching what's going on at Blizzard, and we're putting in backstops and checks to try to prevent those kind of things from happening."
    Apparently not....
    On a game like Sim City that require a permanent connection to internet, you need to expect a lot of connection. EA wasn't prepared leading to inaccessible and not stable server. For $80, you are allowed to do anything, just wait and hope that things will be better. It's unprofessional from EA and they really need to invest money to allow player to play the game that they bought     … Expand
  29. Cailore
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Pretty sure any review of this game that is "positive" is written by someone who works for EA. How can you possibly say "the game itself is great" when you can't actually get into the game from a public server? It doesn't matter to me how slick the presentation is on the private servers they give to employees and game reviewers.

    I predict Maxis doesn't fix the server issue and gives    Pretty sure any review of this game that is "positive" is written by someone who works for EA. How can you possibly say "the game itself is great" when you can't actually get into the game from a public server? It doesn't matter to me how slick the presentation is on the private servers they give to employees and game reviewers.

    I predict Maxis doesn't fix the server issue and gives up, leaving us with $60 coaster/DVDs for a game we never got to play. I have learned my lesson on buying "online" games.    … Expand
  30. jacktheripper
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM is a terrible idea! Learn from Diablo 3 and stop making games like this because people will stop buying these games. EA needs to rethink this business model and SINGLE PLAYER game setup. Wake up people, this stuff is garbage.
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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 »