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. Strat77X
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Game is literally unplayable due to EA's DRM scheme. After installing the game, and signing up for the Origin DRM system, I click on the Tutorial. It crashes the game and the game freezes when I try to restart it to try again. OK, next time I get on the game, I'm at a different menu that has a "Play Game" option. I click on that, it offers me a few choices of where I want to build myGame is literally unplayable due to EA's DRM scheme. After installing the game, and signing up for the Origin DRM system, I click on the Tutorial. It crashes the game and the game freezes when I try to restart it to try again. OK, next time I get on the game, I'm at a different menu that has a "Play Game" option. I click on that, it offers me a few choices of where I want to build my city. I figure out which one I like, and I get the message, "Unable to create your city at this time." This product is literally unplayable, I suggest everyone requests a refund, and then we'll think about trying this game again when it works. Also, LOL at the disconnect between user experience and reviewers on here scoring the game. How much are they paying the review site owners?… Expand
  2. ousmokeit2
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Server reached maximum capacity!!! Must say that I will never fall into this DRM crap again!! And never buy from EA!! Didn't learn my lesson from SWTOR I guess
  3. SimSuck
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    Created an account just to sign this petition of pissed-off users. Since I cannot even use this game when promised, I give it a zero. I decided to be generous and give it a 1; you do have pretty pictures of what I think the game will look like. Too bad pictures on a website and a launcher that doesn't launch is all I get for my cash. MAXIS, you have my $60 and I have 30 gigs of wastedCreated an account just to sign this petition of pissed-off users. Since I cannot even use this game when promised, I give it a zero. I decided to be generous and give it a 1; you do have pretty pictures of what I think the game will look like. Too bad pictures on a website and a launcher that doesn't launch is all I get for my cash. MAXIS, you have my $60 and I have 30 gigs of wasted hard drive space. Thanks.… Expand
  4. ruiner4u
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    This steaming pile of coded crap is nothing but a polished up version of Societies. There is nothing new, or innovative to this game. The small city plot size is a joke.

    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF you loved simcity 4, or 2000.

    However, if you want a POS facebook game, waste 60 bux.
  5. belnac
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Just registered on this website to voice my strong criticism of always-online DRM that affects the single player mode of the game. Although any form of DRM is evil and should be resisted by us, the consumers, the fact that the single player mode of Simcity was designed to require a persistent connection to EA's servers is simply beyond belief. Electronic Arts, the biggest video gameJust registered on this website to voice my strong criticism of always-online DRM that affects the single player mode of the game. Although any form of DRM is evil and should be resisted by us, the consumers, the fact that the single player mode of Simcity was designed to require a persistent connection to EA's servers is simply beyond belief. Electronic Arts, the biggest video game publisher/developer in the world should know better. Don't buy this game; if you have, get a refund.… Expand
  6. bar10dr
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    It should be named Sim Town, not Sim City, because you can't make cities like you could in the previous versions, only small towns. You can switch to different districts and they share some things so you can sell power or garbage to your other towns, they are not even connected, so you see it as different small towns.

    I can't even log in atm. because there is a huge line to play, it's terrible.
  7. greanthai420
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    The large city in this game is smaller than the smallest city you could build in earlier games.
    Log on queue when i just want to play my game alone.
    Cartoony graphics designed for autistic child.

    Cancer of gaming. Blunder of the year.
  8. Memmett
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    If they would have called it 'SimCity Social I wouldn't have minded so much. As it stands, it's more like false advertising.

    Let's go through this quickly: horrendous server issues, a pretty much unnecessary mandatory online only connection, almost facist DRM, tiny plots of land that are not much bigger than the village I live in, horrible right-angle 'freeway' connections, which are    If they would have called it 'SimCity Social I wouldn't have minded so much. As it stands, it's more like false advertising.

    Let's go through this quickly: horrendous server issues, a pretty much unnecessary mandatory online only connection, almost facist DRM, tiny plots of land that are not much bigger than the village I live in, horrible right-angle 'freeway' connections, which are totally uneditable, huge swathes of land that are permanently out of reach, overcomplicated and completely unnecessary information on individual citizens (this isn't Tropico...), a permanently depleting water table, inability to restore cities (probably the thing I hate most about this game). I mean, the server issues and ridiculous price they expect people to pay for this game seem trivial compared to this.

    For balance, i'll put the things I enjoy: curved roads (excellent!), tilt shift works pretty well, modular building is an excellent idea, the ability to share utilities and buildings between cities is BRILLIANT, some parts of the social experiment are quite interesting.

    But it just isn't SimCity. That's what a lot of 'us' expected, and I think we were quite right too. It's not everyday that a game that has been as a good as dead for 10 years comes back to life. It's not everyday that this inspires such a huge reaction, and (fortunately) it's not everyday that a game that was previously a thoroughly fun, expansive and dare I say it adult experience gets reduced to a glorified Facebook game.

    Appalling.    … Expand
  9. Cosmin
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Requesting online presence just to play an offline game is simply unacceptable.

    Having said that, there were plenty of publishers out there that had the same problems (see Blizzard and their Diablo III). The only real solution is to not buy the game. Problem is for instance that EA doesn't accept refunds, so not buying the game in the first place is the only way to go. In an era    Requesting online presence just to play an offline game is simply unacceptable.

    Having said that, there were plenty of publishers out there that had the same problems (see Blizzard and their Diablo III). The only real solution is to not buy the game. Problem is for instance that EA doesn't accept refunds, so not buying the game in the first place is the only way to go.

    In an era where games like The Witcher 1 and 2 are launched also DRM-free (GOG.com), EA should actually learn how to adapt or perish. Either way, strongy not reccomended to buy Simcity 5.    … Expand
  10. SteveGC
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    The online-only nature of this game is an absolute deal breaker. Do not buy!! Poor service history by Origin means don't get bitten again. Until EA wakes up and delivers a stand-alone version, don't waste your money.
  11. thom0975
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Are you kidding me? Even when you can get through to play a game you can play for approximately 30 minutes before the servers begin to have issues- and then you're lucky (LUCKY) if you're 30 minutes are synced. What's more- once you try to reestablish a connection- you're usually greeted with another queue to get back to the game the server kicked you off playing.
    That's okay- you    Are you kidding me? Even when you can get through to play a game you can play for approximately 30 minutes before the servers begin to have issues- and then you're lucky (LUCKY) if you're 30 minutes are synced. What's more- once you try to reestablish a connection- you're usually greeted with another queue to get back to the game the server kicked you off playing.
    That's okay- you think- I'll just go to sandbox mode--- that can't possibly require a constant connection- Wrong-O! Hmm--- maybe a Private Sandbox--- that's another whole lotta Nope. What could be a charming and successful sim is marred- irreparably so- by a faulty and slipshod implementation. Chalk this user up to another that will (WILL) be getting refunded by EA, or disputing a credit card charge.    … Expand
  12. Mars138
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Pros: Fun gameplay* and beautiful graphics. (*Assuming you can actually play.)
    Cons: Highly restrictive city map size.
    Conclusion: Simcity is a spectacular game rendered next to useless do to the fact that your chances of actually getting on EA's haggard servers is questionable. It gets a 1 out of 10 which I feel is generous considering I can't even play the game.
  13. maxhym
    Mar 6, 2013
    2
    I am so disappointed that i want to cry. HUGE fan of sim city 4 (certainly more than 1 000 hours in 10 years) This game isn't a sim city anymore, it is a f***ing Facebook social sim village-city. Ridiculously easy, stupidly small and uselessly social. IT is a shame Maxis and EA, shame on you And shame on sold video games websites that gave this game a good rate, which is certainly notI am so disappointed that i want to cry. HUGE fan of sim city 4 (certainly more than 1 000 hours in 10 years) This game isn't a sim city anymore, it is a f***ing Facebook social sim village-city. Ridiculously easy, stupidly small and uselessly social. IT is a shame Maxis and EA, shame on you And shame on sold video games websites that gave this game a good rate, which is certainly not deserved. I hope Desperately that some TRUE sim-city fan will develop a kickstarted project.… Expand
  14. KMcQuach
    Mar 6, 2013
    2
    Wow! I'm so disappointed with how the game going so far. I lost 2 newly start-up cities already because of disconnection. I've high expectations for this game since it cost $60.
  15. bbrossard
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    The game itself is okay. It certainly isn't the best SimCity game, but it's a good place to start on an update for the franchise.

    The inability for Maxis/EA to keep it's required servers online, however, is a deal breaker. The game can't even be opened unless it phones home to Maxis and then stays connected throughout the gameplay. This presents a major problem when Maxis has simply    The game itself is okay. It certainly isn't the best SimCity game, but it's a good place to start on an update for the franchise.

    The inability for Maxis/EA to keep it's required servers online, however, is a deal breaker. The game can't even be opened unless it phones home to Maxis and then stays connected throughout the gameplay. This presents a major problem when Maxis has simply failed at keeping these servers online.

    The game has been unplayable for days. This is an unacceptable way to treat your customers. Maxis should be ashamed.    … Expand
  16. orsanx
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This is the second game that I've bought from EA and will be the last. There is absolutely no excuse for the totally unplayable state of the game at launch which is purely due to the ridiculous DRM safeguards that ES seemed compelled to implement for no legitimate reason.
    I will be returning my copy to EB Games first thing tomorrow morning. I have played a lot of games at launch. Some    This is the second game that I've bought from EA and will be the last. There is absolutely no excuse for the totally unplayable state of the game at launch which is purely due to the ridiculous DRM safeguards that ES seemed compelled to implement for no legitimate reason.
    I will be returning my copy to EB Games first thing tomorrow morning. I have played a lot of games at launch. Some have had their lag and connection issues. World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 spring to mind. None have even come close to being as truly awful as SIm City.
    If telling people the game will be largely unplayable for them at this point of time counts as a spoiler maybe I should tick the box.    … Expand
  17. vfrederik
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    This is completely unacceptable.. Unable to play a game I just bought, BECAUSE OF YOUR SERVERS EA! I've had enough of you and your cooperate ways of destroying everything good.. I DEMAND A REFUND!
  18. Skyggefax
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    A huge fat 0 from me. Reason i can't play the game since the servers are down which really shouldn't be a problem in a single player game in the first place.
  19. Duanedibly
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    Probably the worst global release of a game in the history of gaming. Always on DRM would be ok if they didnt pinch pennies and actually had the infastructure to support their product. They dont and as such this game is a failure at launch. I am not sure it will recover.
  20. Mainio
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Such great decision to force always online requirement on Simcity, and now i can't even login to play singleplayer game, and im not only one. European release was botched also, no one can't play atm. Good job EA!
  21. ChargedLS
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Just crap, bought it and still havnt been able to play it. No EA support getting bloody sick of having to start an account and download some crappy client with every game developer out there. Origin is and EA is a sell out.
  22. Daneoid
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Everything good about the simcity games removed and replaced with an unplayable multiplayer. No deep simulation, the best road layout is 1 snaking road with no intersections, glassbox is just a big cop out to produce a half arsed game. R.I.P Simcity.
  23. DarthSmee
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Most of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-settersMost of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-setters that will make this the norm for computer games one day. Consoles are already on this slippery slope. Remind EA that your money is in their bank account. This is a good game ruined by a fat-cat corporation. Their DRM is not just for piracy protection. Spore was pirated before it was even released so the DRM does nothing to curb piracy. Yes, this review sounds political but just compare the computer game industry to what it was 20 years ago, and also keep in mind the gaming industry makes more money than the film industry. Gaming is big! And you pretty much get told how to play your games these days… Expand
  24. Mikehi5
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    ATTENTION!!! Do not buy this game!! I wish someone had notified me before I wasted my money on this garbage, so hopefully I can help someone else out. I've just wasted 6 hours of my life trying to get this game to work properly and there is no hope. For those who are skeptical, just google "SimCity Servers" or "Simcity Problems". The critic reviews must have been based on a versionATTENTION!!! Do not buy this game!! I wish someone had notified me before I wasted my money on this garbage, so hopefully I can help someone else out. I've just wasted 6 hours of my life trying to get this game to work properly and there is no hope. For those who are skeptical, just google "SimCity Servers" or "Simcity Problems". The critic reviews must have been based on a version that did not require online connectivity through Origin and it's servers.

    Strike 1- If you've ever played any SimCity, you know that it is a single player game and there is really no need for internet access.

    Strike 2- If EA was going to force the online DRM on us, they should have at least made sure that you can actually get online... You can't, I can't, and no one has been able to since the game launched days ago.

    Strike 3- It would be nice if you could save the game so you could save what little progress you might make before the game fails. Of course, you cannot even save the game when you want to. Strike, er 4?- Adding insult to injury, one must complete the tutorial before getting to actual gameplay. Since you cannot get through the tutorial without the game crashing and cannot save your progress, you are perpetually stuck replaying the first 5 minutes of the tutorial... Awful.

    To heck with it, Strike 5- EA should at least be communicating honestly with purchasers/customers about the errors rather than posting blatant lies about how only a small percentage is unable to play and ridiculous excuses on why its not working or how its being fixed and when.

    Supreme fail by EA.    … Expand
  25. Mddlr
    Mar 11, 2013
    0
    Take £45 out your pocket and burn it, at least you will get some warmth. My point is, this game is unplayable and a total waste of cash. The server issues due to online DRM ensure that you wont be able to play this game. No point reviewing this any further, its just unplayable.
  26. Janiszewski
    Mar 12, 2013
    1
    One of the most frustrating experience I ever had. Can't change my "game name", can't join to region, even can't play my saved cities if servers are unaccessible. SimCity franchise is now dead for me, after 'SimCity Societes' and this piece of... something I will never buy this title again.
  27. Goordon
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

    1. Small Cities.    I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

    1.

    Small Cities.

    Maxis is lieing at us saying that bigger cities arent possible because of performance restrictions the engine gives us. Thats wrong. The real problem is their DRM always online stuff. They save our cities locally on THEIR servers. Youre not able to create a local savegame. If we would be able to have local savegames, the game would actually easily run on 10 times bigger cities. But because they had to bring in their always online DRM protection they accept smaller cities wich results in a much smaller long-term fun level.

    2.

    Savegames.

    Savegames on their servers? Why? To sync your city region to the other players? Thats maybe a good thing but it's implemented poorly. Sometimes you just disconnect from a server or they have a maintenance running. If you continue playing now have fun seeing your city rolled back hours when you reload your savegame later. Or the savegame is gone fully. Why not create some kind of backup savegame locally? That could'nt be too hard. Just sync it with the online servers the next time you login.

    3.

    Server capacities.

    They try to fix the problem by adding more and more servers. They actually know that this wont help at all. Why? Simple: The single server capacity is just not enough. I've read in a post that one server can take about 90.000 people. Ive no clue if thats true. I dont even care. But even if a server is able to take half a million players, it will result in problems. Always. What they are aiming for is was your money. Now they have it they wait until a few players drop the game because they are frustrated. On Twitter they only answer to "lol look at my city". Like everything's fine. Then, sometimes they say "Hey look theres a new server online! Check it out!". You enter the server and you see the next worst possible design idea ever: The savegames are'nt even synced to other servers. You have to begin a new Savegame on every single server. If your server is full (lets say 90k people play on it), you come back from work and just want to play simcity for another hour you just simply cant. Well you can.. begin a new city. But you can not continue your current city. What the hell Maxis, what the hell.

    4.

    "Experts".

    These people call themselves experts developing such games. Why. Why the hell are these people even allowed to be called like that. Not thinking about the single server capacity why are they miscalculating the load on the first few days? Why are they panicing NOW when its much too late that theres not enough server capacity. Why are they acting like its a big problem to bring up a few more servers online within just one day? Well, if they are doing it right the only thing should actually be setting up a simple server and run their server software wich registers another server in some central server so the players are able to see it. I bet they are'nt even able to do that. They did some hypercomplicated piece of non optimized software. I am pretty sure.

    5.

    The game will never run properly.

    Why? Simply because this kind of game is not able to work out properly. Savegames will disappear as soon as theres a maintenance. And there will always be one. Your cities roll back. You come back from work and your server is crowded. You cannot play. You probably find the time to play it once a week. If youve the time your server is just full and you're done with it. Next week the same. Also: An offline patch is probably not even possible because of their weird system. It would take "too much efford" to make a singleplayer game singleplayer (offline). If youve a nice savegame on a server wich is usually more crowded you can actually forget about it. You will never have fun with this savegame anymore. Savegame port on another server is not possible. Its also not syncing as said earlier.

    6.

    The game itself.

    The game itself is also actually poorly made, mainly because of these small cities, wich could be soooo pretty and big but because of DRM and online restrictions they will never be able to reach a proper size.
    The game feels pretty okay but if you play it for more than two hours you can easily realise how poorly it's made im a coder myself i know alot about whats cheap and whats not Simcity shall be called a pretty facebook game thats it.

    7.

    I've had trust in them to make it properly.

    But this once again shows me has proven me that even multi billion companies are not able to properly create a good and also brainful online experience. Never again. Never.    … Expand
  28. SeptimusOctopus
    Mar 12, 2013
    1
    This game is a mess. It's a mélange of poorly implemented bad ideas. For starters it's designed around region play. So you get to build a city and trade resources and services with other cities. That's a pretty good idea, and it was implemented rather successfully in Simcity 4, so it makes sense to add an online multiplayer aspect to that portion of the game. However, intercity tradeThis game is a mess. It's a mélange of poorly implemented bad ideas. For starters it's designed around region play. So you get to build a city and trade resources and services with other cities. That's a pretty good idea, and it was implemented rather successfully in Simcity 4, so it makes sense to add an online multiplayer aspect to that portion of the game. However, intercity trade is horribly buggy. You can initiate trade with another city and not see the results of this for several hours. Given that this mechanic is the foundation of the game's required online component, it's terrible execution severely damages the game from the outset.

    Beyond that, the act of building up your own city features a wealth of bugs and poor design decisions as well. The agent-based simulation, while a cool idea, is extremely processor intensive. The average computer this game is designed for simply cannot handle enough agents to accurately simulate a city. Working within that constraint, Maxis has given us the smallest city maps to date for the franchise. They've said that they're the size of Simcity 4's medium maps, but in game this simply does not seem to be the case. You will run out of room, and despite what others have said, this is not a fun challenge to overcome. To make matters worse the regions have huge spaces between cities that mock your overcrowded city map and cause a fully developed region to look ridiculous in the process.

    Additionally, the resource extraction and utilization mechanic is a truly odd addition to the franchise. I suppose in Soviet Russia it makes sense for a city to run a television factory, but it is simply out of place in Simcity. It would have made infinitely more sense to require the mayor of a resource-rich city to balance business, industrial, and environmental from a governmental perspective instead of allowing the player to open their own mining operation. Also, once the supply chain is set up selling electronics is game-breakingly profitable, to the tune of millions of simoleons per day.

    I won't go into detail on the issue of DRM, but suffice it to say the forced online component would be a bad idea even if it worked properly. However, this game would also fail as a single-player game, so there really isn't anything of value lost due to the always-online restriction.    … Expand
  29. Papagiorgio
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    No excuse for utterly broken always-online DRM and forced "Cloud saves" (i.e. you can't save and reload cities to experiment, a cornerstone of the franchise) for what is fundamentally a single player game.
  30. Nadz_
    Mar 12, 2013
    1
    The game is fundamentally flawed. Both in design, concept and execution. Beyond the frankly unforgivable server issues at launch, the ridiculousness of online only gameplay for a single player experience, and the apualing response from EA. There are many issues with the game that run very deep into the core of its design, most of which frustratingly become noticeable after sinking (orThe game is fundamentally flawed. Both in design, concept and execution. Beyond the frankly unforgivable server issues at launch, the ridiculousness of online only gameplay for a single player experience, and the apualing response from EA. There are many issues with the game that run very deep into the core of its design, most of which frustratingly become noticeable after sinking (or wasting) several hours playing. The biggest grip I am seeing from people though is that the map size is too small. I agree, it soon becomes apparent that your most important resource by far is space to build. My fond childhood memories of build large sprawling metropolises and micro managing down to the finest details have been completely tarnished. This reboot is nothing short of an insult to the SimCity franchise and all those involved should be ashamed. (Unfortunately as we all know EA never learns)… 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 »