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. tk421storm
    Mar 22, 2013
    3
    When drm and server problems fade, the real weakness of the game shines through. Region lag is a continuing issue, and individual plots are way too small to accommodate any reasonably sized city. The AI is a joke, with traffic patterns driving you crazy. It'll take them a year or so to release the game they promised; if they don't give it to you for free, don't bother.
  2. Gallant000
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    The game is great.

    The servers are however constantly down, rendering the game completely unplayable. Until that issue is rectified, then this is the best I can do. Had they actually taken the time to properly speculate on how much server space they would actually need, this game would be getting an 8 from me right now.
  3. PL3
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    critic review is just bullsh*t. DO NOT SPEND 60$ on this. The city is just TOO DAMN SMALL. Server always busy. Feel exaclty like the diablo syndrom. ANd the game just tell you what to do. you do it and that sit. We need more police car!! do it. done. We need more classroom!! do it. done. over and over again.
  4. montana
    Apr 9, 2013
    3
    MAP SIZE WTF!!!???

    The "always online" feature is painfull, but not as painfull as the map sizes. Gameplay is now extremely limited. What happened to sprawling cities where you build and manage big areas and you get to chose exactly where in this big area housing, industry, skyscrapers etc. goes?? Now you are confined to a bunch of small towns and freedom to design your dream city is    MAP SIZE WTF!!!???

    The "always online" feature is painfull, but not as painfull as the map sizes. Gameplay is now extremely limited. What happened to sprawling cities where you build and manage big areas and you get to chose exactly where in this big area housing, industry, skyscrapers etc. goes?? Now you are confined to a bunch of small towns and freedom to design your dream city is out the window!    … Expand
  5. fastica
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    It's Diablo 3 all over again, but this is worse, because SimCity always was a single player game and now it doesn't even have an option to play it offline. Also, the cities are extremely small, there is no terraforming, can't load a previous save (no experimentation), there is useless and unrealistic empty space between cities and lack of transportation options (no subways!). I hate you EAIt's Diablo 3 all over again, but this is worse, because SimCity always was a single player game and now it doesn't even have an option to play it offline. Also, the cities are extremely small, there is no terraforming, can't load a previous save (no experimentation), there is useless and unrealistic empty space between cities and lack of transportation options (no subways!). I hate you EA for ruining one of my favorite franchises.… Expand
  6. Rnadmo
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    SimCity is an amazing game. There's hours worth of challenges just getting the game installed and operating at a base level, then then later trying to get it to connect. Once you can actually get a region started, you might be able to actually start a city. Once you do start a city, the ACTUAL amazing game starts. And it is really good. Deserving of the name and the franchise. Until youSimCity is an amazing game. There's hours worth of challenges just getting the game installed and operating at a base level, then then later trying to get it to connect. Once you can actually get a region started, you might be able to actually start a city. Once you do start a city, the ACTUAL amazing game starts. And it is really good. Deserving of the name and the franchise. Until you try and save the game that is, which is when you'll notice that there is no manual save option. You have to trust that the game has managed to save your progress. Which is fine except it usually doesn't save anything. Anyway, this game doesn't work, don't buy it right now. Once it does actually work though, it's a great game.… Expand
  7. Niixx
    May 7, 2013
    3
    Almost 2 months after release and the game is still very broken. The first 10 or so hours is some of the most fun i've had, however after that the bugs show up and the rest of the time is spent fighting against the game mechanics or bugs (often almost impossible to tell the difference). Traffic is by far the worst and shows that basing the sims (people) off the same AI that runs theAlmost 2 months after release and the game is still very broken. The first 10 or so hours is some of the most fun i've had, however after that the bugs show up and the rest of the time is spent fighting against the game mechanics or bugs (often almost impossible to tell the difference). Traffic is by far the worst and shows that basing the sims (people) off the same AI that runs the sewage was a horrible mistake.

    Maybe with a few more MAJOR updates this game could pass as something more that a Farmville wanabe on Facebook... Great potential but very very poorly executed.    … Expand
  8. Bobbydylan
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    Well this is frustrating, isn't it? That's the best description, I think, Frustration. Not because I'm suprised, or not because I cant get onto an online game on the launch day (or even week), thats to be expected these days. No, I'm frustrated that the game "needs" to be online in the first place. The online "requirement" adds nothing to the game that Option Multiplay wouldn't have done aWell this is frustrating, isn't it? That's the best description, I think, Frustration. Not because I'm suprised, or not because I cant get onto an online game on the launch day (or even week), thats to be expected these days. No, I'm frustrated that the game "needs" to be online in the first place. The online "requirement" adds nothing to the game that Option Multiplay wouldn't have done a million time better. It's something no body wanted stopping us playing a game we want to play. And now EA are trying removing Leaderboards and Achieviments and other online featurs that were sold to players as the reason we should love to be online. So now we're online (if your lucky enough to be online) for the sole reason of being online. If EA want me to be always online to play a game I paid £60 for, then they should be always online when I want to play it. http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee481/Bobbydyland/Simcity_zps7799c437.png… Expand
  9. Dogfish
    Mar 13, 2013
    3
    I bought this game as the servers began to stabilize, hoping to have a good experience now that the game is supposed to be playable. Boy was that a mistake.

    This game is very broken right now. None of the advisers work right, telling you to zone the wrong things and build the wrong things. None of the indicators work right. I have filled my city with fire departments and hospitals, with    I bought this game as the servers began to stabilize, hoping to have a good experience now that the game is supposed to be playable. Boy was that a mistake.

    This game is very broken right now. None of the advisers work right, telling you to zone the wrong things and build the wrong things. None of the indicators work right. I have filled my city with fire departments and hospitals, with max coverage over every inch of the city. I'm still being yelled at by my Sims for not having enough fire/medical coverage. I have three police stations and I'm being yelled at about crime levels. I have two grade schools, a high school, a community college, a university, and a library... yep, I'm being yelled at for not having any education. I have plenty of citizens and plenty of jobs, but the citizens complain about unemployment and the businesses complain about no workers. The search function to find a region to play in does not work. This game is horribly horribly broken and I am going to seek a refund immediately. Please do not waste your money!    … Expand
  10. Zeusbot48
    Mar 21, 2013
    3
    Seems like quite a fun game. However, after a night of play, the game informed me that my city was 'not processing properly' booted me back to the main menu and rolled my city back to the last good save, removing hours of work. The game will now not save any progress. If you are going to force cloud saving in the name of piracy prevention (let's not kid ourselves, what other possibleSeems like quite a fun game. However, after a night of play, the game informed me that my city was 'not processing properly' booted me back to the main menu and rolled my city back to the last good save, removing hours of work. The game will now not save any progress. If you are going to force cloud saving in the name of piracy prevention (let's not kid ourselves, what other possible reason could they have for this inconvenience) AT LEAST MAKE IT WORK PROPERLY.… Expand
  11. drakinor
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    The game itself is actually pretty decent. The simulation runs nicely, the graphics are good, the devs did a great job on the game. The delivery and DRM is killing it though. I think most players feel like they are being teased by EA since in 3 days it has spent more time offline causing issues than actually allowing people to play. I would rate it better but the fact is the Digital RightsThe game itself is actually pretty decent. The simulation runs nicely, the graphics are good, the devs did a great job on the game. The delivery and DRM is killing it though. I think most players feel like they are being teased by EA since in 3 days it has spent more time offline causing issues than actually allowing people to play. I would rate it better but the fact is the Digital Rights Management that EA has forced on us is causing so many issues that they ruined a game that would otherwise be a 7 or 8… Expand
  12. medv4380
    Mar 6, 2013
    3
    If the game had an Offline Option after logging in like SC2 had then it wouldn't be that bad of a game. The basic problem this model has is that in the long term you only provision for 20% of your users being online at any one point in time. However, during launch that's not exactly the case. You can easily have 80% or more logging in all at the same time. Without an offline mode toIf the game had an Offline Option after logging in like SC2 had then it wouldn't be that bad of a game. The basic problem this model has is that in the long term you only provision for 20% of your users being online at any one point in time. However, during launch that's not exactly the case. You can easily have 80% or more logging in all at the same time. Without an offline mode to release the stress of everyone logging in you end up with people taking the day off to play and being justifiably upset that they can't even start-up the game. The tutorial could have and should have been an offline option. It would have made it so that people could have a taste of the game without hammering the servers all at once. This model also requires the servers to be up-to-date. If you were able to get on last night and then later this morning you may have found yourself faced with a forced tutorial button that you weren't last night. This is clearly due to the servers being on a different version of the software. The is the most likely cause of game corruptions this morning. A 60$ franchise title is not the time or place to test out new strategies. You should know this will work long before you launch. Instead we're faced with inexperienced admins who didn't know to keep the servers up to date for launch or to turn them Off if they were on the wrong version. This is stuff you only learn with experience, and Sim City was not the time or place to get that experience. This tells me that they're using an Ad-Hoc methodology, and we should expect more hiccups as long as they insist on an instant roll-out of updates and not have the server go though some burn time to make sure it works first. For Single Player the maps are a bit small. You can work around it a bit, and I can see how this encourages Multi-Player. However, I'm the type of person who plays MMOs Single Player so I personally get very little benefit from this model. The game play from prior versions is vastly improved. If you're willing to wait a Month for server load to die down you probably should wait. You'll be able to get a far superior experience if you do.… Expand
  13. HonestlyTrue
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    Another example of EA failing royally. Always online, chances you can't reach server, forced social facebook crap, small regions to built cities in, there are simply too many limitations to enjoy the game. Another case of EA trying to build a "product" for the dumb masses and facebook generation, instead of building on the strengths of Sim City 4.

    Played at a friends house and this game    Another example of EA failing royally. Always online, chances you can't reach server, forced social facebook crap, small regions to built cities in, there are simply too many limitations to enjoy the game. Another case of EA trying to build a "product" for the dumb masses and facebook generation, instead of building on the strengths of Sim City 4.

    Played at a friends house and this game is definitely worse than Sim City 4 and tries to be a Societies advanced. So if you are a player with low standards and happen to be a member of the facebook generation you might enjoy this mediocre game, if you are a gamer with standards, you stay clear and tell EA with your wallet that they should finally handle games as games and not as products with limitations, because they think the players have not enough intellect to grasp a more complex gameplay. This mindset of the big publishers sickens me.

    Next gameseries down the drain, just like Dead Space 3. EA has lost their touch, and the developers have to suffer.    … Expand
  14. MadMagpie
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    I'm not going to go into the details because it's already been said by everyone else. I won't simply give it a "0" either because it's a great game if you ever get to play it, but the frustrations with server issues destroy the experience. If I do successfully login, I'm too ticked off to enjoy it because I'm just waiting until I get kicked out again. Folks say that you should review aI'm not going to go into the details because it's already been said by everyone else. I won't simply give it a "0" either because it's a great game if you ever get to play it, but the frustrations with server issues destroy the experience. If I do successfully login, I'm too ticked off to enjoy it because I'm just waiting until I get kicked out again. Folks say that you should review a game based on the gameplay itself, but the gameplay hinges on being able to connect to a server. EA said it was part of the experience. The start menu is part of the experience for most video games. If you were stuck at the start menu forever, then the game would get poor reviews because it's broken. People are stuck at what is essentially the start menu for SimCity, so, in its current sate, it is broken.

    I can see this turning into a case study for future game design students and developers on how not to run your business. The fall of EA (hopefully) would only validate the entire thing. Do yourself a favor and save your money unless they magically make an offline version or update for it. I had originally written a positive review, but I felt compelled to come back and replace it with this one because I couldn't stand the feeling of betrayal anymore. I really want to like the game, but I'm tired of looking like an idiot trying to defend it despite everything that has happened. Fix it or finish committing professional suicide already EA because I'm done with you.    … Expand
  15. Samhandwich84
    Apr 9, 2013
    3
    Game has been released for over 1 month. STILL unable to maintain a stable connection to the low pop servers. STILL full of bugs, basic things like garbage dumps never producing trucks etc. Would probably rate as 7+ if the game was finished and could be played offline.
  16. Xehlwan
    Mar 16, 2013
    3
    I want to like this game, I honestly do. I keep trying to play it, but it always ends the same way: frustration.

    The server, are reasonably ok now, even though most social features are turned off. Other things, like Cheetah Speed, are still missing, and regions are still shaky in their synchronization (even failing to save your work in rare cases). Everything above this paragraph    I want to like this game, I honestly do. I keep trying to play it, but it always ends the same way: frustration.

    The server, are reasonably ok now, even though most social features are turned off. Other things, like Cheetah Speed, are still missing, and regions are still shaky in their synchronization (even failing to save your work in rare cases).

    Everything above this paragraph will be fixed before long, that is guaranteed.

    The greater problem is the actual game. Not only is the balance of the gameplay mediocre at best; the actual simulations are horrible. Earlier SimCity games *tried* to simulate real cities, with varied success. This game, however, doesn't even try. There are no simulations of real-world behavior or city planning. Instead, the game is completely focused on the automated behavior of "agents" in a completely artificial system.

    At best, your population seems a bit dumb. At worst, your city becomes completely irrational, and requires you to build your city the *opposite* way of real cities.

    The game engine is fantastic, and the potential for great simulations is greater than any game I've seen the last 20 years. In fact, the Glassbox engine is much more interesting and revolutionary than any Crytek, Unreal, or Frostbite engine. Not because of graphics, but because of gameplay.

    Unfortunately, the developers lack any knowledge of the subject matter they intend to simulate. And instead of hiring experts to help them out, they let AI programmers build systems that have nothing to do with real cities. The engine could have done great things, but it is fed with sub-par pathfinding and unrealistic behaviors.

    In the ends, you can have a lot of fun with the new SimCity. As long as you don't expect it to actually simulate cities.    … Expand
  17. X0R
    Mar 27, 2013
    3
    Lots of negative reviews here, so I won't go through this with a new microscope. Overall, it's been a very disappointing experience so far. Previous Simcity versions were great for the times they were developed in IMHO I really thought they were going to release something very special and amazing for 2013. Outside of the lame reasons to use server DRM instead of something similar butLots of negative reviews here, so I won't go through this with a new microscope. Overall, it's been a very disappointing experience so far. Previous Simcity versions were great for the times they were developed in IMHO I really thought they were going to release something very special and amazing for 2013. Outside of the lame reasons to use server DRM instead of something similar but more functional. The frequent downtime and overall bugginess is awful. I read that one of the developers said something to the effect that this has MMO components. Where? For example, I created an instance but you can't find it when browsing player cities. After a day or two, the game is now boring to me.… Expand
  18. Xeno99
    Mar 15, 2013
    3
    I read news about it, but I decided to take the bait and see what the game is all about because I am (now was) a simcity fan. I bought it a week after it came out so I didn't have much server issues. Presentation may be pretty(cities they show you in youtube looks great, which made me buy the game) but once you get down into playing it, you realize so many things broken or missing. ThingsI read news about it, but I decided to take the bait and see what the game is all about because I am (now was) a simcity fan. I bought it a week after it came out so I didn't have much server issues. Presentation may be pretty(cities they show you in youtube looks great, which made me buy the game) but once you get down into playing it, you realize so many things broken or missing. Things that are broken (such as simple pathfinding) was commented by EA that they will fix it soon. Other things that are broken (such as multiplayer), is broken and will be for a very long time until they fix the servers and fix the way cities interact within regions. Things that are missing, EA will probably sell them for bucks (subway, zoo, etc etc). In summary, they didn't deliver what they promised to, and while it is fine that they wanted to build from ground up, it doesn't mean you take contents out of your previous simcity. This game is a utter disaster.… Expand
  19. Stabwoundz
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    I suggest that people ignore those ridiculously positive scores from critics as they are likely biased. When then game first launched I was able to play for a few hours and I was addicted. For the most part the game was fun and interesting, except there are some bugs like poor vehicle paths and unnecessary traffic congestion that can't be resolved without a patch from EA.. The majorI suggest that people ignore those ridiculously positive scores from critics as they are likely biased. When then game first launched I was able to play for a few hours and I was addicted. For the most part the game was fun and interesting, except there are some bugs like poor vehicle paths and unnecessary traffic congestion that can't be resolved without a patch from EA.. The major problem is that this game requires a constant connection to EA servers. Tonight I got home from work to play and I could not connect to the game in my region. Granted- all internet based games seem to have high traffic on launch. But this type of game shouldn't even require an online connection to play sandbox modes. Since I am not able to play in the the North American region, I decided to try the European regions. When I connected and started playing I was forced to play the tutorial (you cannot skip it) which was somehow bugged because the game puts me into the tutorial region but none of the menu's or actions are available. So not only can I NOT play the game offline in a sandbox style mode, but even when I connect, I am forced to play a tutorial scenario that is bugged to where I can't progress past and cannot be skipped. I truly enjoyed playing this game last night but these Online-DRMs NEED TO GO! Also there needs to be a way to skip the tutorial.. EA has published games long enough to know better than this. So far I am disappointed.… Expand
  20. FarscapeSDC
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    Dear heavens, I really dislike this game, which was particularly hard for me to do, considering how much I like the previous ones. I don't wish to turn into one of those "IT'S NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL!" screaming fanboys, but here I have no choice. While I will concede that many of the game's aspects have been streamlined and made more accessible, but they have made it too easy. At noDear heavens, I really dislike this game, which was particularly hard for me to do, considering how much I like the previous ones. I don't wish to turn into one of those "IT'S NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL!" screaming fanboys, but here I have no choice. While I will concede that many of the game's aspects have been streamlined and made more accessible, but they have made it too easy. At no point did I feel like an actual mayor, having to make difficult decisions about whether to fund the police or the hospital, whether to pay for a school or a motor-way, but instead I felt like a child playing in a really advanced sandbox.
    And, of course, the "Always online DRM" is absolutely pathetic and an utterly stupid idea.
    My recommendation, don't bother with this game, buy something else.    … Expand
  21. hwextreme
    Mar 23, 2013
    3
    Too many bugs that frustrate you to make this game enjoyable. I have buildings that regularly close reporting they are without power even with 100MW of excess generation.
    Traffic chaos, car get stuck for days at junctions.
    Lack of workers seems to be a common issue above 200k population causing power stations, oil pumps and fire stations to close. Doesn't matter how many schools you    Too many bugs that frustrate you to make this game enjoyable. I have buildings that regularly close reporting they are without power even with 100MW of excess generation.
    Traffic chaos, car get stuck for days at junctions.
    Lack of workers seems to be a common issue above 200k population causing power stations, oil pumps and fire stations to close. Doesn't matter how many schools you have, even they sometimes close due to lack of workers     … Expand
  22. AoR
    Mar 21, 2013
    3
    I'm in a good mood (and I love the SimCity series) so I start with the Pro's.

    + Dataviews: The presentation of issues and shortages is excelent and even better (because more accurate) than in Sim City 4. + Modular extensibility of civic buildings: Other than in Sim City 4 police stations, schools and other similar buildings don't have a sphere of influence. If your school doesn't have    I'm in a good mood (and I love the SimCity series) so I start with the Pro's.

    + Dataviews: The presentation of issues and shortages is excelent and even better (because more accurate) than in Sim City 4.
    + Modular extensibility of civic buildings: Other than in Sim City 4 police stations, schools and other similar buildings don't have a sphere of influence. If your school doesn't have enough space for al the pupils you simply build a new extension and improve the capacity of this school. Awesome!

    It's right, these two points are the single positive aspects of the new Sim City. My fan-heart is bleeding when I think about the possibilities of a real Sim City 5, based on SC4 with an advanced region part.

    - Small Maps: Okay, the maps are not small they're tiny absurd puny!
    - Curvy roads: This should be a Pro, but according to the point above, it's a absolut senseless feature.
    - Bugs: The "new" Glassbox-Engine, which simulate the whole behavior of the sims/residents, commercial interactions and so on, is so buggy atm that I'm not able to numerate half of the varios bugs and errors. The traffic bug is only the tip of the iceberg.
    - Multiplayer: Had anyone ever thought "Hey it would be cool to play together with a friend of me now." during playing Sim City 4? I never, but multiplayer sounds funny in the first presentations. But Sim City has no "real" multiplayer: Everything you could do with other players together, you're able to do it solo. There is absolut no real reason for the existence of the multiplayer modus in the actual design.
    - Always-On: I'm not a fan of DRM but I understand the reasons to make some games always-on. To example Diablo 3 to prefent dupes and to secure the auction house. But in Sim City there is no gameplay reason to be always online. And the so-called social features: This is only a game! If I want to contact my friends I grap my phone or start my IM. I don't need these functionality in a single-player game!    … Expand
  23. Foam
    Mar 12, 2013
    3
    As many others have stated, this could have been a great game. The developer (Maxis) and publisher (EA) had probably from the beginning planned for always-online DRM. That is, in order to play the game by yourself you must have a constant secure connection to EA's server. This puts you at the mercy of EA's hardware & IT team, something that is beyond yourAs many others have stated, this could have been a great game. The developer (Maxis) and publisher (EA) had probably from the beginning planned for always-online DRM. That is, in order to play the game by yourself you must have a constant secure connection to EA's server. This puts you at the mercy of EA's hardware & IT team, something that is beyond your control.---------------------------------------------------

    Released on March 5th, it is now late afternoon March 12th and there are still major server issues. I am currently on West Coast 4 and am getting long que times trying to join, and it isn't even peak hours on the west coast. I can only assume the load will increase as most people get off work and arrive home in the next hour or two.--------------------------------------------------------

    SimCity has traditionally been a single player game many people like to play around in for hundreds of real time hours. Since SimCity is "always multiplayer", in order to play by ones self you must create a region and set it to "Private" mode where only you or invited friends can join. The whole idea of that is counter-intuitive in the fullest. Instead of a traditional "Single Player" and "Multiplayer" button on the main menu that has worked for decades, Maxis forces you to click "Play" and enter the multiplayer screen. Someone not that initiated into how games work will find it frustrating to start a singleplayer game even though the "single player" is technically classified as private multiplayer.----------------------------------------

    Maxis & EA are in full damage control public relations mode, all cheery smiles and apologies. Sadly, a large portion of the previously angry customer-base was easily bought with the offer of a free game. Instead of bombarding EA & Maxis with thousands of angry letters & emails demanding the removal of Online DRM and "Always multiplayer" nature of SimCity, they instead were bought off for around $60 and are now towing the line. They seem to think that companies releasing unfinished or highly flawed/untested products is A-ok, as long as they "pinky swear" to fix the game which the timeframe is never admitted. It could be 1 month or even two months before a game is fixed, but there will still be that large group of customers with unyielding blind faith, always ready to defend the happy, cheery gaming company that just recieved 60+ dollars from them for a buggy, non-working product.----------------------------- If you are wondering why game developers and publishers are getting away with extremely sloppy business practices, you need only look at the modern gamer. The customers are the problem because they do not vote with their wallets and protest in writing.--------------------------When you buy a new car, it usually comes with some kind of warranty. If your transmission for example blows seconds after your off the lot, they will replace it for free immediately. Conversely, you expect the car to be 100% working properly and built correctly when you buy it, and every car manufacturer does everything possible to make sure that happens long before you fork over the cash. The same MUST be true for all products or services. Mistakes do happen, but things of the magnitude of SimCity do not just happen accidentally. Someone somewhere made the decision that lower costs were more worth it than a working game. There will likely be bugs on all release of games, but we have the right to demand that their game work properly. In SimCity's case, it does not even work at all.-------------- Don't believe the public relations spin and the attempt to buy your sympathy and loyalty back. If you have any principles at all, for god sakes please make your integrity one of them. Show EA/Maxis that no, you cannot be simply be bought for $60. Demand they remove Online DRM, demand a deserved true Single Player, among various other small things.------ I rated this a 3 out of 10, only because in the extremely short time I have played the actual game, it is well done. Probably the biggest sadness of all is that underneath these unacceptable business practices, a good development team has produced a pretty awesome game.    … Expand
  24. Victory
    Mar 14, 2013
    3
    I am assessing this game based on my 25 hours of experience. This game is fun up to a point but the mid to late game mechanics are horrendously broken. Traffic is a hideous monster to control and if you do by some miracle manage to organised it the game is incredibly easy. The only challenge is traffic management. It feels more and more like a glorified Facebook game without the socialI am assessing this game based on my 25 hours of experience. This game is fun up to a point but the mid to late game mechanics are horrendously broken. Traffic is a hideous monster to control and if you do by some miracle manage to organised it the game is incredibly easy. The only challenge is traffic management. It feels more and more like a glorified Facebook game without the social game requirements. Region trading is horrendously broken, commuters commute but when they do the traffic is so horrendous because you only have one entrance to your city. EVEN WITH mass transit maxed out including trains and boats, it's just ridiculous. The online requirements suck too, I've lost a 9 hour city due to the servers. Also the region play is rubbish due to the servers, I was playing a region with my girlfriend (hot seat style) and I waited TEN MINUTES for the servers to update our own singleplayer region so I could send power to my girlfriends city. This is just dumb, it isn't fun. tldr: it starts out very fun but after you get over the "creativity" aspect of creating a city it becomes very boring and very broken. Might be good in a few months when it's patched although many features are not as advertised (such as "full simulation" which is a flat out lie). The DRM just makes everything worse.… Expand
  25. cyberjonesy
    Mar 7, 2013
    3
    Lots of fun playing but the server problems are extremely frustrating considering there is no real time interaction with other players. This game should have been single player offline capable, the fact that it is online only is an enormous downside.
  26. ThtCooperFellow
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    I love the actual game for the most part, but the fact that this is a game that should have been single player and now I just can't plain play I have to give this at best a 3. Maxis did a wonderful job and I have no doubt that EA forced this BS always online drm from the start and the multiplayer aspect. Always online has been, and continues to be a terrible idea.
  27. captainthrall
    Apr 5, 2014
    3
    This game was, is, and always will be fundamentally broken. The city sizes are WAY WAY WAY too small. You fill the map in literally one hour of playing. It's a single-player game that requires you to play online on some horribly buggy and slow servers.
  28. Purgatori
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    Played this game for 6 hours. DO NOT BUY IT. I got disconnected from the server 3 times...you cannot save your own game! So there is no more let me test and reload if it doesn't work. I started over at least 10 times while getting used to some of the features. The city size is just unacceptable. Its not a city AT ALL...More like a village. You will fill it up in an hour. I'mPlayed this game for 6 hours. DO NOT BUY IT. I got disconnected from the server 3 times...you cannot save your own game! So there is no more let me test and reload if it doesn't work. I started over at least 10 times while getting used to some of the features. The city size is just unacceptable. Its not a city AT ALL...More like a village. You will fill it up in an hour. I'm already bored with the game. I won't even get into the always on drm...its a terrible move IMO...but in addition to that the game is not worth the money. I gave it a 3 because some of the new features are neat and useful but its they aren't enough to save the experience. Buy tomb raider instead.… Expand
  29. Daverid
    Mar 5, 2013
    3
    All the 10 positive reviewers are complete morons. Spouting rubbish to try and defend this game. My favourite so far was, "There's a reason why it's sitting at 91% from the critics right now" Jaylenko Do I need to point you in the direction of; MASS EFFECT 3, DIABLO 3, COD:MW2&3, COD:BOPS1&2 ETC ETC to make you realise just how stupid that kind of statement is? These are all primeAll the 10 positive reviewers are complete morons. Spouting rubbish to try and defend this game. My favourite so far was, "There's a reason why it's sitting at 91% from the critics right now" Jaylenko Do I need to point you in the direction of; MASS EFFECT 3, DIABLO 3, COD:MW2&3, COD:BOPS1&2 ETC ETC to make you realise just how stupid that kind of statement is? These are all prime examples of games that were complete and utter blunders, had next to no innovation in just about any aspect of their game and yet reviewers gave them all extremely favourable reviews. It would almost lead someone to believe that EA/Activision are blackmailing Reviewers, or Buying them out, telling them they won't give them games pre-release or bribing them so they get a good review. Honestly if anyone ACTUALLY believes any kind of Big Gaming review websites these days, they're a complete moron. Now onto these same people trying to defend Always Online DRM, you can't defend it, PERIOD. It's a cheap and dirty practice that holds no place in the gaming world. What happens when you grab your Laptop and go somewhere that doesn't have internet access? What happens to the people with bad connections? What happens to your game when the servers crash? What happens when they do maintenance and you can't play for hours? What happens when the Cloud Saves glitch and you have to roll back your town (Which btw has already happened to people)? Honestly the problems with always online DRM is endless and serves no place in Gaming. Have a Singleplayer version of the game which can be accessed without Origin or can be accessed from a "Origin Offline Mode (Where you don't need to log in Like you can do in Steam)" and then have a Multiplayer version, then people get to choose which they prefer and you can do make changes to the different versions of the game without effecting the other. It's a disgusting practice by EA (And Blizzard for that matter with D3) and if you are enabling this kind of crap by buying these companies games then you are part of the Cancer that is slowly destroying gaming. I suppose I should talk about the game, well it doesn't come out till the 7th in Australia and I wasn't going to buy it anyway, I've boycotted all EA Products. But there's streams going on and Videos all over the net showcasing the gameplay (In great detail mind you since Press had the game for a solid week or so pre-release and made tons and tons of cities). And they all agree it's good, but not great. I only gave the game a 2 because morons are giving this 10 to try and counter-balance the 0's, and whilst I think the 0's are taking things a little to far, low scores have to be given to balance. Frankly with none of this always online rubbish, bigger build plots and less focus on Multiplayer, I'd say this game could definitely be a Solid 7-8/10. In it's current state, but without Always Online DRM probably a 5/10 is an honest Score. But sadly with the Always online BS in place, I think the 3-4/10 mark is spot on where this game deserves to be.… Expand
  30. Ecaelia
    Mar 8, 2013
    3
    I waited some days with the review, to give Maxis a chance to go over the launch day issues. However, 3 days after launch and I'm still unable to connect to the servers shows a clear fail in the design development or the game.
    Update 4 days after launch: I was able to play today, so up my rating to 3 points. The game appears great, but all the region benefits are switched off to reduce    I waited some days with the review, to give Maxis a chance to go over the launch day issues. However, 3 days after launch and I'm still unable to connect to the servers shows a clear fail in the design development or the game.
    Update 4 days after launch: I was able to play today, so up my rating to 3 points. The game appears great, but all the region benefits are switched off to reduce load on the servers. However, the region interaction was the main justification of the tiny maps, so right now we have tiny maps and a dysfunctional region (so the worst of both world: all cities must be universal and self-sustained, but don't have the size to achieve this goal)    … 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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