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. FancyTuxedo
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Can't connect to servers, can't create a new city, just awful. I have an excellent online connection, EA's servers just can't handle the influx of gamers. How can such a wealthy company not have the hardware to handle their games? Hate DRM, I hate everything about it. This is NOT an mmo, there's no reason for a constant connection.
  2. mnl148
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Always on DRM ruins the game. Day 2 and still can't play because EA servers are down. Be prepared to not be able to play when you want. The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game. Lots of people cannot play their single player game because of this and gamers need to do everything they can to stop developersAlways on DRM ruins the game. Day 2 and still can't play because EA servers are down. Be prepared to not be able to play when you want. The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game. Lots of people cannot play their single player game because of this and gamers need to do everything they can to stop developers from including it.… Expand
  3. Noend
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Unable to connect to sim city servers................can not play.......................$59.99 ........................the pirates win and the paying customer gets the shaft.
  4. Ollirg
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    It took me two and a half hours to cover all map. Two. And a half. But let's track it back a bit, for the moment I thought of Buying Sim City. .
    The first time I've played a SC was on my SNES. No, not the computer, but Nintendo Console, and it drag me in. I was fascinated with the idea of building my city in a way the game punish me for my mistakes by making the city drown in it's own    It took me two and a half hours to cover all map. Two. And a half. But let's track it back a bit, for the moment I thought of Buying Sim City. .
    The first time I've played a SC was on my SNES. No, not the computer, but Nintendo Console, and it drag me in. I was fascinated with the idea of building my city in a way the game punish me for my mistakes by making the city drown in it's own failed concept. Loved it so much that bought SC 2000 to my PC. And the game had turned into an adult experience. I was a boy, but the game didn't care: If I think like a child, my city will fail. .
    So it came 3000, and it brought a even more complex and awesome face to the series. Sim City 4 got everything they've done right in All Sim City and turned it into one of the best video-games ever! Then, years of gameplay in SC4 has passed and they announced SC, the reboot. I smiled and praise every god! Then they told me about the Always-on. I don't buy games with AO or DRM, but this is Sim City, man! So I decided to make an exception. And now totally regreted it. TOTALLY! .
    First of it all: It took me almost a day to download it. I was anxious. I wanted to play my game, 'cause I've already bought it, Right? They shoud have given me more band. After the long wait, the game was FINALLY here. So LET'S PLAY... not. The first hour (Yes, HOUR) I couldn't connect to the server. Then, almost like a miracle, I logged in. .
    "Where are the Graphs?", I asked myself. How can I Manage my city to total Awesomeness by seeing my development in curves to compare to other cities? Well, I can't. The game is officially dumbed down, with a crappy live economy that only exists to make you stay on-line. .
    "Wait, I can't do ANYTHING with the terrain?" No, I can't. I have to accept the map as it is. No big mountains. No great planning for a really awesome tunnel.
    .
    The map is really, really small! Smaller then I thought it was by looking at pictures. I made a road the crossed all the map and started planning my city. Some minutes passed and I've tried to sell resources (electricity and water) to neighbour cities. For some reason I couldn't (still don't know, and the same is happening for many people). .
    And then things got worse: I was Diconnected! Yes, I've played arround 40 minutes and somehow I couldn't play anymore. On the screen, they're telling me it will try to connect again in 20 minutes. TWENTY. F**KING. MINUTES. Clock reaches zero AND... Couldn't log in. AGAIN IN 20 MINUTES! WHAT THE F**K? I've just bought the DAMN game and can't play it because YOUR servers are DOWN and this CRAPPY DRM won't let me even see my city? WTF, EA? .
    So I waited. And sometime later it connected again. And I'm building my city. And it's growing. Despite the lack of administration tools with minimum complexity, I'm getting richier. First I expanded North (the place I called North, anyway), and when I reached the border, started to expand south. And then I realized I had NO MORE ROOM TO BUILD! I'ts Over, friends! Can't expand anymore! It Took me two and a half hours to ocuppy the WHOLE map! From this point on, if you wish to keep playing, it turns out you are in a SOCIAL THE SIMS, where you need to keep looking at the mood of sims to make them happy. No more Building, just a clown trying to make people smile! Want to play more? Try building another small boring city!
    . And that's how my love for Sim City is officially over. It was a good fun, but EA needed to cheat on me. And That's why, since I can't give this game back, I'm giving it a zero on my first review on metacritics.    … Expand
  5. mfusco76
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Here is a spoiler... No one can play the game. Wow what a useless piece of crap. This has to be the worst release of all time. Working on day 2 of not being able to play the game. Hoping that at some point it might get there. The response from EA/Origin is terrible. Yeah your cutesy tweets aimed at "Mayors" are just even more infuriating. How about they come out with something thatHere is a spoiler... No one can play the game. Wow what a useless piece of crap. This has to be the worst release of all time. Working on day 2 of not being able to play the game. Hoping that at some point it might get there. The response from EA/Origin is terrible. Yeah your cutesy tweets aimed at "Mayors" are just even more infuriating. How about they come out with something that actually resembles an apology and an offer to make things right for the people who have been completely screwed over by EA/Origin's inability to provide the service that many people have paid good money for. Or just turn the damn always online DRM off already. You people suck.… Expand
  6. Soulcrusher
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    COULD be a great game but I'll only say one thing: DRM online :(

    And in the future, if the servers go down, how can I play my game (yes, I paid for it), and my save, what guarantees I'll have?
  7. zanith
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Broken down into (1) Betas; (2) Launch Day; (3) Post Launch; (4) Gameplay

    (1) The betas: (4 out of 10) The betas had a lot of problems regarding the servers' effectiveness and efficiency in carrying the load. Several times throughout the first beta, I was repeatedly kicked because the servers crashed. Furthermore, there was issues with the tutorials and the general interface. I had fun    Broken down into (1) Betas; (2) Launch Day; (3) Post Launch; (4) Gameplay

    (1) The betas: (4 out of 10)
    The betas had a lot of problems regarding the servers' effectiveness and efficiency in carrying the load. Several times throughout the first beta, I was repeatedly kicked because the servers crashed. Furthermore, there was issues with the tutorials and the general interface. I had fun but I rated it roughly a 4 out of 10 because it had an always online-DRM and also it was buggy, but I saw potential. The second beta was only a day long, and EA dropped the ball and excluded several people that should have had access to the game. I only had access to it because I pre-ordered it from Amazon as opposed to Origin.

    (2) The Launch Day (0 out of 10)
    This is the most blatant bait-and-switch tactic I have ever seen and most definitely could be considered for legal action for equitable estoppel and unjust enrichment. The consumers had reasonable expectations of a service that would be delivered in a timely manner. Furthermore, EA made assurances that the game would be released on time and they took the necessary precautions regarding the server loads even at the behest of most customers and most industry warnings that online-only DRMs are very tricky to successfully do. They repeatedly stated that they would be releasing the game at 12:01 AM EST and that the servers could perform the task.
    The result was far from a 12:01 AM EST release. For the vast majority of customers the game was not available for download until well past 12:40 AM. I, myself, was not able to download the game until roughly 1:20 am CST (This is nearly an 2 hour and 20 minutes AFTER the official release time). Mind you this was AFTER tech support for their phone line was done for the business day, and their online service for tech support had nearly a 360 minute wait, and I recall only 2 official statements. One was from an EA representative telling people to restart their Origin client, the other was from TWITTER and NOT their official forum. The sheer LACK of information regarding the status, updates, and whether the game would be available for download was laughable, even more so considering that EA decided not allow pre-loading in the face of growing concerns by both customers and several industry writers. I was fortunate enough to play the game without the problems that other people faced, albeit I did have to switch the server from US East to US West and had a large patch to run through. I began playing roughly around 2:20 AM CST (a good solid 3 hours later).

    (3) Post-Launch (4 out of 10)
    The game has been very buggy. The region walls work only 1/2 of the time and if they do its nearly a 3-5 minute delay. The in-game chat interface is worthless. There is no notification of when someone speaks, therefore, it goes largely ignored. The global trade is a complete failure. I went from having nearly $1 million ("$1M") to only $120,000 because I was not getting income for my trades. Furthermore, there is no adjustment in the prices even after I FLOODED the market with my plastic supply when it did work. Currently, I am waiting for the game to finish its second round of patches in an attempt to fix the bugs in the game, involving the region wall, trade, and connectability issues. I will give credit where credit is due. EA is doing its best trying to fix the issue of the post-launch. They are opening new servers, trying to keep people informed via their forum, etc. (Much better than the launch-day blackout). I would say this is probably the most botched game-day release I've seen however. I would consider Diablo III as a success in comparison, seeing as the volume of players was much larger for the latter.

    (4) Game Play (2 out of 10)
    The game is still buggy. I was able to literally build a zone underwater because the road tool drew the road underwater. The traffic simulation is horrible. How more roads equates to higher traffic congestion and thousands of Sims ignoring a clear 6 lane avenue a block away from the congested one makes no sense. The worst is the multiplayer feature. YOU CANNOT TURN OFF OTHER CITIES FROM LEECHING FROM YOU, which EA conveniently excluded. I built a 140k population city and the cities around me leeched power and water, while dumping their sewage into my sewage plants. I cannot choose to cut off their power or water nor choose to reject accepting their sewage and get a measly fee for it and have to use valuable space to keep up with their rising demand or my city suffers for inadequate services. I literally went from a booming hi-tech industry to the basic utility provider for my region without ANY way to stop it from happening. The neighboring cities then abandoned their cities leaving me with a dump and in debt    … Expand
  8. davesmylie
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Always on drm? For a single player game? DRM that breaks and stops you from even playing the game that you LEGITIMATELY PURCHASED? Don't waste your money

    This is absolute rubbish....
  9. Omnizero
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Installed game, updated drivers, waited 3 hours before i was able to play for 15min before the crash and had to change servers to play for another 20min, repeat most of night. I'm sure they will streamline the server issues, however it's no longer a fun and relaxing game. I want a refund and will be sending emails to the board of directors of EA. They need new executives in that company.
  10. Callaginn
    Mar 6, 2013
    3
    The game itself is awesome...if you can even play it. The server load time, however, is unacceptable. Most of the time, it gets stuck on the "Checking for Updates" screen with a status of 0%. I've also encountered numerous times where it gets stuck in a server queue for 30 minutes at a time. When I buy a game, I want to play it...not make it an all day event just waiting for the stupidThe game itself is awesome...if you can even play it. The server load time, however, is unacceptable. Most of the time, it gets stuck on the "Checking for Updates" screen with a status of 0%. I've also encountered numerous times where it gets stuck in a server queue for 30 minutes at a time. When I buy a game, I want to play it...not make it an all day event just waiting for the stupid game to load.… Expand
  11. HateDRM
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    i cannot believe the always on DRM. it is absolutely ridiculous, and there is no reason for it. i hate drm, hence my handle. and also its stupid. but we still all gave EA money. i dont know how to solve this problem
  12. EAruinedgaming
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    A hard copy of the game SC5 arrived at 10:00. Thanks Amazon. I went home and installed it. And updated it... And updated it.. and updated it. East coast servers down. Put me on west coast Europe. I got into a region. It wouldn't let me choose a city. I was booted. I opened Origin again. This time I was asked to do the tutorial. It loaded. I couldn't do anything but move the camera. ItsA hard copy of the game SC5 arrived at 10:00. Thanks Amazon. I went home and installed it. And updated it... And updated it.. and updated it. East coast servers down. Put me on west coast Europe. I got into a region. It wouldn't let me choose a city. I was booted. I opened Origin again. This time I was asked to do the tutorial. It loaded. I couldn't do anything but move the camera. Its been almost 48hrs since launch. Whats the hold up?
    I Hate EA.    … Expand
  13. Langrisser
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    I play games when i have time to play them, not when the game is able to be played. I would encourage everyone to demand money back, lets stop this always-on nonsense.
  14. Kalistro
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Don't be fooled by this game. This is Diablo 3 all over again. Tiny map, not allowed to make big cities. Worst $60 bucks ever wasted. Do some research, watch the game being streamed, even people who love it are about how restrictive the map size is. The game forces multiplayer on you. This game is not like any other sim city ever made.
  15. Darmog
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    As a long time fan of the series this game is very disappointing. The cities are way too small. The AI for fire, police, traffic, and mass transit are terrible. The online DRM is infuriating, especially when there are server issues. The game crashes far too often, especially when selecting cities. They charge full retail price for digital delivery. It's hard to make any kind of decentAs a long time fan of the series this game is very disappointing. The cities are way too small. The AI for fire, police, traffic, and mass transit are terrible. The online DRM is infuriating, especially when there are server issues. The game crashes far too often, especially when selecting cities. They charge full retail price for digital delivery. It's hard to make any kind of decent large city without going bankrupt, how not to do so is not very apparent at first. Cities in regions only connect with cities in the same corner. There a few new and interesting concepts but all in all the game is a huge disappointed and not worth the premium price, especially for digital delivery. Oh, and launch-day content for extra cost, bad form EA. Put it in the game and add content later.… Expand
  16. HighAltitudes
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Another great game franchise down the toilet. Microsoft screwed up Flight Simulator with the abomination "Flight" and now EA sends this stinky effluent called "SimCity" down the pipe. The online problem is a deal killer, no way, no how. Why not just have a logon and then a choice of online play or offline? That way your installation is verified to satisfy EA and you get to play atAnother great game franchise down the toilet. Microsoft screwed up Flight Simulator with the abomination "Flight" and now EA sends this stinky effluent called "SimCity" down the pipe. The online problem is a deal killer, no way, no how. Why not just have a logon and then a choice of online play or offline? That way your installation is verified to satisfy EA and you get to play at your own leisure without dropping off the server and losing your work. Epic failure. Avoid like herpes.… Expand
  17. Ciugi
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    All I can currently say is "Go yourself, EA". Your politics of game distribution accessibility are a terrible excuse. You're no longer a company worth of publishing any quality product. This SimCity got broken due to your ignorance, inability to accept the fact that people does not want to be milked cows, buy and smile. Forget your huge profits. Soon, they'll be gone for the greater goodAll I can currently say is "Go yourself, EA". Your politics of game distribution accessibility are a terrible excuse. You're no longer a company worth of publishing any quality product. This SimCity got broken due to your ignorance, inability to accept the fact that people does not want to be milked cows, buy and smile. Forget your huge profits. Soon, they'll be gone for the greater good of games industry. Wait and see, you filthy whore, EA. Gamers still hold the power to control your greed.… Expand
  18. lukejamieson
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    At the time of the Australian release this game is unplayable. If the dedicated Oceanic server isn't full, it's down and crashed. Connecting to an international server does not help either as they will frequently drop out and your city would have been erased. Not even the graphics look like they're from this decade.
    1/10 the loading screen has a nice back drop.
  19. ragedujoi
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    I remember the days of failure in WOW, it seems like nirvana compared to the complete lack of direction by Origin
    This is a city simulation, let us do that offline!
    I have had 4 cities wiped by them
    2013 and we still cant have persistent server access
    oh wait we can, GW2
    I think i may want my monies back I am also a little pissed i cant have subways
  20. mo_karney
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    This game has TOO MUCH DRM! Do not buy the game in order to send EA a message about their sh!tty Origin authentication! I for one will not buy it but pirate it JUST to piss off EA.
  21. wtfea
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    I paid $59 for a game that I cant play 2 nights in a row. Cannot in any way play. If multplayer was temporarily broken, I would have no problem, but the game is simply unplayable. Im done with EA. Let them keep their sports game monopoly, they are running those into the ground anyway.
  22. photographydude
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    This is a really really bad way to do business in the modern video game world. Why in the world would they release another game with online DRM and a require connection just to play the game. There must be some way to go after EA on this. You pay a price for a product and because of pure lies and chaos on the suppliers side you are unable to play. What happens when the servers go down?This is a really really bad way to do business in the modern video game world. Why in the world would they release another game with online DRM and a require connection just to play the game. There must be some way to go after EA on this. You pay a price for a product and because of pure lies and chaos on the suppliers side you are unable to play. What happens when the servers go down? How about when they decide enough Sim City 5 and shut the servers off. ITS BULL CRAP!! If this game was not tied to the internet and DRM it would be amazing. Unfortunately this has crippled it.… Expand
  23. barashin
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    This game could be great, but I will never know. I have been a Sim City fan since the early 90's, I own all of them (original, 2000, 3000 and 4) and the great thing is as old as they are I can go back and play them whenever I want. Since the new game requires a constant Internet connection to play and therefore will only work for as long as EA keep the servers open you never truly 'own'This game could be great, but I will never know. I have been a Sim City fan since the early 90's, I own all of them (original, 2000, 3000 and 4) and the great thing is as old as they are I can go back and play them whenever I want. Since the new game requires a constant Internet connection to play and therefore will only work for as long as EA keep the servers open you never truly 'own' the game, I will not be buying this game. In 10 years time everyone who bought this game can enjoy their Sim City branded coasters while I go back and play Sim City 4.… Expand
  24. Cerulean
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    I was really psyched for Sim City. Everything I read about it from the gaming sites made it sound really interesting, but all the comments from gamers wanred me about EA and their dreaded online-only play. So I shellled out $90 for the DELUXE edition of the game and have spent two days doing nothing. EA servers are down and I cant play the game. When I can get on, my cities areI was really psyched for Sim City. Everything I read about it from the gaming sites made it sound really interesting, but all the comments from gamers wanred me about EA and their dreaded online-only play. So I shellled out $90 for the DELUXE edition of the game and have spent two days doing nothing. EA servers are down and I cant play the game. When I can get on, my cities are missing. I'm sorry to say I have learned my lesson. Don't buy EA games. Dont buy games from companies that let DRM get in the way of enjoying the game. Waste of $90.… Expand
  25. h2theizzo
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Just want my money back at this point. Here are the cons:

    1. Always on DRM. nuff said. 2. rinky dink map size. The interesting thing is that as long as #2 exists, #1 is a non issue as nobody will be playing this game in a year, nevermind 5 years when the shut it down. If they fix 2 we're still SOL as we need to be online to f-ing play. Can we start a petition to try and    Just want my money back at this point. Here are the cons:

    1. Always on DRM. nuff said.
    2. rinky dink map size.

    The interesting thing is that as long as #2 exists, #1 is a non issue as nobody will be playing this game in a year, nevermind 5 years when the shut it down.

    If they fix 2 we're still SOL as we need to be online to f-ing play.

    Can we start a petition to try and get refunds?

    What a POS.    … Expand
  26. Drusifer
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    So very, very frustrated. Could not play a single-player game because the servers were down. Finally got a server. After 2 hours of play the server disconnected. Lost everything I had done. Never, never again, EA.
  27. bstmstrxellos
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    SimCity is a single player game, but since EA is insisting on an always online connection to prevent piracy, I am unable to play if their serves are full. There needs to be a local single player option as EA does not have the ability have enough servers for everyone to play. I paid $60 to have a game that I cannot play at all. Even when you can get on a different server, since theSimCity is a single player game, but since EA is insisting on an always online connection to prevent piracy, I am unable to play if their serves are full. There needs to be a local single player option as EA does not have the ability have enough servers for everyone to play. I paid $60 to have a game that I cannot play at all. Even when you can get on a different server, since the cities are not saved locally but on the server, you cannot load your city.… Expand
  28. Grey3000
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    After much anticipation I bought the game, while game play seems up to snuff, EA's handling of the launch and insistence of always on DRM has pretty much killed the joy. The servers have been bouncing every few hours. While the SimCity userbase warned EA of the problems of always on DRM and no offline play, EA ignored them and the users predictions came true. As of this review the gameAfter much anticipation I bought the game, while game play seems up to snuff, EA's handling of the launch and insistence of always on DRM has pretty much killed the joy. The servers have been bouncing every few hours. While the SimCity userbase warned EA of the problems of always on DRM and no offline play, EA ignored them and the users predictions came true. As of this review the game is really unplayable, which is very sad considering the cost.… Expand
  29. eppurcentral
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Es un gran juego pero no está acabado, para poder disfrutar de el tienes que estar pagando todo el rato los contenidos descargables, desde el primer día. Además hay que estar constantemente conectado a internet ¿que pasa si quiero jugar en otro lugar donde no tengo internet? He pagado pro el y no puedo disfrutar de el donde quiera, además de tener que instalar Origins aunque no quiera.
  30. rfz88
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Simply terrrible. Once again EA are too greedy for what should even be allowed. This exploitation of EA owned franchises needs to stop...

    /ANTI-EA
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 »