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. StukaJU87c
    Mar 15, 2013
    7
    The user scores are pretty ridiculous here. I mean yes the launch was all kinds of messed up, even still it can be hard to actually play the game...but aside from that I believe it's a decent game...until you run out space to build. The city size is a crippling limitation. Don't feed into the BS that it's because of the inter connectivity of the different cities in a region....that couldThe user scores are pretty ridiculous here. I mean yes the launch was all kinds of messed up, even still it can be hard to actually play the game...but aside from that I believe it's a decent game...until you run out space to build. The city size is a crippling limitation. Don't feed into the BS that it's because of the inter connectivity of the different cities in a region....that could easily be scaled up. The largest maps contain 4 regions of 4 city lots. One city should take up not just those lots, but the entire area...the entire map even if the player chooses. I will give it a 7 because aside from those aspects, the game is nice. Cities XL '13 has better graphics...I will probably go back to playing that.… Expand
  2. Friendzie
    Mar 15, 2013
    6
    People go on and on about the online-only, but that is only a temporary issue. The biggest problem with Simcity that's been discovered since its launch is that the AI the game uses for the citizens is absolutely abysmal. Citizens don't really live anywhere or have jobs. They just appear out of houses each day and roam around looking for jobs. If they cant find any, the housing losesPeople go on and on about the online-only, but that is only a temporary issue. The biggest problem with Simcity that's been discovered since its launch is that the AI the game uses for the citizens is absolutely abysmal. Citizens don't really live anywhere or have jobs. They just appear out of houses each day and roam around looking for jobs. If they cant find any, the housing loses happiness. It doesn't matter if all your jobs are connected via roads. The citizens will simply march to the nearest jobs and keep going door to door. What this means is that your important mining industry on the other side of town will keep closing due to worker shortages, while some citizens will still complain they couldn't find a job. The only way for a player to fix this is by meticulous trial and error or by making the city have only one winding snake-like avenue with a good distribution of zones so that it's impossible for citizens to not find the local shopping and industry every day. Somehow the game is still pretty fun for a city-builder, but I hope they fix the idiotic AI.… Expand
  3. FLyNn
    Mar 15, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The best new thing in Sim City is: you can help your friends with means. And also the new buildings makes the game more beautiful than the other "Sim Cities".
    The worst thing in it is: you really needs to connect to the server to play, and now there are many "network disconnects".    … Expand
  4. guitarmaniac005
    Mar 15, 2013
    2
    Although this game could have been something amazing. EA and maxis decided they wanted more money... so they added DRM.... the maps are too small for building space and on top of that Maxis developers lied to us by saying the game needed an online connection. Don't buy this game, I do not recommend it
  5. Matthewlh
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    I wanted Sim City, not Sim City Online
    If I wanted to play with other towns it should be my choice
    I should not be forced to play with others
    did I mention that you always have to be online?
  6. PC-EliTiST
    Mar 15, 2013
    1
    "EA destoying games" moto started by some "whiners" -a few will say, but currently is has become an indisputable reality. They bought all the good games because they have investors with much money. Those investors now sit in their 5millions vila and receive from the gamer's pain. Check the latest games that all of them have been released in a not even beta form, and you'll understand what"EA destoying games" moto started by some "whiners" -a few will say, but currently is has become an indisputable reality. They bought all the good games because they have investors with much money. Those investors now sit in their 5millions vila and receive from the gamer's pain. Check the latest games that all of them have been released in a not even beta form, and you'll understand what happened to Sim4. They want to make as much money as they can, but they invest as less as they can.… Expand
  7. 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
  8. sssfdg
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    I wasn't foolish enough to buy this game, Thankfully. The DRM that EA has instituted is unforgivable. Companies like EA need to learn a lesson to start treating their consumer base with more respect. I have for years not boycotted every game EA makes (beside BF3... which is awesome btw). EA YOU SUCK BALLS. PLEASE LEARN FROM THIS DISASTROUS MISTAKE.
  9. gnilbert
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    This game is the result of catastrophic failure at every level of the design process. Even if you *can* stomach the always-online DRM that's been spun as "a rich social experience," you can't help but notice that (a) the "rich" social experience is clearly incidental to the core game play, and (b) it doesn't actually work 10 days after launch. That means the decision to force-feed theThis game is the result of catastrophic failure at every level of the design process. Even if you *can* stomach the always-online DRM that's been spun as "a rich social experience," you can't help but notice that (a) the "rich" social experience is clearly incidental to the core game play, and (b) it doesn't actually work 10 days after launch. That means the decision to force-feed the consumer a dubious collection of non-functional features was clearly made by someone in a suit who's never actually played a game.

    What makes the promotion of these "rich" online features particularly painful is that they are offered in place of a wide variety of features found in earlier SimCity games. You can't place one-way roads, you can't zone mixed density along a single street, you can't use subways, the cities aren't as large as the tiniest maps available previous incarnations, there are no city ordinances, there are no histograms for age groups, education levels the list goes on. It's sickening to read a review of SimCity 4 and compare the features of that game to this travesty. The next complete failure in this title is the much-hyped simulation itself: GlassBox. Everything in the simulation sims, stundents, garbage trucks, buses *everything* is simulated using the same logic they use to simulate the sewage that flows in pipes under the city. Maxis said this explciticly. And the quality of traffic, power, water coverage, and all the rest are a complete trainwreck. But the worst part about this game's release? There is no game. There is no strategy. The entire concept of balancing the needs of your city is completely gone. You don't need industrial. You don't need commercial. In fact, you can build massively profitable cities using only a few service buildings, residential zoning, and some parks. That's it. And the developers are standing by this joke of simulation as "working as designed."

    NO ONE should EVER buy a game that was so badly designed, so ineptly delivered, or so grossly deceptive in its marketing. Maxis has burned SimCity and salted the ground I can only pray they never attempt a sequel.    … Expand
  10. Mistafreeze2009
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    This is SimTown, not SimCity.

    After a week of not being able to play, the excitement of finally getting in was quickly overcome by the crap-tastic way this game is put together. If you can get past the server issues, underlying problems with the game mechanics themselves quickly become apparent. Cars drive in circles, Sims don't actually have designated homes...or jobs for that matter.    This is SimTown, not SimCity.

    After a week of not being able to play, the excitement of finally getting in was quickly overcome by the crap-tastic way this game is put together. If you can get past the server issues, underlying problems with the game mechanics themselves quickly become apparent. Cars drive in circles, Sims don't actually have designated homes...or jobs for that matter. At times I've actually been confused if I was playing a horrible fire fighting simulation, as there are always multiple buildings burning. The icing on the cake: constant disconnects. Login queues. I could forgive the issues with the GlassBox engine for now, it's new. But the always on DRM and constant server issues make this game unplayable. This game could've had endless potential, if it wasn't an EA game.    … Expand
  11. consiefe
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Broken mechanics such as no need to make any Industrial zones especially and no need for commercials also are unacceptable. There is no meaningful corelation between zones or agents. This game is painting zones with no purpose! Besides all agents are moving mindlessly, creating chaos. ie While there is an avenue goes to point A and a dirt road, they choose dirt one for being a bit shorterBroken mechanics such as no need to make any Industrial zones especially and no need for commercials also are unacceptable. There is no meaningful corelation between zones or agents. This game is painting zones with no purpose! Besides all agents are moving mindlessly, creating chaos. ie While there is an avenue goes to point A and a dirt road, they choose dirt one for being a bit shorter then avenue although traffic is hell on that. Firetrucks respond all together to the same fire while your city is on the fire. List goes on and on. God bless us! That's not even a game.

    Stay away, because i don't think developers will accept their fault and fix these problems.    … Expand
  12. azio
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Bought this game to support MAXIS and the Sim City Franchise.

    In truth this game is almost as awful as simcity societies. I asked for a refund within 7 days of paying expecting legal protection by the strict UK Statutory rights here but apparently it isn't origins "policy". So they can sell badly written games which are not functional and get away with it, essentially stealing your    Bought this game to support MAXIS and the Sim City Franchise.

    In truth this game is almost as awful as simcity societies. I asked for a refund within 7 days of paying expecting legal protection by the strict UK Statutory rights here but apparently it isn't origins "policy". So they can sell badly written games which are not functional and get away with it, essentially stealing your money for a fraudulent claim of the product being complete.

    I've been trying to play the game online in multiplayer mode, that is not on my own singleplayer, and can never get it to work.

    The reason? Apparently the sim city limited edition does not filter out the servers or cities used by players who have different buildings and a different copy of the game. So this annoying message will come up very often when trying to reclaim an abandoned city.

    The only way is to make a game yourself or find an empty slot, but that has been in fact very hard and almost impossible. The "Load more" button for the available games is badly thought out, and being thrown off 30 or so times is extremely annoying. There is no way to tell if the city is abandoned or not until you click on it. What is this madness?

    Many claims and updates from Maxis, but I esssentially feel robbed. Added to this I have been told that I have no statutory rights, which is as usual the general illegal EA way. I think they should not get away with it this time so am giving an extremely negative review to boycott this game. Since my right to a refund was apparently waived when I signed the origin agreement., This is criminal and at best fraudulently nefarious activity by a software developer and publisher that should know better.

    Stay AWAY.

    Best Wishes,
    Adam

    Best,
    A    … Expand
  13. FreakyLord
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Childish, low-scaled, online, flawed... City simulation algorithms are meant to entertain and not simulate. It's not simcity 5 it's Sims 4. Another franchise built on past developers' skill just jumped the shark.
  14. thequailboy
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    I have managed to play for around 20 hours. On THREE occasions, after spending HOURS AND HOURS building up my city the game said 'Could not process City, please quit' then when it tried to recover the city it just rolled it back to a patch of grass! THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ALL THREE OF MY CITIES. WHAT IS THE POINT! IN PLAYING A GAME THAT DELETES EVERYTHING YOU DO AND DOES NOT LET YOU SAVEI have managed to play for around 20 hours. On THREE occasions, after spending HOURS AND HOURS building up my city the game said 'Could not process City, please quit' then when it tried to recover the city it just rolled it back to a patch of grass! THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ALL THREE OF MY CITIES. WHAT IS THE POINT! IN PLAYING A GAME THAT DELETES EVERYTHING YOU DO AND DOES NOT LET YOU SAVE ANYTHING TO OUR HARD DRIVE? ARE YOU INSANE? WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME.… Expand
  15. 1Khronos
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    This game is truly pathetic and has caused me more grief than actual enjoyment. Not only was it released on the 7th of March for me which is 2 days after the "official" release date, but playing the game has been far from an enjoyable experience.

    For the first week, I couldn't even logon to the game due to EA's servers being inundated with traffic. When I finally could, I realised how    This game is truly pathetic and has caused me more grief than actual enjoyment. Not only was it released on the 7th of March for me which is 2 days after the "official" release date, but playing the game has been far from an enjoyable experience.

    For the first week, I couldn't even logon to the game due to EA's servers being inundated with traffic. When I finally could, I realised how poor the actual gameplay was. Most notably, you're given a tiny map to work with which is a fraction the size it was in Simcity 4 and leaves you very limited options to expand your city.

    To top it all off, one and a half weeks after the game was finally activated on my account, Origin asked me to "re-activate" Simcity and asked for a product key. When I tried entering the product key I paid for, Origin advised me that the code has already been used. When I contacted Electronic Arts, I was told there was nothing they could do.

    This game truly deserves a 1 star rating due to its lack of features and extremely poor handling of its release by Electronic Arts.    … Expand
  16. Glychd
    Mar 15, 2013
    3
    Disregarding all of the bugs on release, this game still has problems. There are only really 4 hours of gameplay, and cities don't connect properly throughout the region. I found the longest it took (even in the most prime city locations) to cap out my city, to the point where I could no longer build anything (because of space) and every building was upgraded to a skyscraper, with maxDisregarding all of the bugs on release, this game still has problems. There are only really 4 hours of gameplay, and cities don't connect properly throughout the region. I found the longest it took (even in the most prime city locations) to cap out my city, to the point where I could no longer build anything (because of space) and every building was upgraded to a skyscraper, with max tech, was four hours. Within four hours I was generating millions of dollars every 20 minutes or so, and the only thing I could do is start over. Which may be fine for some people, but keep in mind that when you start over, you can either pick from one of the 3 cities connected to yours, or start over completely in a city that is not connected, but within the same zone. Here is the catch. Those three cities that are connected, will all be in terrible locations. They will either be riddled with mountains, minimizing your space. Or divided completely by Water, using up your space. The cities are just too small to really get in-depth, and sink hours into this game. That wouldn't be such a big problem if every city in the region connected, but they don't. And since this game focuses on multiplayer so much, the cities that are connected to you will likely be taken up by your friends. Thus this game gets a 3. It's fun, for four hours, then it sucks. Don't bother. This is nothing like Simcity 4, it is at least 4 steps in the wrong direction. Everything is oversimplified to the point where the bulk of your time is spent sitting, waiting for money to come in, and occasionally demolishing an abandoned building.… Expand
  17. Fonjask
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    Was looking forward to this game. Haven't been able to play for more than 30 minutes yet because of failing servers. Not being able to play 0/10....
  18. wallpaper_01
    Mar 15, 2013
    7
    Crazy reviews on here, so many 0's... Common, chill out!

    I was discussing this with my housemate last night and I think that this game is done so well that it is getting negative reviews! Let me explain... It has a brilliant UI, everything is simple to understand and it is so accurate that we almost want it to do everything! Cities in real life are so complex and this game really is    Crazy reviews on here, so many 0's... Common, chill out!

    I was discussing this with my housemate last night and I think that this game is done so well that it is getting negative reviews! Let me explain...

    It has a brilliant UI, everything is simple to understand and it is so accurate that we almost want it to do everything! Cities in real life are so complex and this game really is pretty accurate, its amazing to watch. Because there are no subways, terraforming etc we get angry, why are they not there?! But so much is there!

    Anyway DRM, people chill out who cares honestly, I waited 4 days after release to play and it all works fine except Leaderboards. I will mark down 1 point for DRM. Also because I can't play it offline on the move, I don't want to but I could see some people would want to. Seeing people give this game 0 because of DRM is idiotic.

    I mark down another point for the map sizes, this is my main gripe about the game. I want to 'design' my city but I feel like you can't. You can at first but demand makes you need to create packed in dense cities that all end up looking the same. You have the tools to be able to, like different class ranges but the city is far too small to do that. Plus specialist cities? No, I want option of all in one like LA, which has everything.

    3rd mark down is for little things missing like subway, little bugs, I don't like the big works idea, I just want a full airport 'in' my city, no bridges when you want them etc...

    Can or will all this stuff be fixed with a patch? I think it could be, but will it? Probably not. If the sims is anything to go by, there will be many expansions to this game.

    7/10    … Expand
  19. gmorales
    Mar 15, 2013
    0
    It's a good game, but EA deserves nothing. You know, it's just EA, and its always online connection DRM must NOT be tolerated in a single player experience. Never. Even if now they say that "it was thought as a multiplayer experience". Well NO. I want to play alone, I paid a lot for the game and I had a painful experience even when trying to finish the tutorial. May this serve as anIt's a good game, but EA deserves nothing. You know, it's just EA, and its always online connection DRM must NOT be tolerated in a single player experience. Never. Even if now they say that "it was thought as a multiplayer experience". Well NO. I want to play alone, I paid a lot for the game and I had a painful experience even when trying to finish the tutorial. May this serve as an example for other publishers and devs thinking in doing the same. Among others, Blizzard failed, Activision Failed, an now EA failed. Game is good, but publisher is not. Sorry Maxis, nothing personal.… Expand
  20. Hatchetman
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    This game is broken in ways we have only begun to comprehend

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

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

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

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

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

    In short, EA appears to have stolen $65 from me, and many thousands of other individuals who are equally displeased with the situation. They have broken one of the most successful game franchises, typically the best examples of the simulation genre, and show no remorse, and no sign that they really have any intention of fixing it.    … Expand
  21. mountainpony
    Mar 14, 2013
    7
    First off, I have to get this out of the way; I am not nor have ever been employed by EA or Maxis (or by anyone, for that matter, with even loose ties in the gaming industry). I am just an avid gamer. I hold no grudges against any developers or publishers, although, as in this case, it's pretty evident when one, or both, of them slips up.

    EA undeniably soured the release of an otherwise    First off, I have to get this out of the way; I am not nor have ever been employed by EA or Maxis (or by anyone, for that matter, with even loose ties in the gaming industry). I am just an avid gamer. I hold no grudges against any developers or publishers, although, as in this case, it's pretty evident when one, or both, of them slips up.

    EA undeniably soured the release of an otherwise sweet game with SimCity, albeit not in the usual way they're accused of. But when we look passed the Always Online DRM, how much of gamers' quibbles with SimCity are actually EA's fault?

    To begin, there have been some redeeming things EA have done (or tried to do) in response to all the anger and frustration aimed at them. On March 18th for instance, "a free PC download game from the EA portfolio" will be available to all active SimCity users. It took less than three days (which by industry standards is blazing fast) to drastically improve server load and performance and increase the total number of servers. How long has Crysis 3 been out? Black Ops 2? Have they even acknowledged the issues with their servers? (For those who don't know what I mean by this, I have been unable to get a consistently lag-free connection with either those games in multiplayer, especially Black Ops 2, and it's certainly not my IP)

    But let's focus on the major complaints from gamers regarding SimCity: small city sizes, forced multiplayer, micro-transactions, inability to save/load on HDD, and Day One DLC. At least one of these isn't even true, and all seem quite clearly to me as design choices made by the developer, Maxis. Let's get two of the easy complaints out of the way; privatizing a game is as simple as checking a box, and I have yet to find ANY micro-transaction opportunity (I don't even see what purpose they'd serve beyond catering to the laziest of players), and even if they were everywhere, they're little more than a purchasable cheat, having no effect on gameplay for those who choose to ignore them. Day One DLC can be controversial, but really? This "DLC" is a tourist attractions package of sorts that offers real-world wonders and buildings such as the Eiffel Tower. Unless you want to recreate Paris, there is absolutely nothing you're missing out on. SimCity was always a creative game where you built cities from your imagination.

    The inablitiy to save onto a private hard disk is kind of dumb but necessary to the whole idea of a pseudo-MMO city simulator. Your cities breathe and produce and work with (or against) other players and their cities. That can't happen if players can simply load a past save when something doesn't go their way. I personally like this feature and don't mind that my saves are located in a "cloud" instead of a physical disk (although the option for both would certainly be preferable). The lack of a save/load feature, however, is a direct result of the more fundamental design choice regarding online play, one that I find very implausible was forced upon Maxis by EA. Many of the game's design choices in general stem from the questionable decision to make SimCity an "online game," like Diablo III or even Guild Wars, which is decision made by Maxis. And if you insist that EA forced Maxis to make SimCity online only from the reboot's inception, then I find it very hard to believe Maxis couldn't get the as big a game as SimCity published under another company that didn't choose to force online play, if they were against the idea that is.

    The final complaint and also my personal gripe is indeed the city size. They're simply too small. The ability to connect multiple cities, using them in tandem to create a mega city, does help mend this but there should be an option to extend city boundaries, or at least a game mode where the limit is removed. A recent interview with a lead game designer from Maxis states that they intend to increase the size limits "eventually."

    Now, EA has been receiving the blame for this design choice since the beta, when it's quite clear to me Maxis should be receiving the brunt of it. I don't quite understand why anyone would even sneer in EA's direction on this one; am I to assume their unabashed greed somehow accounts for them not allowing Maxis to increase the city limits? I don't see how it earns them a profit; in fact it's done the opposite.

    In the end, EA screwed up big time with the servers, but they've made evident and serious attempts to rectify their mistake (at least I feel that way). Meanwhile, Maxis has gotten out seeming guilt-less, when it seems they're liable for most of the complaints. True, the DRM needs to go, not only from EA but industry-wide (I'm looking at you Blizzard).

    I'm judging the game for what it is in it's current playable state, a solid 7. Given time for updates and player mods, I'm sure this game will be incredible and the city limits will hopefully be expanded sooner rather than later.    … Expand
  22. Marvis
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    Still problems with having my cities lost... I can't believe that this long after the game has been released I am having issues just saving the damn game....
  23. tartarus1312
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    First of all, there is the always-on DRM. EA tried to lie about this by saying the server connection was essential to running the game because a lot of calculations were made on the server. Turns out, that's not the case, as proven by a modder: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/modder-proves-simcity-can-run-offline-indefinitely-20130314/. So the server connection is just for theirFirst of all, there is the always-on DRM. EA tried to lie about this by saying the server connection was essential to running the game because a lot of calculations were made on the server. Turns out, that's not the case, as proven by a modder: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/modder-proves-simcity-can-run-offline-indefinitely-20130314/. So the server connection is just for their ridiculous DRM.

    Second, the game itself is not even good. The AI is dumber than Simcity 4 from 10 years ago. The pathfinding is especially horrible. Vehicles and Sims take completely insensible paths to reach their destinations. This leads to traffic jams all the time which shouldn't exist. School buses run empty but don't pick up children because they are full. Emergency vehicles get stuck in traffic, and also drive past their destination because they're on the wrong side of the road. These are just specific examples of how the game's AI is terrible.

    Thirdly, thanks to EA hating single-player games, and trying to make this an always-on multiplayer game, the amount of space you have to build your city is pathetic. It looks more like SimVille: The Facebook Game than a respectable PC game. I was looking for a modern, updated version of Simcity 2000 and Simcity 4. With today's graphics and CPU power, we could have built sprawling metropolises with stunning graphics. Instead, we have this pile of rubbish.

    I think it is time for gamers to simply boycott EA as a whole. Battlefield 4 is coming out? It's just a game, you can do without it.

    Don't buy EA games. whether created or published by them. Period.    … Expand
  24. AngryRob
    Mar 14, 2013
    10
    After spending over 80 hours constructing about 8 different cities each to a population of 100-250k, and with a few remaining very profitable and a few burning to the ground, i can say with all confidence that this is an excellent sim city game. not many games can suck so many hours of my life away in just the first 2 weeks of launch. sim city managed to do that, and it gets major kudos for that.
  25. TheAgentBrandon
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    This is not a game. It's a loading screen with server errors. Don't waste $60. I can't believe EA could do something so incredibly stupid. I hope this company rots.
  26. arkhanari
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    Bought the game. The game requires you to be online to connect to EA servers. Problem is: the servers do not work. Then EA tells us that the servers are doing computations to make the game work which has been found out to be a lie. Then EA tells us the game cannot run offline as well as it being near impossible to make the game work if you build outside the borders which also has beenBought the game. The game requires you to be online to connect to EA servers. Problem is: the servers do not work. Then EA tells us that the servers are doing computations to make the game work which has been found out to be a lie. Then EA tells us the game cannot run offline as well as it being near impossible to make the game work if you build outside the borders which also has been found to be a lie. A guy modded the game in one week to enable highway building and allow you to build outside borders (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmce9oIxJag&feature=player_embedded).

    I will never ever buy another game from EA and neither should you.    … Expand
  27. peterplane80
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    Drm, internet connection, small map but mainly a buggy game and the worst support i 've ever seen since battlefield 3... Thanks Ea Last game i bought on origin or EAgame...
  28. BastardMike
    Mar 14, 2013
    1
    Don't buy this game (at least until they fix it or modders do)! It's ridden with server problems and bugs galore. After logging in, the available regions that others play play on are all full or bugged, so you can only play with friends (which they have to be on the same server) or by yourself. Achievements are only carried on the server you play. When you do play with other people, theDon't buy this game (at least until they fix it or modders do)! It's ridden with server problems and bugs galore. After logging in, the available regions that others play play on are all full or bugged, so you can only play with friends (which they have to be on the same server) or by yourself. Achievements are only carried on the server you play. When you do play with other people, the server is so laggy that even talking in chat, there's a 10-30 second delay. The game is stupidly simple, it doesn't have the same complexity as previous versions. This game was not ready nor properly tested for launch, don't buy it!… Expand
  29. Rageraven
    Mar 14, 2013
    1
    While always-online DRM is irritating, it's not really a problem for me, as I have an Internet connection wherever I play games anyway. So I could live with that. I was totally fine with connection problems the first week, knowing it would stabilize later. If the simulation was even close to what was promised. After building a few 'cities' and you are done with the initial creativeWhile always-online DRM is irritating, it's not really a problem for me, as I have an Internet connection wherever I play games anyway. So I could live with that. I was totally fine with connection problems the first week, knowing it would stabilize later. If the simulation was even close to what was promised. After building a few 'cities' and you are done with the initial creative exploration, you really start to notice how simplified the simulation really is. Destroyed the whole experience for me. And I think it's too fundamental things for the developers to ever fix with patches. Going back to SimCity 4 and Tropico.… Expand
  30. Mooseda
    Mar 14, 2013
    7
    I definitely overall agree that the online-only DRM management for this game is superbly silly. But I really feel for the developers and engineers behind this project that made it come alive. I bet you they have been pouring their soul into this project for years BUT the head producers and directors and managers all made this absurd blueprint on trying to put a fight on piracy when inI definitely overall agree that the online-only DRM management for this game is superbly silly. But I really feel for the developers and engineers behind this project that made it come alive. I bet you they have been pouring their soul into this project for years BUT the head producers and directors and managers all made this absurd blueprint on trying to put a fight on piracy when in fact, I bet you there's less than a 8-13% population out there that REALLY know how to install a cracked game. If I was creating a great game and only 8-13% of them are hacking it because they figured out how to, by all means I would not mind. It's the head of EA that took in the developers of Maxis and corporate-ized them into a DLC and DRM machine. I support the game because of the engineers and the engine.. but I DO NOT respect the politics on how this game was born and how its maintained for audiences.… 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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