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. matticitt
    Mar 21, 2013
    5
    It's not a bad game, and it really deserves more that 1.7 user score. However it has many flaws. For me SimCity always was the best city simulator. Now, after 10 years since SC4 release, it should redefine its genre. It should be much better than Cities XL for example. Instead, it not only isn't better than Cities XL, in many ways it's worse than SimCity 4! The city size is way too small.It's not a bad game, and it really deserves more that 1.7 user score. However it has many flaws. For me SimCity always was the best city simulator. Now, after 10 years since SC4 release, it should redefine its genre. It should be much better than Cities XL for example. Instead, it not only isn't better than Cities XL, in many ways it's worse than SimCity 4! The city size is way too small. That means that after max 8 hours you need to abandon your city, because there's noting left to do in it except for watching traffic jams. That also means that you won't be able to ever build 50% of the buildings, because they take up so much space! Also the AI is completely broken. This causes huge traffic jams. You need 3x more trams, busses, police cars and garbage trucks, because instead of spreading, they all follow the same route! It's so bad that busses, instead of reducing traffic, are causing it! There's also no terraforming, no highways, not metro. The graphics are quite good, but too childish and sims-ish for me. Music is also good, but not as good as in SC4.

    It's a nice game with good music and sound effects, and quite nice graphics. Unfortunately it's also quite broken and is twice the money of Cities XL. Also the performance isn't great and there are some graphics options that are clearly broken and cause huge fps drops even on a high end pc.    … Expand
  2. Barranoid
    Mar 20, 2013
    5
    I won't go into much detail about the DRM stuff. It's EA's Origin. Like it or hate it.

    The game itself however, once you finally manage to log in, plays pretty fun for a couple of hours. The cities are rather small so you have to expand inside your region to create new cities that can provide each other with different services. This makes a huge part of the so called multiplayer    I won't go into much detail about the DRM stuff. It's EA's Origin. Like it or hate it.

    The game itself however, once you finally manage to log in, plays pretty fun for a couple of hours. The cities are rather small so you have to expand inside your region to create new cities that can provide each other with different services. This makes a huge part of the so called multiplayer experience, since you can either choose to build up several cities in one region all by yourself or let your friends build some in your region. A good idea actually but server instabilities, slow response times (e.g. it takes AGES to send someone inside your region a gift. Hell it even takes ages to do so while playing all on your own with different cities inside YOUR region).

    After a couple of mostly pretty entertaining hours however the game starts to behave "strange". A city with a HUGE load of residents and nearly no industry whatsoever suddently starts complaining about not enough workers?! At first you might start to compensate by building "support cities" that provide more workforce for your main city but this doesn't help at all. The reason is that the actual resident size is more or less a hoax. Doing the math (google it, I really don't want to go into detail here), a city of 100000 residents might just have 10000 real ones, logicaly not providing enough workers for the industry.

    The flaws of SimCity really make it hard to enjoy after a while and although it could be a very very good game, it isn't. Sadly.    … Expand
  3. jwayner
    Mar 23, 2013
    5
    I've played SimCity for countless hours, a few of those hours where in beta. Of course, within the allotted beta time there wasn't a great ability to build a very large city that would have traffic problems. The game seamed great in beta but now that the full game is out, my entire opinion of this game has changed. Below are some areas of the game that I have a problem with. 1. TrafficI've played SimCity for countless hours, a few of those hours where in beta. Of course, within the allotted beta time there wasn't a great ability to build a very large city that would have traffic problems. The game seamed great in beta but now that the full game is out, my entire opinion of this game has changed. Below are some areas of the game that I have a problem with. 1. Traffic
    This is the biggest problem because it translates into many more problems, such as fires not being extinguished and criminals not being arrested. It also negatively effects tourist attractions and trade, garbage collection and other issues. Try plopping an airport and watch the masses of taxis pile up on your roads. Adding mass transit only seems to worsen the traffic problem and while the recent game update did help lighten traffic some, it wasn't enough to thoroughly enjoy the game more. Previous versions of SimCity offered one way streets, subway travel and the ability to connect cities with each other via highway and other methods. Can you think of many real cities that only has one road connecting it to the outside world? The game needs a complete do-over when it comes to transportation and regional connectivity. 2. City Size
    When it comes to the size of the city I would much rather be playing CityVille (a free Facebook game) which allows you to expand your city boundaries as you meet certain achievements. I spent $79 on my copy of SimCity (as did many of you) and I most certainly do not appreciate the relatively small city boundaries that are present in this game. Plop a municipal airport and expand a few wind or solar farms and then see how much space you have left.

    3. Others
    There are numerous bugs throughout the game and the only real way to bring it to Maxis's attention is to post in a forum, I'm not a big fan of forums, the game needs a built in form to submit bugs.
    The game doesn't have enough depth to it to keep me entertained for long, to be honest, if it weren't for the traffic problems I probably would have already got bored with it and quit anyways. For example, what is the most used utility besides electric and water (maybe even as much as those)? Cell phones! It looks like this neighborhood could use a cell tower! It looks like the city needs to contract with a cable provider. Simple additions like this would continue to make the game more entertaining.
    What happened to the ordinances? These little city laws that you could activate in SC4 made a world of difference on traffic, pollution, education, health and many other aspects of the game.
    Server issues appear to be a thing of the past and that's great but now it's time to focus on the overall game. I didn't want my review and thoughts of the game to be based on server issues so with those aside, I give the game a 5/10 rating. Since the game is fully a connected experience (which I'm perfectly okay with) I hope to see many improvements made but I think I'll wait awhile before I hop on the game again.    … Expand
  4. ScumbagJoseph
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    I gotta say this game really turned my life around, while frustratingly trying to log in, i actually did something with my life, i got a new job, made some friends, a wife, and hey, i even bought a new house. Why would anybody want to miss out on that? So thank you Simcity for giving me motivation to be a better person, im just kidding im a gamer this game why the would anyone pay 60I gotta say this game really turned my life around, while frustratingly trying to log in, i actually did something with my life, i got a new job, made some friends, a wife, and hey, i even bought a new house. Why would anybody want to miss out on that? So thank you Simcity for giving me motivation to be a better person, im just kidding im a gamer this game why the would anyone pay 60 bucks for a game they cant even play this… Expand
  5. UltimateCD
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    game have potential but ea didn't unleashed

    The Good
    Lots of wonderful details that make you feel connected to your city and its people

    The Bad

    Uncooperative players can mess up your plans.
  6. cazechui
    Apr 29, 2013
    0
    RIP Sim City. After you killed all the fav games I play. EA, now you came across killing Sim City Social. Don't even think about me going to buy your over priced junk for 70 dollars.
  7. monkeylion
    Dec 14, 2013
    0
    This game sucks, servers issues, updates that take forever, no terraforming, forget about small cities because i wouldn't even dare to call them cities, they are just small towns with an inflated population counter, JUST DOONT WASTE YOUR MONEY
  8. N8_2
    Mar 24, 2013
    6
    Bought the game last week after patch #6 was released, so I wasn't exposed to the bugs people are talking about. Day 1 network issues are always expected with multiplayer games, but actual gameplay issues can't be ignored.

    This game is fun and addicting. It exercises your brain's creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking muscles. Lacks some of Sim City 4's functionality and    Bought the game last week after patch #6 was released, so I wasn't exposed to the bugs people are talking about. Day 1 network issues are always expected with multiplayer games, but actual gameplay issues can't be ignored.

    This game is fun and addicting. It exercises your brain's creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking muscles. Lacks some of Sim City 4's functionality and content (subways and city ordinances in particular) but trades it for nice graphics and multiplayer gameplay. The multiplayer is amazing, trading resources and services is actually meaningful. Makes the game worth it. The programming for traffic still needs a lot of work but is really only a problem in large, badly planned tourist cities. The current DLCs are worth $2 each, not $30. Lowered score for typical EA DRM/greed and beta status on game release from 8 to 6.    … Expand
  9. OrthoStice
    Mar 18, 2013
    5
    The servers generally seem to work when logging in but even now I still experience issues where the game will freeze and I'm told that the server needs to "roll back" my game to an earlier point in time. A few other points: You aren't technically forced to interact with others. You can set your region to private and then create multiple cities within the region, which seems to be the wayThe servers generally seem to work when logging in but even now I still experience issues where the game will freeze and I'm told that the server needs to "roll back" my game to an earlier point in time. A few other points: You aren't technically forced to interact with others. You can set your region to private and then create multiple cities within the region, which seems to be the way to go. Iodiotic AI ensures that your city will apparently always have traffic problems and that tourists may or might not go to your tourist attractions. Problems with the AI seem to multiply when multiple large cities are in the same region. This game should still be in beta. Nevertheless it still looks great and is a lot of fun, when it works. I've played it a lott so I couldn't in good faith give it too low of a score. If it worked more smoothly it would deserve an 8. If plot sizes were bigger then it would be a 9. If you didn't always have to be online, in addition, it would be a 10.… Expand
  10. SimCityFreak
    Mar 18, 2013
    5
    I deeply respect and commend all efforts made in order to modernize the new SimCity and produce a superb graphics engine with innovative and realistic additions such as expansions to public service buildings, realistic traffic aesthetics, incredible detail, school bus stops, and so on.

    However, for us die-hard SimCity fans, this game falls very short of our expectations, namely for just    I deeply respect and commend all efforts made in order to modernize the new SimCity and produce a superb graphics engine with innovative and realistic additions such as expansions to public service buildings, realistic traffic aesthetics, incredible detail, school bus stops, and so on.

    However, for us die-hard SimCity fans, this game falls very short of our expectations, namely for just a few yet devastatingly consequential reasons:

    No terraforming. Nearly half of the pleasure of the old SimCity was creating a landscape that was entirely a product of your own work and settling the human population where you wished and where the terrain best fitted such development. The satisfaction of "owning your work" and producing an entirely customized terrain that boasts and entirely customized network of human development is indescribable. The loss of this option in the new SimCity is thus also indescribable.

    Tiny city boundaries. In a game where I would be deeply involved in playing a region for months and sometimes years concocting sprawling metropolises, industrial suburbs, bedroom residential communities, satellite cities, extensive interconnected mass transportation networks... I have grown agonizingly frustrated with the fact that my cities are unrealistically constrained by tiny square borders. In fact, the city limits are built-out so quickly that I've already grown bored with the game only after a few days of playing it. No possibility for expansion or realistic regional connections equates to no more motivation for me to play the game.

    City boundaries do not touch each other. Similar to my last point, I cannot "continue" one city into an adjacent one to create a realistic and expansively developed metropolitan area. Instead I am restrained to making rather isolated communities connected by "exits" on a transportation network that is reminiscent of how post-World War II sprawling suburban communities are connected.

    Zoning is regulated by roads. If I want a higher-capacity road in a rural area and simply wish to have some light development along it, I'm out of luck. Mid- and high-rise buildings will unrealistically rise out of what was intended to be a sparsely populated landscape. In real life, zoning is not delegated by road capacity. In fact, there are numerous examples of high density developments on tiny roads. Restricted vehicular mobility in such areas are compensated by extensive mass transportation networks. The game is highly-geared to the road, which in my opinion, is a big step backwards. If I want to zone high density on a small street, please let me do it. My sims will either suffer the consequences or I will figure out a way to make it work through other transit options. In any case, give me the freedom to make that decision.

    Truth be told, the highly controversial move to entirely-online game play does not bother me one bit. In fact, it's great because I don't have to save extensively large files associated with SimCity on my computer anymore. If I wanted to, I could invite friends to make cities in a region with me and we could cooperatively build a metropolitan area together. That is such a great idea and deserves much applause. This does, in fact, push the game into the 21st century.

    Unfortunately, though, despite the wonderful aspects of the new SimCity, the four major downfalls mentioned above, in my opinion, have taken the game back into the 20th century. For "self-proclaimed" veterans and die-hard fans like myself, there are several major disappointments to the new SimCity that degrade the game to the level of undesirable. Having been playing SimCity since I was a small child, I've watched as the game has made leaps and bounds toward more creative, customizable, expansive, and realistic game play. But as I play the new SimCity, it pains me to say that I've been taken backwards. My hands literally feel like they're tied, in so many ways.

    I really do hope that the keys to these handcuffs associated with the new SimCity's game play are not thrown away forever. I strongly urge you to incorporate elements from the previous SimCity (as indicated above in the points above) into the new SimCity and perhaps come out with a serious of patches, updates, or whatever is needed to bring the real SimCity back to life. The innovate and highly appealing elements are there, but some of the most basic, realistic, and quite frankly expected, aspects of the game need to be reincorporated.    … Expand
  11. Wikantoro
    Apr 5, 2014
    10
    As the patches made, as the time runs, this game becomes even better. There is almost no problem with this game such as server problem, glitch, bug, and now it comes with SINGLE PLAYER MODE, road tools, smarter sims (that drive vehicles not only in the shortest path) and other interesting things. So delete those negative reviews because that describe the old Simcity, not the nowadaysAs the patches made, as the time runs, this game becomes even better. There is almost no problem with this game such as server problem, glitch, bug, and now it comes with SINGLE PLAYER MODE, road tools, smarter sims (that drive vehicles not only in the shortest path) and other interesting things. So delete those negative reviews because that describe the old Simcity, not the nowadays Simcity.

    Sorry if I made some language mistake, because english is not my first language    … Expand
  12. californianhat
    Oct 15, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. No Scenario Terrain generator LOL @ EA. Beyond. Absurdity. I can just imagine the Product Managers at EA right now when they were making the game. "Hmmm. Let's make really bad decisions! I'll be awes-some."… Expand
  13. jl0329
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    Not saying it's not a good sim game. In fact, it's a pretty damn good SimCity! However, I had to penalize the greed of EA for making it constant connection required, which impact the user experience more negatively than in a positive way. You want to add multiplayer and social interaction? Fine, give player the choice to do so! DO NO FORCE US.
  14. bruceariggs
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    The game is great. It's fun, it's addictive, there's a lot of stuff to do.

    However, DRM warrants a -5 to the score.

    Maybe in the future EA will learn. DRM Bad.
  15. site400
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    I'll give it a 5 out of 10. Reading the "professional" reviews is a joke, as they reviewed a product that was still in beta and gave the game exceptionally high reviews, which is suspect. Anyways, online DRM prevents play, citiy plots are two small, and region play isn't all that great. Money, people, and resources don't truly flow through the region based upon need. I can forgive theI'll give it a 5 out of 10. Reading the "professional" reviews is a joke, as they reviewed a product that was still in beta and gave the game exceptionally high reviews, which is suspect. Anyways, online DRM prevents play, citiy plots are two small, and region play isn't all that great. Money, people, and resources don't truly flow through the region based upon need. I can forgive the day 1 server issues, but region play, which is suppossed to make up for the small tiles, leaves a lot to be desired.

    On the plus side, I love the amount of detail regarding resources put into the game, it feels like a true city simulator.    … Expand
  16. Nine
    Mar 23, 2013
    0
    My original review was 10, despite the huge problems at launch, the way DRM kill your cities one by one (unable to load, blank cities, and so on), the 1000000 bugs, and sooooo many others problems. You can't except a such work even with an alpha version. But well, the game looks to be a very good one. After 150 hours of play, I see now how there is no game at all. Just make a city full ofMy original review was 10, despite the huge problems at launch, the way DRM kill your cities one by one (unable to load, blank cities, and so on), the 1000000 bugs, and sooooo many others problems. You can't except a such work even with an alpha version. But well, the game looks to be a very good one. After 150 hours of play, I see now how there is no game at all. Just make a city full of residential zone and park and you win. This is the new SimCity, and this is definitly without me. THIS WHOLE GAME IS A SCAM, FROM START TO THE END.… Expand
  17. Jimbob2k666
    Mar 14, 2013
    5
    I'll start by saying I've had no online DRM issues with the game, although I've had to switch servers a couple of times since first playing. I've played the game now for about 30 hours, yet I seem to have become bored with it already. Realisticaly, due to the limits on city size, there is really only a couple of ways to build a successful city and the idea of starting a new one makes meI'll start by saying I've had no online DRM issues with the game, although I've had to switch servers a couple of times since first playing. I've played the game now for about 30 hours, yet I seem to have become bored with it already. Realisticaly, due to the limits on city size, there is really only a couple of ways to build a successful city and the idea of starting a new one makes me want to quit and do something else..................................... My biggest gripe is the illusion of multiplayer or it's supposed social interface. The chat box never works, I think in the whole 30 hours i've seen one person say "hello" and that's it. I've tried to type replies but these never show up anywhere. Citylog is a waste of time, zones are always full, as they are when you try to search for a game......................................Graphically it's quite nice, but I get a constant, strange flickering anomalies all the time (i have a 7950 card latest drivers etc etc). This is the only game where this occurs and it's quite annoying. I was expecting more details sims though as their appearance is like something from a game 10 years ago......................overall I give the game a 5.… Expand
  18. ryuzaki57
    Apr 30, 2013
    7
    General management and planning doesn't change much from older Sim City games. Old timers will be immediately familiar with the various economic and social settings to monitor. Is your population fully employed? Are businesses making enough profit? Can your inhabitants move efficiently within the city? Are they educated? Can the police cope with crime? Le list is pretty long and hours goGeneral management and planning doesn't change much from older Sim City games. Old timers will be immediately familiar with the various economic and social settings to monitor. Is your population fully employed? Are businesses making enough profit? Can your inhabitants move efficiently within the city? Are they educated? Can the police cope with crime? Le list is pretty long and hours go by quickly when taking on the stack of files. The AI is pretty solid despite recurring conflicts between the surface of residential zone (even with the of the map covered in green the game still says it's not enough), unemployment and consumer spending.

    This new Sim City introduces a micro-management system in which each administrative building can be customized with additional elements to boost its efficiency the police station can have more patrol cars, the bus terminal will have to receive more garages, the university can be extended with a business school or an engineer school, etc. This system provides you further leverage to reach prosperity, and keeps you even busier than before.

    But Maxis has more and offer you to choose a specialization to personalize your city. Gambling, Hi-Tech, Tourism, Oil, a nice array of possibilities that add further value. Let's stress that you can choose several of those in the same city feel free to erect the Tokyo Tower next to an exhibition center, while you pump oil not far from there! Those ones are no gimmick the warehouse exports, derricks provide barrels for your oil plant, the stadium welcomes tourists...

    The fourth layer of awesome is that your management actually has an impact on other Sim City players. The game is organized in regions of 4 to 16 cities which are communicating permanently. Goods will come from neighbours if your industry isn't doing enough, students form other cities will come if you have the best university, stations allow tourists to visit. Economic parameters are very detailed there are 3 levels of wealth, 3 levels of quality for merchandises and 3 levels of qualification for workers. If the middle class can't find goods of their liking at home, they'll be shopping elsewhere. If you're few to produce high-quality goods, the rich from everywhere will rush to buy. Positioning yourself within your region is a game in the game.

    Beyond this competitive side, cities can cooperate by sending ambulances, patrol cars or garbage trucks. Player can also sign contracts to provide electricity or water. That's where the whole systems finds its limits. Let's face it, you need every possible asset you have for your city, because there's never enough. Your neighbour isn't always monitoring his power supply, so you can being cut by mistake. To play cooperatively, players need to know each other beforehand.

    I lament that the laderboards and the world market are still to be implemented. The dev. team is still working to stabilize servers. A quick word on that apart from the launch day, I've never had any problem to play.

    The standard size of the city is about one fourth of a small city in Sim City 3000. When I constructed my 2nd city (having drawn a map before), it took me... 3 hours. In Sim City, you must constantly invest to improve the standards of living. But you very quickly reach the point at which you can't have further residential surfaces, which means you cannot your population and your fiscal revenues. And if, like in my first city, you choose the seaside, you're fairly limited... the other issue lies in the expansions you can make to buildings it can necessitate far more surface than you expected at first. If you haven't made room in advance, you have to flatten entire blocks, lose inhabitants and revenues, which makes your budget worsen dramatically. The University fully developed is about the size of 6 residential blocks of high density! You need to make several cities to exhaust the game. I wish I had a big metropolis with everything in it, but sadly it's not an option.

    Sim City is an amazing game, so rich and complex that it seems infinite in theory. But in actual gameplay, it ends up being limited by a clear lack of polish. The dreams of ambitious managers may be crushed by the ridiculous size of the cities.    … Expand
  19. TheFadeForever
    Apr 28, 2013
    6
    DRM prevented me from giving it a more positive review. The gameplay for Sim City has improved I give EA credit for that. However, there poor launch held back the potential of the game not to mention the always online single player ruin the experience due to problems connecting to the server. The new updates for the game just made it even more stale than before thank a lot EA.
  20. Daddy_D
    Mar 17, 2013
    6
    The DRM problems are as good as gone, and if you look past the DRM it's a mediocre game that's playable but not perfect. There are still alot of annoying bugs. The traffic for example which is pretty bad where cars take the shortest way rather than the best way causing traffic jams. I really miss the save function, larger areas and offline gameplay, and these are the main reason I can'tThe DRM problems are as good as gone, and if you look past the DRM it's a mediocre game that's playable but not perfect. There are still alot of annoying bugs. The traffic for example which is pretty bad where cars take the shortest way rather than the best way causing traffic jams. I really miss the save function, larger areas and offline gameplay, and these are the main reason I can't give the game more than a 6/10. I can get along with "Always online", but being able to save and larger areas are what makes SimCity great. If EA release a patch in the future and fix these issues I will change my score to 9/10. SimCity is simply not SimCity without these functions. I want to be able to build up a city, save it and wreck it with disasters, but EA says you, I will deside what's fun for you. IF YOU READ THIS EA, FIX THE GAME!!!!!!… Expand
  21. icedanielizatio
    Mar 20, 2013
    5
    First off, I had no connection problems, it probably helped that i'm in New New Zealand. So as I began exploring the game and its features I thought to myself, wow, this is a well built game, the modding capabilities are going to be huge. But every now and then something would crop up and cause a confused face; the first one was the small plot of land, I shrugged it off and thought theFirst off, I had no connection problems, it probably helped that i'm in New New Zealand. So as I began exploring the game and its features I thought to myself, wow, this is a well built game, the modding capabilities are going to be huge. But every now and then something would crop up and cause a confused face; the first one was the small plot of land, I shrugged it off and thought the mechanics must be different. The second confusion showed its face when I first hit the 100,000 mark, at that point I noticed the city I had built had become so squished with tall buildings that it no longer resembled a typical city, to make matters worse, I could not build all the structures I would have liked to, this led me to understand that the game does not want me to play alone, it wants me to either play other plots of land in the same region and specialize them to support each other, or wait for online players to join in. The frustration was starting to set in heavy at that point. 1. I do not like loading and reloading all these different cities that don't even look like cities just to support the one city you care about. 2. When I attempted to start a multiplayer game, no body joined. So with a final attempt at giving the game a chance, I looked for existing maps to join, but very few were active longer than 3 days and those that were, are full; so no hope there either.

    Maxis, if you read this, you have a valuable game sitting here, this is only going to be successful for you right now: release the modding tools, but if you won't do that, at least focus the game for single player, doubling the plot size would be a welcome start. If something does not happen within the next few weeks, I'm sorry to say goodbye to another could-have-been. Just take the plunge and listen to us gamers for once.    … Expand
  22. theSCARAYone
    Apr 1, 2013
    7
    This game really deserves 2 separate reviews: One reviewing the actual game when it works, and one talking about the horrible decision of always online DRM. But alas, I can't do 2 reviews so I'm stuck with 1. Starting with the game when it works; it's wonderful. I personally feel that when it comes to the game play aspects of this game in one city, they were almost perfect. I love buildingThis game really deserves 2 separate reviews: One reviewing the actual game when it works, and one talking about the horrible decision of always online DRM. But alas, I can't do 2 reviews so I'm stuck with 1. Starting with the game when it works; it's wonderful. I personally feel that when it comes to the game play aspects of this game in one city, they were almost perfect. I love building a city and watching it grow. They simplified the way water and electricity works, you no longer requires power lines or pipes. Building and maintaining your economy is easy and long as you don't do anything stupid. It's just overall a lot of fun. In my book these aspects of the game deserve an 8.5/10.

    Now we'll talk about the negative things. DRM is never the solution to any single player game, ever. All the arguments that it "stops piracy" or "enhances your game play experience" are total bull shiest. DRM is limiting the people that pay for your game and only slows down those who would steal it. Take a look at Diablo 3, there are more than 10 torrents online that include server emulators. It doesn't stop piracy, it only slows it down. I also can't stand how small the area is that they give you to build your city's. City's in SC4 or SC3000 could be up to 15 times bigger. The excuse that "it won't run on dad's computer" is also bull shiest. I don't have "dad's computer" I have my computer that I spent a good amount of money on so that I could run things like that, stop limiting the people with the better machines to what the people with the lowest machines can handle. These aspects deserve a 2/10.

    Also, anyone who re-reviews this game after giving it a negative one at launch shouldn't. Don't excuse the current game for the failings at launch. I didn't have the game at launch, but if I pay $60 for anything, I expect it to work whenever I want to use it.

    So overall I think the game is a 7. All the right ideas are there when it comes to game play, but they are severely hindered by the Always on DRM.    … Expand
  23. MrBla
    Jan 10, 2014
    0
    Wow this game is a huge fail. It's not even a full game. If you want a full game you must buy this base-game(it's like a demo) for 60$ and then you forced to buy each building individually(it's called DLC), but it's not DLC, it's the content and features which was cut from the full game.
    DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. DO NOT SUPPORT EA.
  24. joevsyou
    Mar 7, 2013
    8
    This is a TRUE 0 NOT spam. I can't play the game, unplayable. NOTHING more to say!

    Polygon website has reduce their score from 9.5 to 8. Most of these game websites are using SAME pictures for their review. I suggest you got trust them things currently going on ~amazon has Stop selling simcity ~polygon has reduce their review score from 9.5 to 8 ~EA offer refunds BUT then    This is a TRUE 0 NOT spam. I can't play the game, unplayable. NOTHING more to say!

    Polygon website has reduce their score from 9.5 to 8. Most of these game websites are using SAME pictures for their review. I suggest you got trust them things currently going on
    ~amazon has Stop selling simcity

    ~polygon has reduce their review score from 9.5 to 8

    ~EA offer refunds BUT then threaten to ban people accounts

    ~EA supposedly has hire Chinese workers to spam good reviews and has force a number of websites to close "create a account" for the meantime    … Expand
  25. loran1212
    Mar 7, 2013
    8
    I have now sat down with this game constantly for 2.5 hours, and at max got it to work for 20 minutes. this game, although it has nice visuals and from what i can see fine game play, is literally unplayable. it will probably become a whole lot better over the next few weeks. This will be my final lesson. I am not going to by another PC game until at minimum six months after launch.
  26. ashkonh
    Mar 9, 2013
    7
    The new SimCity is another victim of the Cloud. Online-only is probably the worst decision Maxis could have made. SimCity is for stormy days when you have no internet connection and you make yourself a hot chocolate and create a fantasy city. Now it's dependent and social. Although in this edition they have taken out the most annoying aspects of the last game (SimCity 4 Deluxe for PC IThe new SimCity is another victim of the Cloud. Online-only is probably the worst decision Maxis could have made. SimCity is for stormy days when you have no internet connection and you make yourself a hot chocolate and create a fantasy city. Now it's dependent and social. Although in this edition they have taken out the most annoying aspects of the last game (SimCity 4 Deluxe for PC I mean, not tablet or handheld games) such as having to draw water pipes, they left out some of the best aspects. One of the greatest joys when playing SimCity used to be making the terrain yourself before you started your city. Now you can't even control the terrain, so there literally IS going to be a PERFECT city that somebody in Korea designs. I'm not cool with that, it takes all the imagination out of it. They also left out the ability to drive around doing missions, move in your own Sims, and (I am saying it again) control the size of your city. I am giving the game a 7 because I am trying to take a step back from my years of experience with the previous games and what they have given me, and just looking at SimCity from an objective angle. It's fun, pretty, and conducive to teamwork, and the possibilities for creating unique and interesting cities are enormous.… Expand
  27. 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
  28. reticle2020
    Mar 8, 2013
    6
    Well despite the glaring server issues, bugs and inability to play offline. This game is actually a lot of fun. I was able to play for several hours last night, however, on one of the European servers. There are some game crippling bugs I will admit. It's a shame that Maxis is under the thumb of EA I honestly believe that, if they were under the banner of any other producer they wouldWell despite the glaring server issues, bugs and inability to play offline. This game is actually a lot of fun. I was able to play for several hours last night, however, on one of the European servers. There are some game crippling bugs I will admit. It's a shame that Maxis is under the thumb of EA I honestly believe that, if they were under the banner of any other producer they would have waited, ran proper beta testing and released the game when it was ready, instead I think big brother EA was pushing them to release a product to meet their budget. It's a shame really, because once your able to play the game it's really a lot of fun!… Expand
  29. Stinius
    Mar 8, 2013
    8
    I'm not giving this game a 0 for a reason: The game itself is great. Apart from the connection problems and the always-online bullsh*t, the game is awesome. I'm enjoying it even more than previous SimCity games. For the time I can play it, that is, because I get kicked out of the servers all the time and I've lost my progress quite sometimes. But, if it would become possible to play thisI'm not giving this game a 0 for a reason: The game itself is great. Apart from the connection problems and the always-online bullsh*t, the game is awesome. I'm enjoying it even more than previous SimCity games. For the time I can play it, that is, because I get kicked out of the servers all the time and I've lost my progress quite sometimes. But, if it would become possible to play this game without EA's bullsh*t, it would by far be an excellent SimCity game.

    So, the game gets a 10, the always-online bullsh*t and not being able to save/load a 0.    … Expand
  30. stn1337
    Mar 11, 2013
    8
    The game is very addictive and fun to play. You just want to play more and more allt the time and it was a long time since I felt that feeling about a game.

    The game is very simple and basic tough, to the better for new player but to the worse for experienced players. The "play whit a friend" thing is a good idea, but doesnt play out well ingame. Me and my friend ended upp in different    The game is very addictive and fun to play. You just want to play more and more allt the time and it was a long time since I felt that feeling about a game.

    The game is very simple and basic tough, to the better for new player but to the worse for experienced players. The "play whit a friend" thing is a good idea, but doesnt play out well ingame. Me and my friend ended upp in different "zones" but still in the same region. So we could build our own cities.    … 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]
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