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. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. boilermaker811
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This game gets a 0 cause you can't even play it. I can log in time after time and the server is always down or when it's up I can't create a game. When trying to switch servers the game crashes. Had this game since 3/5 and have been able to play for 5 minutes. I will not be buying another PC game from EA. This completely ridiculous! I want my money back cause I have paid for aThis game gets a 0 cause you can't even play it. I can log in time after time and the server is always down or when it's up I can't create a game. When trying to switch servers the game crashes. Had this game since 3/5 and have been able to play for 5 minutes. I will not be buying another PC game from EA. This completely ridiculous! I want my money back cause I have paid for a product I cannot use.… Expand
  5. 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!!!
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  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. 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
  13. CashBeast
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    What a let down. Played for a few hours and really liked the game. Only to return to my city a few hours later and realise it didn't save my city's progress because the server connection failed during play. Two hours of playing were gone. Unacceptable!!!!
  14. acadien
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I bought this game. I would like to play it please. Is that too much to ask? I don't mind DRM when it doesn't break the game but this is taking it way too far.
  15. Broken1477
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Online only DRM is absolute garbage. I will never, ever pay for a single-player game that requires me to be online again. Why should I have to be connected to EA to play MY game. Bad form EA.
  16. Hatchetman
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    This game is broken in ways we have only begun to comprehend

    To say that EA has not been forthcoming about the limitations of the game would be a gross understatement. I've owned the game for over a week now, but due to the fact that you have to be able to connect to the EA servers to play even a single player game, I have been unable to play the game for at least half the time I have    This game is broken in ways we have only begun to comprehend

    To say that EA has not been forthcoming about the limitations of the game would be a gross understatement. I've owned the game for over a week now, but due to the fact that you have to be able to connect to the EA servers to play even a single player game, I have been unable to play the game for at least half the time I have possessed it. Even on the days that it has been working, I'm often unable to start new cities or save the existing one because I will get disconnected while playing the game. It's also not uncommon to have to sit in a queue for up to two hours to connect to one of the servers. As your cities are not shared between servers, you're stuck if you want to continue a particular city.

    As there is no ability to manually save your city, you are completely at the mercy of the network connection to EA in order to save your game, and you can't control when it saves. It's not uncommon for a city to simply be annihilated by disasters with no real ability to recover.

    You also cannot terraform land as you could in Simcity 4, Simcity 3000, and even Simcity 2000. This means that your stuck with whatever land mass that they give you to work with, and not even a map generator, only premade regions.

    The map size is limited to 2km x 2km which is quite small, likely smaller than Simcity 4's medium size, which is far too small for the scope of this game. The AI is broken such that you cannot get the city much over 200,000 people without the entire city falling apart due to the poor traffic AI that apparently uses Shortest Path First routing which causes total gridlock. The AI's ability to poorly coordinate your emergency services cannot be understated, it's nearly impossible to put out more than one fire at a time for example. It's not even worth building more than one fire department.

    In short, EA appears to have stolen $65 from me, and many thousands of other individuals who are equally displeased with the situation. They have broken one of the most successful game franchises, typically the best examples of the simulation genre, and show no remorse, and no sign that they really have any intention of fixing it.    … Expand
  17. ScottieClayson
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    EA deserve all of this. The only way they'll ever stop being such a horrible company is if we make it clear how much we hate things like always on DRM. Releasing a game which is unplayable is an automatic zero.
  18. pfunkbizunk
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Always online? More like, always offline and unplayable. Personally, even if the game did work properly, its a major reach to have a quality multiplayer experience in this type of game. Don't let them fool you, EA stamped the online only on this game for DRM purposes. GREED! Judgement day is finally here EA!
  19. wpenris
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Unplayable... server overload stuff... What if you have a Green Wheels plan and you cannot get a car due to server overload... Ridiculous! Get your stuff in order before you launch! Always have surplus server capacity or emergency backups ready. I just paid for a game I cannot play. And the best of it is that I am unable to send a complaint for the website is also overloaded. :S:S:S Wait,Unplayable... server overload stuff... What if you have a Green Wheels plan and you cannot get a car due to server overload... Ridiculous! Get your stuff in order before you launch! Always have surplus server capacity or emergency backups ready. I just paid for a game I cannot play. And the best of it is that I am unable to send a complaint for the website is also overloaded. :S:S:S Wait, don't buy it yet. All other buyers should get a 10 euro or dollar refund.… Expand
  20. chrispyer41
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Ok the game is fun when you can play it. The always on DRM is killing this game. Servers are down 99% of the day. I would hold off on buying this game until EA can get their act together.
  21. setco
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    A $60 reminder (the hard way) of why I pledged long ago not to buy games requiring online access. "Time Played 10 Hours" really means "Time Spent TRYING to Play 10 hours and Time Spent Regretting this Purchase and Investigating My Local Store's Return Policy 2 Days."

    What little of the game I have seen (a simplified, watered-down simcity) actually had me longing for the bugfest that    A $60 reminder (the hard way) of why I pledged long ago not to buy games requiring online access. "Time Played 10 Hours" really means "Time Spent TRYING to Play 10 hours and Time Spent Regretting this Purchase and Investigating My Local Store's Return Policy 2 Days."

    What little of the game I have seen (a simplified, watered-down simcity) actually had me longing for the bugfest that was SC4. FAIL    … Expand
  22. Antonius
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I love SimCity. I still have the original box from the first SimCity 24 years ago. Sadly, EA/Origin REALLY screwed the launch of this game up. I was actually looking forward to the online component of the game being able to build cities and share resources with my buddies was actually fun in the Beta. I have managed to log a total of ONE HOUR of game time since the release on Tuesday.I love SimCity. I still have the original box from the first SimCity 24 years ago. Sadly, EA/Origin REALLY screwed the launch of this game up. I was actually looking forward to the online component of the game being able to build cities and share resources with my buddies was actually fun in the Beta. I have managed to log a total of ONE HOUR of game time since the release on Tuesday. This is a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. I am honestly SHOCKED at how things have turned out since the launch date. Luckily, I have Tomb Raider.… Expand
  23. drevils
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I got to play past a unskippable tutorial, after that the game wont start because of online DRM servers. Just helping to drag down the rating here in hopes that EA will learn a lesson here.
  24. industrialspark
    Mar 10, 2013
    0
    Don't waste your time buying this over hyped piece of crap. The DRM, always online requirement completely cripples the game. But if you, like me, have made this purchase on good faith, knowing how well the simcities have been done in the past. Then you are a sucker, like me, and EA does not care if they sell you functioning game or not, they have your money and are laughing all the way toDon't waste your time buying this over hyped piece of crap. The DRM, always online requirement completely cripples the game. But if you, like me, have made this purchase on good faith, knowing how well the simcities have been done in the past. Then you are a sucker, like me, and EA does not care if they sell you functioning game or not, they have your money and are laughing all the way to the bank. Good job EA! You have stained your name for a very loooong time for this customer of the past.… Expand
  25. SuperBeefChief
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Complete trash. I have no idea if the game is any good as I can't access anything. Makes a really pretty screen saver for $70. EA, this is a pathetic and ridiculous situation you've gotten yourself in and there are no excuses. If you guys didn't anticipate high traffic for this game then you're idiots. Anyone making excuses for these morons should not be giving them a pass that easy.Complete trash. I have no idea if the game is any good as I can't access anything. Makes a really pretty screen saver for $70. EA, this is a pathetic and ridiculous situation you've gotten yourself in and there are no excuses. If you guys didn't anticipate high traffic for this game then you're idiots. Anyone making excuses for these morons should not be giving them a pass that easy. Their product is busted and they did it to themselves (and us) for making it on-line only. I didn't pay to be a beta tester, I paid for a working product.… Expand
  26. dockan
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This had the potential to be a great game, but short sighted business decisions made sure that potential was thoroughly wasted. The DRM system requires you to be connected to the internet at all times, but the problem is the EA servers don't seem to be. After several beta testing weekends for load testing they still didn't get the required infrastructure in place to ensure a smoothThis had the potential to be a great game, but short sighted business decisions made sure that potential was thoroughly wasted. The DRM system requires you to be connected to the internet at all times, but the problem is the EA servers don't seem to be. After several beta testing weekends for load testing they still didn't get the required infrastructure in place to ensure a smooth gameplay experience at launch, or any gameplay experience at all for that matter.

    I wish I had made this purchase with my credit card, so I could cancel the purchase, because this is a disaster.    … Expand
  27. danp33
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    game would not load city. switched servers and was able to load a city but crashes constantly and i have to restart my computer and start a new city. because it does not save my city. EA needs to get all bugs worked out before they launch a game. wish it had an offline mode.
  28. payonel
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    The dev team did an AMA on reddit which I missed, and I wish I had not. The ama got less than half as many upvotes as did a single comment in the ama which collected all the other redditors questions/concerns/comments regarding online-only for a single player game. The dev team completely ignored this majority; they are ignoring the fans. I LOVED previous simcities; imo no other gameThe dev team did an AMA on reddit which I missed, and I wish I had not. The ama got less than half as many upvotes as did a single comment in the ama which collected all the other redditors questions/concerns/comments regarding online-only for a single player game. The dev team completely ignored this majority; they are ignoring the fans. I LOVED previous simcities; imo no other game delivers the same experience. But this game is just The Sims with a few more houses (far too small for real city planning/late game) and curved roads. You won't be seeing any user generated mods, you can no longer terraform, no farms or subways. After first installing the game I had to wait 30 minutes just to play it the first time (servers were full). After that I got in, but the game crashed so I got to wait another 30 minutes (again, servers full). I never wanted to play multiplayer with this game, and now I'm not even allowed to play singleplayer. Epic waste of money. Please...please do not buy. I've emailed my rant to EA do the same.… Expand
  29. moproblems
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Ridiculous that you cannot play this game offline. I understand the always online philosophy but at what cost. This experience has soured my taste on constantly online DRM. EA is large enough to know better and if someone didn't understand the possible server loads for this game they should be fired. The graphics on this game are a little underwhelming as well. I wish there was a wayRidiculous that you cannot play this game offline. I understand the always online philosophy but at what cost. This experience has soured my taste on constantly online DRM. EA is large enough to know better and if someone didn't understand the possible server loads for this game they should be fired. The graphics on this game are a little underwhelming as well. I wish there was a way to give a negative score because this debacle sure deserves it.… Expand
  30. Grady
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Despite how well this game is designed from a gameplay perspective, we should NOT allow EA the satisfaction of thinking that we are perfectly fine with an always-online interface by purchasing SimCity. If we buy this game, we are telling EA: "I'm completely okay with your decision to make this game all online, all the time! Why don't you do that with ALL OF YOUR OTHER GAMES?"

    If games    Despite how well this game is designed from a gameplay perspective, we should NOT allow EA the satisfaction of thinking that we are perfectly fine with an always-online interface by purchasing SimCity. If we buy this game, we are telling EA: "I'm completely okay with your decision to make this game all online, all the time! Why don't you do that with ALL OF YOUR OTHER GAMES?"

    If games like these see financial success, gamers like us will be continually screwed for the years to come. Game companies will no longer see the value in making a single-player experience at all. They will push un-wanted (and un-necessary!) social features on us until we eventually start to believe what they are trying to tell us right now: "You guys wanted this, right? We're just giving you what you wanted!"

    NO. Just...NO! This isn't right. EA knows that, and you know that, so let's make it perfectly to them that we will not support this intrusive, obnoxious, and completely unnecessary inclusion into what would've been an incredible game. Vote with your wallet.    … 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 »