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. zontral
    Mar 9, 2013
    8
    I haven't had any of the server problems like others were having so my experience has been awesome with the game so far. I feel like it's easier than Sim City 4 but still a great game and can be very addicting so I'm giving a solid 8/10..
  2. powersackers
    Mar 9, 2013
    9
    Myself and a handful of BF3 clan mates have established our Region and are spending a lot of time working together in SimCity learning the ropes together and cursing the ocassional Godzilla or Zombie attack that tears apart what we worked so hard to build. You will find yourself lost in the city and it's management and next thing you know it'll be 3am in the morning and you have hardlyMyself and a handful of BF3 clan mates have established our Region and are spending a lot of time working together in SimCity learning the ropes together and cursing the ocassional Godzilla or Zombie attack that tears apart what we worked so hard to build. You will find yourself lost in the city and it's management and next thing you know it'll be 3am in the morning and you have hardly got up out of your gaming PC chair all night. Graphics are excellent, sound is perfect and alive. There's no plop it down and forget it. You must plan for adding jail cells and dispatch centers to your police station. You must watch where you plan your water pumping station based on water tables. And dont' get me started on healthcare. My sims are always ill and need more patient wings to my hospitals. I think I have a sewage/trash/nuclear radiation problem I need to go take care of right now. Still after only 2 sessions my city has nearly 200k fairly happy Sims with a 79% approval rating. Get this game, you won't regret it if you are a modern gaming with realistic expectations of what gaming is today. It's not a solo experience, at least not for me. And I woudn't want it to be. I don't care what DRM is or means, doesn't seem to be affecting my enjoyment, whatever it is. And BTW, no technical issues here on my end.… Expand
  3. JayE
    Oct 29, 2014
    8
    Lets try to ignore all the troubles at its release, now that it is patched up and we have offline mode it's quite a good game for what it is with patch 10.1.

    There are still a few bugs present since release, such as Recycle Centers failing to collect garbage for no apparent reason, having to demolish and rebuild them to get them working again. And path finding issues such the 'cant find    Lets try to ignore all the troubles at its release, now that it is patched up and we have offline mode it's quite a good game for what it is with patch 10.1.

    There are still a few bugs present since release, such as Recycle Centers failing to collect garbage for no apparent reason, having to demolish and rebuild them to get them working again. And path finding issues such the 'cant find work' problem despite there being available work in a commercial building with wealth-matching jobs right next door. But these are minor issues. At least traffic now works properly.

    Compared to the previous games this is a breath of fresh air, the new 3D system works well, nice visuals and animations. It can be quite a challenge building a profitable city, balancing out wealth, crime, fire coverage, managing traffic, optimizing trade, futurizing the city, building successful casino's, getting everything balanced up to the point where the city can just run itself for hours with no input. But at this point there is not much else to do, the city is running fine, time to build another city, then another, then another, then it's like - what now? I suppose the other games had the same issue, but with the other games you could bulldoze a quarter of the city and redesign whole areas, relocate industrial etc... In this game you can't really do that due to the limited space, perhaps the game should have been called SimCityCentral or SimCBD because that's pretty much the area size you have to play with.

    If the city size was 200% - 300% larger it would be far far more enjoyable.
    Larger city sizes would allow you to create suburb areas, a city area, farming area, proper highways - this is simply not possible in this game. Bit of a shame. It is the biggest flaw of an otherwise brilliant game.

    I would probably give it 92/100 if the city size was larger. But it gets 82/100 from me.    … Expand
  4. koolkris200
    Jul 9, 2013
    10
    This game is a awesome game but I wish they would of planed to put that dlc content in the game and have all the bugs worked out and bigger map sizes and they sent out a survey in an email about the changes that should come soon the other reason why I don't like this game is the always online thing that's not the best thing to do but Maxis and EA made a good game
  5. TheMaximalist
    Apr 16, 2013
    7
    The launch was rocky but once you start playing the game you realise how much you missed building these metropolises, albeit small metropolises. It does feel limited by the removal of god mode and the map size
  6. Thunderballs
    Oct 26, 2013
    6
    It's a decent game, but it gets old after only a few cities. Origin is a pain in the behind and isn't even close to being on par with Steam. Unless you want to constantly drop $30 for expansion packs (Think Sims 3 style)... than I wouldn't bother getting this game. Sim City 4 will get you immensly more entertainment value for your hard earned
  7. Ericius
    Jun 18, 2013
    10
    Great game! If you liked the old sim city games Sim city 5 will be a great pleasure to play. It is very recognizable to the old games. This time though the game dives much deeper into detail and micromanagement. If you like to play fast without much eye for detail the game will work fine but you can dive as deep as you want. Making my first city is was just the beginning. After that youGreat game! If you liked the old sim city games Sim city 5 will be a great pleasure to play. It is very recognizable to the old games. This time though the game dives much deeper into detail and micromanagement. If you like to play fast without much eye for detail the game will work fine but you can dive as deep as you want. Making my first city is was just the beginning. After that you can start your own territory and claim all city area's and with that start this huge metropolis. If you like to play with other users you play an open area and help each other develop parts of the world. I understood that there were major start up problems so I waited until those were fixed. Since I bought it I experienced no bugs, flaws or crashes.… Expand
  8. Mathew952
    Mar 17, 2013
    5
    I can honestly say I am very disappointed with Sim City (2013) as a lifelong fan of the Sim City Franchise. The game is riddled with bugs; you will watch your city burn as fire trucks drive around the same block over and over, and as cars take the most bizarre routes totally jamming your streets; even with a really thorough mass transit network, the city is impossible to get runningI can honestly say I am very disappointed with Sim City (2013) as a lifelong fan of the Sim City Franchise. The game is riddled with bugs; you will watch your city burn as fire trucks drive around the same block over and over, and as cars take the most bizarre routes totally jamming your streets; even with a really thorough mass transit network, the city is impossible to get running smoothly; perhaps this is to be expected of a very dense city, but building a very dense city is your only choice! The maps are very tiny, especially when the game's balance is totally dependent on specializing on some sort of huge space consuming industry. You have to build mines and oil wells, refineries, trade depots, HQs; There's something absolutely bizarre about having and oilfield in the equivalent of downtown New York!. In addition, everything _must_ connect to a road, which now also provides power, water, and sewage; and it's permanently attached to that road. Want to upgrade a road to an avenue? Say bye bye to EVERYTHING on that road, EVEN IF you _instantly_ replace the road. Not only that, but even parks and ponds need road access, since it would be utterly impossible for people to walk to a park behind their house, and since space is at an ultra premium, you will simply ignore parks. Simply put, Sim City looks nice, sounds nice, and has so much promise, but is crippled by a long series of terrible design choices that ultimately reduce Sim City (2013) to a boring mess. Pass on this, avoid the DRM nightmare, and get either Cities XL or even Sim City 4.… Expand
  9. ChoicestGames
    Sep 9, 2013
    7
    The new SimCity is a casual, online-only, sandbox game involving lots of micromanagement with little useful data to guide your actions. The pretty miniature cities means you can create good looking desktop wallpapers but that's about all it's really good for once you've figured the game out. This is fine if that's what you're looking for in this game but it's about as far from the originalThe new SimCity is a casual, online-only, sandbox game involving lots of micromanagement with little useful data to guide your actions. The pretty miniature cities means you can create good looking desktop wallpapers but that's about all it's really good for once you've figured the game out. This is fine if that's what you're looking for in this game but it's about as far from the original SimCity formula as you can get. While Maxis should be lauded for being bold and trying something new the design and implementation was so poorly done they may have done irreversible damage to their reputation.… Expand
  10. BigTex
    Mar 25, 2013
    9
    I think most of the negative reviews are from: A) people complaining about the DRM because they can't steal the game; B) people who were very disappointed by the initial release server problems; C) people who are disappointed that the game isn't the same as previous releases of the franchise and D) people who hate EA, it's corporate model, and everything else about the big distributors.I think most of the negative reviews are from: A) people complaining about the DRM because they can't steal the game; B) people who were very disappointed by the initial release server problems; C) people who are disappointed that the game isn't the same as previous releases of the franchise and D) people who hate EA, it's corporate model, and everything else about the big distributors. Pirates, too bad it's much harder to get for free. The server problems are being fixed. It's a new game which you should have recognized from all of the pre-release information available. EA is EA, like them or hate them it's your prerogative. The game is beautiful and fun. The multi-player experience adds an entirely new depth of dealing with other people for materials and goods. Being older than the average poster here, I have played the entire franchise since the original Sim City. I think this version, while not perfect, is a worthy successor to the lineage. And that's my two cents.… Expand
  11. Nexus2132
    Mar 27, 2013
    8
    Alright I'm not someone who is going to say "This is the best game ever, and all you people who dislike it are idiots!" However this latest SimCity title is what I would consider to be a fantastic game. Yes it is more of a business game rather than what some would call the "true" SimCity, but there is so much game behind this that its worth every penny. The fact that your Sims actuallyAlright I'm not someone who is going to say "This is the best game ever, and all you people who dislike it are idiots!" However this latest SimCity title is what I would consider to be a fantastic game. Yes it is more of a business game rather than what some would call the "true" SimCity, but there is so much game behind this that its worth every penny. The fact that your Sims actually have their own desires, wants, and needs makes the world live and breathe. This is one of the single best simulation games available to date, regardless of whether or not Hardcore fans agree with that statement. Its defiantly worth buying and with the updates in place its hard to find reasons not to. Don't listen to the hate train, this is a great game. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up.… Expand
  12. XhAPPYSLApX
    Mar 20, 2014
    7
    (After the "Offline Update" was released.) Before I start... I get why everyone hates this game. But dang it I just can't hate it, it looks nice, plays nice, and it just is a good game. The interface is really well made, I like the idea of roads being what controls the density, and I love how the city looks, and it is much faster to create a big city than it is in Simcity 4, and yet it(After the "Offline Update" was released.) Before I start... I get why everyone hates this game. But dang it I just can't hate it, it looks nice, plays nice, and it just is a good game. The interface is really well made, I like the idea of roads being what controls the density, and I love how the city looks, and it is much faster to create a big city than it is in Simcity 4, and yet it made a single mistake, a mistake that ALMOST ruined it for me. The city sizes, or should I say the lack there of. They should not have done this, but the reason why is so that they could force multiplayer on us, but now that the offline update is out, why not make new regions with much bigger cities for singleplayer play only? but even then I still get much enjoyment out of seeing my city grow, only if I could see it grow even more. If I were to compare this to SimCity 4 I would rate it a 6/10, but on its own, it is a pretty good game imo.… Expand
  13. kuehnau
    Apr 1, 2013
    8
    SimCity AKA SimCity 5 is the latest installment of SimCity from EA. It approaches the game in an new, interesting, stream lined manner that any fan of the franchise should appreciate. It adds new content by adding in a "quest" system of sorts, as you try to fulfill Sim's wants, needs and desires while balancing the town.

    They added in a new online co-op style game play in which you can    SimCity AKA SimCity 5 is the latest installment of SimCity from EA. It approaches the game in an new, interesting, stream lined manner that any fan of the franchise should appreciate. It adds new content by adding in a "quest" system of sorts, as you try to fulfill Sim's wants, needs and desires while balancing the town.

    They added in a new online co-op style game play in which you can trade with other local cities, something that should have been added in ages ago, something that the Sims 3 game should have had from the start.

    The game looks good, plays good and handles well.. When you can play it. When the servers are down, you cannot play the game, much like a standard MMO.

    I have two major complaints, the first being that you must always be online to play SimCity, I feel this is one of the worst possible ways to handle DRM. The second complaint is the fact I cannot access this game on STEAM. While this are kind of annoying, they are by no means deal breakers.

    Unfortunately, due to EA's reputation, the always on DRM and several other aspects, a very polished, fun, worthy titles is getting a massive amount of bad feedback from immature children who cannot understand that things can and will change with time. The same thing happened with Diablo 3. Due to some DRM issues and a bad launch day, a triple A title got horrible ratings. Do yourself a favor and try it out for yourself, don't believe all the negative hype surrounding an otherwise fantastic game.    … Expand
  14. Scottixboy
    Apr 17, 2013
    9
    Once you get past the games tiny gripes, Simcity becomes an addictive game, It was really hard to understand all the negative reviews at first, but it all makes sense now, I purchased the game a week after it had come out and didn't suffer the server issue that plagued the day-one adopters of the game, I understand the anger and the need to go on Metacritic and rage about it being broken.Once you get past the games tiny gripes, Simcity becomes an addictive game, It was really hard to understand all the negative reviews at first, but it all makes sense now, I purchased the game a week after it had come out and didn't suffer the server issue that plagued the day-one adopters of the game, I understand the anger and the need to go on Metacritic and rage about it being broken.
    BUT!
    Take my word for it, THE REVIEWS ON THIS SITE DO THIS GAME 0 JUSTICE!
    To start you gotta think, Compared to Simcity 4, this game has it's limitations(fixed to medium map size, no manual pipes electricity lines etc), but most of the things changed were altered to make the gameplay more streamlined, For example, the world may be smaller, BUT it's not that much smaller, and if you can't fit your city in the confides of the map, then your doing something wrong. They are smaller to streamline the "Region" Idea more and it does work! Exceptionally I may add, sadly there isn't much benefit to playing singleplayer like this, but a game like this is meant to be played online, The automatic Pipe routing and electrical wiring, is automatic to make the map look less clutters and make it easier for beginners( I had tons of issues with this system on S4, I prefer the way it is now)

    Finally, If you were disappointed with this game, You were expecting too much, the Classic simcity gameplay is there, The Graphics are stunning, the tutorials are very well refined for beginners and all round is a better game than SimCity 4.

    I'm aware the always online is a problem, but since they fixed the filter issue and I can play online now, This game just got better with online, This game is meant to be played online, so they Always online isn't a problem especially for me.

    This game deserves a much higher score than it receives, If you loved the simcity franchise, This game is for you.

    I'm disgusted at people for rating this so low.

    This is a game everyone MUST own.

    It would get a 10 If Maxis iron out all the bugs.    … Expand
  15. Loler13gr
    Apr 3, 2013
    7
    Althought the first few days were horrible with lots of problems I must say the game is pretty good... I had a lot of fun playing it and I can say that I will play this for a long time to come.. The graphics are great and the fact that you can zoom in and be able to see what your sims do and what they think is amazing.. The only problem is that the maps are a little small which means thatAlthought the first few days were horrible with lots of problems I must say the game is pretty good... I had a lot of fun playing it and I can say that I will play this for a long time to come.. The graphics are great and the fact that you can zoom in and be able to see what your sims do and what they think is amazing.. The only problem is that the maps are a little small which means that in order to do everything you have to expand and build more cities in the region and the always-online DRM... This last one is the biggest mistake of the company and if the company doesn't do something about it then they might have a problem...… Expand
  16. svtraptor
    Jun 9, 2013
    10
    Everyone should ignore the low scores this game has solved its online bugs and is great now! I fell in love with it and played 45 hours in the first month. Great DLC continues to come out. I recommend this to anyone who likes simulator games.
  17. DoctorMedic
    May 3, 2013
    8
    I do not get what's with all the hate over this game. Sure, always-online DRM is a bummer, but it's actually pretty good once you get past that. EA may have bad practices, but they aren't worse than New Jersey. Come on.
  18. Tacobadgers
    Mar 10, 2013
    4
    This game was fun at first but the limited city size and laughable multiplayer take the fun away about two days after you start playing. At first I loved it but then after playing about 12 cities it got old really fast. The multiplayer is stupid sure if you're connected to another city via a highway its fun you can send police, fire, trucks, amberlamps and sell or buy services from anotherThis game was fun at first but the limited city size and laughable multiplayer take the fun away about two days after you start playing. At first I loved it but then after playing about 12 cities it got old really fast. The multiplayer is stupid sure if you're connected to another city via a highway its fun you can send police, fire, trucks, amberlamps and sell or buy services from another city that is connected with a highway. The problem is only about 4 of the 16 cities are connected via highway in a region so whats the point. Sure those cities are connected but what about all the others they don't benefit from anything you do in the other cities. It even says your departments connected to your City hall are supposedly region wide but they aren't so if you start a city that's not connected with a highway you are basically starting from scratch on a tiny patch of land that's often full of hills and valleys and water that you can even build on and there is no terraforming only what your road does to the land when you lay it down except it just terraforms around the road still leaving the land around it completely incapable of supporting structures.Notice how i said nothing of the DRM or Server issues that also plague this game. If you do buy this game make sure you buy it at a place that will take your return cause its not worth staying.… Expand
  19. McFungus
    Mar 7, 2013
    5
    After attempting to connect to Simcity for over an hour today I feel I can comfortably say that the server connection screen is not crash hot. I've seen worse, but I've also seen sexier.
    As for the game I am sure it will be a great deal of fun once I am able to play it.
    But as the old proverb goes, "don't steal from your own rice bowl". Some food for thought in these trying times.
  20. Babaganoush
    Mar 7, 2013
    5
    The game itself is fun. You have a limited space... really limited space compared to previous SimCities, but it's actually pretty challenging. Besides, what city was ever self sufficient? Multicity play is great even with playing with friends, but joining a public server might get you griefed. Such examples as your neighboring city constantly streaming criminals down your path or cuttingThe game itself is fun. You have a limited space... really limited space compared to previous SimCities, but it's actually pretty challenging. Besides, what city was ever self sufficient? Multicity play is great even with playing with friends, but joining a public server might get you griefed. Such examples as your neighboring city constantly streaming criminals down your path or cutting off your bought power. All in all, Maxis' reboot of SimCity is pretty decent.

    Except one thing. Electronic Arts. Their publisher dropped the ball on this game. As usual. The Online DRM has led to problems such as cities not saving, THIRTY MINUTE SERVER QUEUES, and even cities being rolled back. That's enough to dock five points off. We can't even play the game in the meantime. Thanks to EA. Again. I think they just took back the most hated gaming publisher award from Activision.    … Expand
  21. Spacerogue
    Mar 17, 2013
    5
    I rather like the game, but after a few hours of working I have not been able to play anymore, it simply will not start up and I'v tried EVERYTHING by now. Sadly enough I live in a place where PC games can't be refunded so I'm screwed once again. I'm guessing its the draconian DRM locking me out for no reason. I'm giving it a 5 because I feel sorry for the artists working on this game. I'mI rather like the game, but after a few hours of working I have not been able to play anymore, it simply will not start up and I'v tried EVERYTHING by now. Sadly enough I live in a place where PC games can't be refunded so I'm screwed once again. I'm guessing its the draconian DRM locking me out for no reason. I'm giving it a 5 because I feel sorry for the artists working on this game. I'm guessing the coders where playing Plants VS Zombies and everyone seemed to be fine with this as the PR made up wonderful stories of a game that people wanted but won't exists.… Expand
  22. Father_death
    Jun 1, 2013
    7
    The score needs to be reset... This is kinda total I don't like EA but still this game is good people judged it by the starter not the actual game! people are idiots... this game should have a 8-10!
  23. Annoymous1
    May 3, 2013
    5
    It is shocking to see such a good series become terrible within 2 hours of playing it. Seriously, EA forces you to use internet in this game, despite great internet, it repeatedly says 'NO INTERNET' and then after at least a few seconds it crashes. The only good things were the graphics and the rioting but it still doesn't develop realistic characteristics
  24. mp3774
    Mar 22, 2013
    10
    BEST GAME EVER MADE!!!
    I not just liked this game
    I LOVED IT
    The Servers work perfect nad the game is the best SimCity ever made since Sim City Societies (The Second best SimCity ever made)
  25. rocketsatdawn
    Mar 23, 2013
    7
    The game was a nightmare to access at launch, but they've since resolved most of the issues by adding more servers and regular updates. There are still some problems that need addressing including contradictory information in game and instances where the server is not syncing with the cities, so you end up having to roll back to a previous state essentially losing all your recent progress.The game was a nightmare to access at launch, but they've since resolved most of the issues by adding more servers and regular updates. There are still some problems that need addressing including contradictory information in game and instances where the server is not syncing with the cities, so you end up having to roll back to a previous state essentially losing all your recent progress. But apart from that its a really good game that is incredibly fun to play. It would be nice to have an offline mode but I have found the multilayer aspect extremely rewarding as I share my region with a couple of my buddies. It's great building different types of cities and either sabotaging your citizens lives or building lots of parks and keeping them happy. Of course its seriously entertaining when you get a zombie outbreak and you can watch them annihilate your population. One real problem with the game play itself is how small the cities are. It's great building multiple cities that work together, but It can be frustrating running out of space especially when nearly all of your buildings are already high density. Its a shame considering how you could make enormous cities in Simcity 4. This is something that should be amended because it really does put a limit on how long you can play the game for. It gets to a point that all you can do is leave your old city and start a new one.… Expand
  26. hellrazr99
    Mar 6, 2013
    5
    This game is simpler than ever! Great UI and much easier to get off the ground running than previous versions. The always online aspect of this game is horrible at this point. For the digital copy I had to download, install which only took around an hour. Then the headache came and the game had to download more; four hours later the game was finally ready to play. When I say ready to playThis game is simpler than ever! Great UI and much easier to get off the ground running than previous versions. The always online aspect of this game is horrible at this point. For the digital copy I had to download, install which only took around an hour. Then the headache came and the game had to download more; four hours later the game was finally ready to play. When I say ready to play I mean ready to open, not actually play. Game has crashed several times on me already, the tutorial doesn't run, and now the servers are down so I can't even play a private game. EA needs a shakeup and maybe we can get one game to have proper server support at launch.… Expand
  27. HolyMackinaw
    Mar 22, 2013
    9
    This game is one that got me excited in the few months leading up to the release. I did not preorder the game because I only had a mac and found out the mac version was to come out later. I then got windows 8 the week the game came out and heard of the terrible launch issues. I still had faith in EA that they would solve the issues and the game would AT LEAST play as planned the day beforeThis game is one that got me excited in the few months leading up to the release. I did not preorder the game because I only had a mac and found out the mac version was to come out later. I then got windows 8 the week the game came out and heard of the terrible launch issues. I still had faith in EA that they would solve the issues and the game would AT LEAST play as planned the day before launch. I bought it the week after and ever since that day, its played just as I had expected it to play in the months leading up to launch. The game is great... period. What I don't like is that the size of the cities at first isn't a big deal but the more you play in your city, the more you wish you could expand it. DRM is something I don't mind AS LONG AS IT WORKS AND RUNS. That being said I give this game a 9...take my word for it, you will enjoy it. Its easy to hate on a game when you haven't tried it on your own.… Expand
  28. Skyrik
    Mar 6, 2013
    5
    The game is great... if you can ever get to play. Mandatory server access is really stupid for those who want to play alone and really just screws this game over.
  29. Rybolt
    Mar 7, 2013
    5
    I cannot fathom the reasons for the online-only gameplay forced upon players of this game. After playing for 4 hours; (server issues aside), my city has disappeared. All of it. The server ate it, despite having started a private region in which only I was playing. This is, and should be a single player game; as its predecessors have always been. The game itself is actually very good, onceI cannot fathom the reasons for the online-only gameplay forced upon players of this game. After playing for 4 hours; (server issues aside), my city has disappeared. All of it. The server ate it, despite having started a private region in which only I was playing. This is, and should be a single player game; as its predecessors have always been. The game itself is actually very good, once you are able to log in of course. It's a very enjoyable simulation that could live up to its expectations. The new grid-less approach to organizing your city is simply amazing, as are the new features that the game has to offer. The only significant irk I have despite the ridiculous online connectivity requirement is that they should have named it Simtown, as you cannot actually create a city; the size constraints are simply too strict. Why can't I choose to build cities 4 or even 16 times the size of the football field that is provided?

    In short: It's a very good game; that has been destroyed by online connectivity requirements. Admittedly, the situation regarding the overflowing servers should be rectified, but as it stands it is unplayable. A game costing as much as this shouldn't suffer from these kind of launch issues; not after the debacle that was Diablo 3's launch.    … Expand
  30. Emprah
    Mar 7, 2013
    5
    Well, here it is. Although, I'm not that upset that I cannot play the game at the moment (and likely for a few more days).

    What ticks me off the most is what has ticked me off since I found out about it: the transformation of this http://www.wuphonsreach.org/Games/SimCity4/Negishi/Negishi-East.jpg into this http://i.imgur.com/Q74s5.jpg But I'll get to that. Graphically, the    Well, here it is. Although, I'm not that upset that I cannot play the game at the moment (and likely for a few more days).

    What ticks me off the most is what has ticked me off since I found out about it: the transformation of this http://www.wuphonsreach.org/Games/SimCity4/Negishi/Negishi-East.jpg

    into this
    http://i.imgur.com/Q74s5.jpg

    But I'll get to that.

    Graphically, the game is beautiful. While I prefer a more realistic look, the visuals of this SimCity are definitely a turn to a more simplistic and toy box-like world. The effects and movements of all the tiny pieces on the ground are ultimately satisfying and fun to look at.

    In terms of sound, apart from being a siren simulator, the game is not much of an improvement over SimCity 4, but that is fine.

    Now I hear a lot of people saying that this SimCity is much harder than the older ones. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a false flag. I've been able to make nearly 100k population cities in under an hour while maintaining over a 10k profit (that's including simoleons from specializations) to the point where I have nearly millions...and not really all that much to spend it on. In previous SimCity titles, your job never really felt complete. Now, you eventually build yourself up to the point where continuing is pointless and you are forced to move on to another small square. But this is where my biggest complaint lies.

    Ultimately, this SimCity is a simplified version of previous titles. There are no mass complicated regions and each square is its own independent city, although sims will commute to other cities to shop, work, etc. I also feel like I am having cooperation forced down my throat. I understand that they had a multiplayer vision for this game, but I think that vision is in no way true to that of SimCity. Not that SimCity cannot be multiplayer and even cooperative, but I think it should never have been dumbed down to the point of baby's first sim game while not even focusing on what made SimCity so captivating: that it was hard, expansive, and that it offered you huge options. Did you like thermoforming? Well, too bad, because that's gone...or did you like creating your own mass transit highways? Well...yeah, that's gone.

    Personally, I enjoyed being not a mayor of one square, but being a bunch of mayors and even God of the entire region. I could build entire regions by hand using terraforming tools and then start building small, huge, and everything in between cities.

    In terms of the always online feature, I have no qualms. I lived through the Diablo III launch and have come to expect this I suppose. But it is unfortunate that such a launch was, once again, handled so poorly. Not only that, but while Blizzard has probably the best forum service and PR I have seen, EA and Maxis have next to no PR and a poor forum system. Apart of what kept people on DIII is that Blizzard took a proactive stance in communicating to its buyers and still continues to work with players in order to deliver a better product, even after nearly almost a whole year. Ultimately, I believe SimCity has fallen victim to a type of mixing the complicated structure of SimCity with the simple and easy-to-access world of the Sims; to appearing hostile to long-time fans of SimCity; to over simplification; and to a poor launch, which it seems has solidified the opinions of many.

    Will Maxis and EA work together with fans to deliver the best SimCity they can, or will they fall short due to their poor PR or unwillingness to give fans what they want?    … 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

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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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