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. jdwolff85
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    I was able to play all of an hour of Sim City tonight. And from what I played? It's a great game.

    What's NOT great is always on DRM and EA's inability to learn simple lessons from this past year *cough* Diablo 3 *cough cough* Got booted out of my region after trying to SWITCH CITIES within the same region I was already in. Apparently the server had become quite fool. And sure, I can    I was able to play all of an hour of Sim City tonight. And from what I played? It's a great game.

    What's NOT great is always on DRM and EA's inability to learn simple lessons from this past year *cough* Diablo 3 *cough cough*

    Got booted out of my region after trying to SWITCH CITIES within the same region I was already in. Apparently the server had become quite fool. And sure, I can switch to another one...but how often am I going to play on Oceania when I'm in NY?    … Expand
  2. PantsOnHead
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    Let's talk about the fact that the game itself is pretty fun. However there are a pile of bugs. I'd like to give it a awesome score and say; hey 'this was amazing. But you know I can't do that BECAUSE I CAN'T LOG INTO THE GAME. If I can't play the game; I can't rate it. I had 2 hours last night after I bought the DELUX edition to play and now I can't even enjoy that. Huzzah 80Let's talk about the fact that the game itself is pretty fun. However there are a pile of bugs. I'd like to give it a awesome score and say; hey 'this was amazing. But you know I can't do that BECAUSE I CAN'T LOG INTO THE GAME. If I can't play the game; I can't rate it. I had 2 hours last night after I bought the DELUX edition to play and now I can't even enjoy that. Huzzah 80 buckeroos for something I can't use.… Expand
  3. hikahi
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Can't log in to US servers, they're all busy or full.
    Log in to european servers, can't create a city.
    Attempt to replay tutorial: Can't create this city at this time!

    I should know better than to buy games with DRM like this.
  4. Mark0s
    Mar 6, 2013
    3
    Just signed up here especially to give a comment on this epic and ridicules game. Im not giving a comment on the DMR always online mode, its a wrong choice to make EA, but they have made this choice, nothing to do about it anymore. Played the beta and beta 2, immediately gave some valuable gameplay feedback.
    As an urban planner for me personally the map size DOES matter, the tiny size    Just signed up here especially to give a comment on this epic and ridicules game. Im not giving a comment on the DMR always online mode, its a wrong choice to make EA, but they have made this choice, nothing to do about it anymore. Played the beta and beta 2, immediately gave some valuable gameplay feedback.
    As an urban planner for me personally the map size DOES matter, the tiny size does not compete with a realistic or sensible way of how a city works. Creativity is bounded due to this 2 by 2km square area. As well as the empty space between buildings, there is no feature that is able to completely fillup the empty space between the buildings. In the urban world this could be a key element to provide inhabitants more useable space, Simcity terms: “happiness”.

    Please EA, improve...    … Expand
  5. guardian41
    Mar 6, 2013
    3
    My gaming rig is top notch the problem with crashes is at the server. This is a poor choice if you dont' have perfect Internet all the time. The detail is awesome as are the missions, but the overall limitations are annoying. If I could, I'd return this game!
  6. Zolimox
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Always on DRM. Can't play unless its at EA's whims. City sizes 1/10th of prior games. No save games (wtf?). Yah thank you, EA, refund time. I dont know why i broke my "never another EA game" vow but i did. Disgusting.
  7. HateInternet
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    EA lost my business because I only use the internet at work. I do not have Internet access at home. I will never play a strictly online game. I think that to go strictly online is a complete waste of money and time. I will stick with Sim City 4 where I can do what I want and have the big striving metropolitan cities and not online games.
  8. Moodler
    Mar 18, 2013
    3
    Updated review after servers were fixed and I've been playing it a while:

    1) Cities are too small. No bigger than my real-life suburb!
    2) Sims are not very smart.
    3) Still can't play offline because of stupid DRM.
  9. temo
    Mar 11, 2013
    3
    Server, DRM and Region issues aside, the GlassBox engine simply isn't very good right and can't keep up with extended game play. Casinos, mass transit, garbage/recycling are broken and the path-finding is appallingly bad. If someone with DLC abandons a city then you can't claim it because you haven't paid the extra $20 to use it. This is brutal because now there's a dead city and nothingServer, DRM and Region issues aside, the GlassBox engine simply isn't very good right and can't keep up with extended game play. Casinos, mass transit, garbage/recycling are broken and the path-finding is appallingly bad. If someone with DLC abandons a city then you can't claim it because you haven't paid the extra $20 to use it. This is brutal because now there's a dead city and nothing you can do to fix it (good luck building a great work or commuting). There's so many other little problems with the inherent game play that it's obvious they shipped it before it was ready. Let me repeat these are core game problems and not just flaky servers.

    Now don't even get me started on the servers, drm and regions...What a mess...    … Expand
  10. bogbog
    Mar 12, 2013
    0
    Even if this were the greatest game in the history of creation (which it's not), it still wouldn't make sense to cripple the user experience by forcing them to always be online to play. That's pure garbage. Buy this game and you support publishers letting you play the game YOU purchased at THEIR discretion. Don't buy this game.
  11. Kagd
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    NEVER SUPPORT ONLINE DRM FOR SINGLE PLAYER GAMES. Period.
    I cant enjoy this single player game because it forces me to be online. Worse then that EA's servers are broken.

    As for gameplay; the city limits are a complete disgrace. You end up with patches of heavy developed squares surrounded by empty grass. Just trash.
  12. Ekras
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    What a waste of money. First off the cities are tiny (making you constantly have to re-start and build over from scratch), the AI it horrible, and the interface is lackluster at best. Than you have the perma-DRM which totally wrecks the game- if your connection hiccups you can't save so you have to restart from the last save when you had internet access. The game crashes frequently tooWhat a waste of money. First off the cities are tiny (making you constantly have to re-start and build over from scratch), the AI it horrible, and the interface is lackluster at best. Than you have the perma-DRM which totally wrecks the game- if your connection hiccups you can't save so you have to restart from the last save when you had internet access. The game crashes frequently too which makes this even more frustrating. I'm giving this a "1" just for the Sim City name outside of the little bit of nostalgia this brings back to Maxis' pre-EA classic there is nothing of value in this game.… Expand
  13. MikeDubC
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    I did not want to do a review based on DRM.....but I was left no choice. I love the game, I would give it a 9 out of 10, if the DRM was better. Even when I do get into servers, sometimes the server will crash, and I will lose an hour of progress. This really makes the game unplayable. I would prefer no online play rather than this.

    Its really a shame EA has done this, probably my last    I did not want to do a review based on DRM.....but I was left no choice. I love the game, I would give it a 9 out of 10, if the DRM was better. Even when I do get into servers, sometimes the server will crash, and I will lose an hour of progress. This really makes the game unplayable. I would prefer no online play rather than this.

    Its really a shame EA has done this, probably my last purchase from them.    … Expand
  14. DSPxx
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Always ON internet connection No buy

    BEWARE: Forced online DRM, will you be playing this 10 years down the track like previous Sim Cities? No, you wont. 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    Always ON internet connection No buy

    BEWARE: Forced online DRM, will you be playing this 10 years down the track like previous Sim Cities? No, you wont. 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.    … Expand
  15. copper7op
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    I literally signed up just to write a review. The game honestly looks excellent. But I wouldn't know, because I can't play it. 24 hours after purchasing the game (in store) I have yet to be able to login to these servers. And while a DRM-Free version of the game would probably get a 9/10 from me there are legitimate game issues, like small maps) I can't give a positive review to a game II literally signed up just to write a review. The game honestly looks excellent. But I wouldn't know, because I can't play it. 24 hours after purchasing the game (in store) I have yet to be able to login to these servers. And while a DRM-Free version of the game would probably get a 9/10 from me there are legitimate game issues, like small maps) I can't give a positive review to a game I can't play. They've taken my money, and now told me "wait up to a week for the servers to stabilize".

    Sorry Maxis, EA has ruined your game     … Expand
  16. sburtonhome
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    What a waste of money! I'm was a HUGE fan of the franchise no longer. Glaring flaws like a miniscule 2x2 map, always online play, and no local save games make this unbearable. On top of that and after waiting years for this release, I have to wait 15 minutes in line to play single player!?!
  17. subpop
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    First off, kudos to the developers, I'm sure it's a great game...but you're only getting a 1, and here's why.

    As a consumer, you deserve the above user score. When you announced SimCity, you suspected people wouldn't even notice that you'd have always be online in order to enjoy your game...you lied, and now we, the consumer, are eagerly waiting in digital "lineups" to play the game we    First off, kudos to the developers, I'm sure it's a great game...but you're only getting a 1, and here's why.

    As a consumer, you deserve the above user score. When you announced SimCity, you suspected people wouldn't even notice that you'd have always be online in order to enjoy your game...you lied, and now we, the consumer, are eagerly waiting in digital "lineups" to play the game we purchased, and expected to enjoy on launch day, and now you're getting what you deserve, that terrible user score on the dreaded Metacritic.

    You deserved this, EA. You should have listened, but you didn't. You need to listen closely to the customers suggestions. This game won't do as well as it should have, unfortunately, but that's because of the mistakes you COULD have prevented, again, by listening to US, the consumer.

    Always online DRM doesn't work for a core single player game, so DROP IT.

    I do not plan on purchasing this game at any point, or even plan to recommend it to my friends/online friends, or even the anonymous internet lurker. My involvement with Origin will be non-existant, especially when all of my friends are on Steam. Origin has nothing to offer to me, or my friends. Consider releasing your products on Steam or GreenManGaming, and we might be able to work something out, but for now, you're not getting any of my money.

    Cheers, and enjoy the color red.    … Expand
  18. Lsslave
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Always online, too small of city space, some good ideas ruined by terrible design choices that should never have been approved. Much like Diablo 3 and its terrible design choices, Sim City has proven it is no longer capable of being the number one city management game. Goodbye Sim City, you used to be cool.
  19. Scritty
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    The main point isn't even the DRM. It's the fact that the logic of the game in so many areas JUST DOESN'T WORK. Simoleons are lost, weird limits placed on buying energy or shipping waste or whatever, shops restocking with no need of industry (and no other players and at ZERO cost to your "mini city" People leaving work from home" A" and returning to a completely different house.. HomeThe main point isn't even the DRM. It's the fact that the logic of the game in so many areas JUST DOESN'T WORK. Simoleons are lost, weird limits placed on buying energy or shipping waste or whatever, shops restocking with no need of industry (and no other players and at ZERO cost to your "mini city" People leaving work from home" A" and returning to a completely different house.. Home "B" and then repeating this randomly every day, pathfinding for traffic terrible. Waste not clearing, cash limits "sticking". The logic of the game is just plain BROKEN all over the place. The list could go on and on and on. For the first 90 minutes you are thinking
    "This is a good game. Looks good, if the servers OK I'm going to enjoy this"... Then WHAM the logic somewhere trips you up and often it's a game ending error. Nothing to do with servers or online logic issues these are pure and simple game logic errors and LOTS OF THEM. As for online multiplay. Sharing a zone is a nightmare without some sort of "mind control" over your fellow players.
    Everyone has to build at the same rate for this to work. and display co-ordination and co-operatiion over the long term consistent communication and really playing "one way" that would need to be pre decided before the game begins. It almost requires separate coms software and tracking to get this to work even then, if a player stops playing, wants to experiment, or comes across a problem and doesn't communicate quickly your own "city" (tiny village) is most likely on a downward spiral to collapse as a result. And this happens...every game.

    Rely on someone to provide your power? Well make sure he or she is playing and expanding at about the same rate and at the same time as you or BAM it goes out of the window. Same with waste same with EVERYTHING. You need almost superhuman co-ordination to get a 15 player map to any decent level using multiplayer. It's darn hard with 3!

    Then you realize why goods appear from no-where at zero cost. Maxis knew the game logic was bust and hid 1/3rd of the issue by making these phantom products for "C" districts to sell. But didn't apply the same "bodge" fixes to "I" or "R" (perhaps becasue that would have let the cat out of the bag too early as far as botched game mechanics go)

    For me the idea of global market multiplayer seems quite atractive. I would go online for that for sure. It WOULD bring a new facet to the game. I would hope it was optional. But that is academic. It doesn't work and it's not just a "little bit" broke go deep enough into any facet of the game and it will unravel into a mess of faulty logic and counter intuitive reactions from your Sims. My two pence worth is Maxis "shoe horned" multiplayer functionality in sometime mid 2012 to justify always online DRM. And botched the logic..BADLY. I'd like to say probably at the request of EA but I have no idea whether that would be true or not.

    The sad thing is all of this worked (and still does) with Sim City 4. A ten year old game that works almost flawlessly to this day and is what I'm playing on my other monitor as I type this.    … Expand
  20. Redfordsto
    Mar 19, 2013
    0
    I promised myself, the only time I would ever give a game a "0" would be if I bought the game, put it in or booted it up, and it didn't play. That's exactly what happened. I was foolish enough to buy the digital download version. This prompted a mass email telling me I would not receive a refund that I had yet to ask for because I was still troubleshooting.
  21. Winkee
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    BEWARE: Forced online DRM, will you be playing this 10 years down the track like previous Sim Cities? No, you wont. And they want this, so you buy the next one. Servers go down? Well screw you, EA already has your money. DLC available from release, server side save-games. I repeat, FORCED ONLINE DRM Also, server queues at launch. Thanks for destroying video gaming and my most treasured franchise.
  22. StarlessBB
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    The DRM is inexcusable.
    The fact that this is a goddamn $80 game that's next to unplayable is inexcusable.
    The fact that this is an extremely incomplete $80 game with tons of already finished DLC on the way is inexcusable.

    This is the single worst game EA has made since Spore. Spore.
  23. 718bc
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Do not buy this game, so not support corrupt businesses. EA continues to harm their paying customers in every way possible. Do not let them see a single penny.
  24. JaguarXJ6
    Mar 18, 2013
    0
    When it works, it's hugely entertaining as you would expect from SimCity and Maxis after a decade. However, they really created a disaster of Maxis proportions and like this server-controlled debacle, there is no reloading the launch or a wave of bad design decisions. I expect a game not to blow up in my face after 30 hours of progress. Forget being online or offline for a moment, toWhen it works, it's hugely entertaining as you would expect from SimCity and Maxis after a decade. However, they really created a disaster of Maxis proportions and like this server-controlled debacle, there is no reloading the launch or a wave of bad design decisions. I expect a game not to blow up in my face after 30 hours of progress. Forget being online or offline for a moment, to have your efforts wiped clean because of a server sync issue and no backup save is extremely amateur. The "Unable to load city. Please try again." error that corrupts your whole region, or one city if you are lucky, has not been acknowledged or fixed. One would argue that region functionality is core to the designers vision, that is definitely true. But it's created a frustrating, unstable gaming experience for which a free game is hardly compensation. They need to rethink their refund policy particularly for those who pre-ordered, as I did, and expected a working game regardless of how it synchronized or required online play. I really want to rate this game what it deserves, but even something as basic as saving your progress isn't completely functional and it's deserving of the lowest rating possible. My bank is reversing the charge with one final step in the investigation. If there is a litany of bug fixes and arse kissing, there might be hope of buying it in the coming months.… Expand
  25. moremodestthanu
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Need to cancel out all of the 9&10's. THIS GAME IS A TRAVESTY! Pros: Graphics Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE! Enough yelling, sorry, but I am really disappointing by this game and the ongoing trend of releasing "sequels" with less options and features. Sim City 4 is better in every way other than graphics. Are they serious with how small these "cities" are?

    ... and then you get to the always on    Need to cancel out all of the 9&10's. THIS GAME IS A TRAVESTY! Pros: Graphics Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE! Enough yelling, sorry, but I am really disappointing by this game and the ongoing trend of releasing "sequels" with less options and features. Sim City 4 is better in every way other than graphics. Are they serious with how small these "cities" are?

    ... and then you get to the always on DRM Day 1 DLC atrocities. You know people are going to want to play the game on day 1, why you suck so much, EA? Aren't you making enough money ruining all of the other franchises? I just want to pull my hair out.    … Expand
  26. MooseQuest
    Mar 5, 2013
    2
    A wonderful game that is ruined by it's implementation. SimCity is a beautiful and unique game to play. You'll find yourself indulged for hours. However, the infrastructure that backs this game is susceptible to high-volumes.
    Digitally the game is setup to play online always. The problem is that, server availability, stability and performance now affect every aspect of the game. So far my    A wonderful game that is ruined by it's implementation. SimCity is a beautiful and unique game to play. You'll find yourself indulged for hours. However, the infrastructure that backs this game is susceptible to high-volumes.
    Digitally the game is setup to play online always. The problem is that, server availability, stability and performance now affect every aspect of the game. So far my experience has gone from good to extremely unhappy. This is a very poor implementation of game, and I feel this release is ruined and not worth playing at all.    … Expand
  27. BarryBudgie
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I give this game a Zero I stupidly Pre ordered and paid in Advance 24 hours after release I have not been able to log onto to play what used to be a great Single Player Game

    EA Destroying Sim City RIP a worst release than diablo III Congratulations.
  28. d0dger
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Why zero for a rating you might wonder? Well, you cannot possibly rate a game any higher when it does not even allow you access to play. I would seek a refund but at the moment, it won't even allow me to log into Origin to set that into motion.

    Lesson learnt, EA. Will henceforth avoid games that require an always on DRM component.
  29. 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
  30. mporada1025
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Nothing to say that everyone else didn't say. WASTE OF MONEY! $80 for nothing. DON'T buy this. Even when I do get an occasional hour to play, the space is so unbelievably small that's all it takes to fill it.
  31. Isochronous44
    Mar 11, 2013
    2
    Have revised my score upwards slightly, as EA has now actually allowed me to play the game rather than the loading screen for the first time. It was a lot of fun. A lot. This would be a fantastic single-player game. But then I lost connection, and couldn't log back on. That was not fun. Then EA allowed me to play again several hours later, and I found I had lost hours of progress. That wasHave revised my score upwards slightly, as EA has now actually allowed me to play the game rather than the loading screen for the first time. It was a lot of fun. A lot. This would be a fantastic single-player game. But then I lost connection, and couldn't log back on. That was not fun. Then EA allowed me to play again several hours later, and I found I had lost hours of progress. That was even less fun. Why is there no "Save" option? Never before have I played a game with that gave me such enjoyment before letting me down so badly. If it was an MMO it wouldn't feel so bad. But it's a single player game, and it doesn't NEED to be server-dependent. It really feels like EA is playing some cruel game here with one of my favorite game series of all times. They set it up this way deliberately, knowing that this would happen.… Expand
  32. Hapa
    Mar 11, 2013
    2
    The DRM in an effort to make money by stopping piracy killed the game and lost them millions. I will never buy a game with DRM again. The gameplay seems meh but I only could play for a small amount of time since the DRM stops me from playing all together. Don't buy this until they remove the DRM!!!
  33. gemini420
    Mar 17, 2013
    0
    SimCity has potential, but falls very short of achieving its potential (very short of achieving.)

    If you feel like wasting hours fudging around with traffic jams and broken game dynamics, being kicked out of the single player city you have been creating for hours and then have to start it all over again, then you may be interested ... I feel ashamed for buying this game. D'oh,    SimCity has potential, but falls very short of achieving its potential (very short of achieving.)

    If you feel like wasting hours fudging around with traffic jams and broken game dynamics, being kicked out of the single player city you have been creating for hours and then have to start it all over again, then you may be interested ...

    I feel ashamed for buying this game. D'oh, Electronic Arts! I should have known better     … Expand
  34. DareJedi
    Mar 18, 2013
    0
    EA does not need always DRM cause they killed all special games. Customers do not need to buy EA games. They are game killer. This game isnt SimCity it is SimsCity(Town).
  35. WooFerPPK
    Mar 5, 2013
    2
    I've been waiting all day to play this game, however so far ive spent more time waiting to get into the game, and finally when i got into the game, every public region was locked. I managed to build a very small city until the game crashed forcing me to go through all this again. Do not waste your money on this. This always online thing is a terrible idea and does not make sense for a gameI've been waiting all day to play this game, however so far ive spent more time waiting to get into the game, and finally when i got into the game, every public region was locked. I managed to build a very small city until the game crashed forcing me to go through all this again. Do not waste your money on this. This always online thing is a terrible idea and does not make sense for a game that could easily be offline.… Expand
  36. Afterforever
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    The launch has been a complete disaster. Single player game is basically unplayable, because of idiotic online DRM implementation. Seriously, if you can't offer good service, just don't offer it. Unfortunately, this is rather typical thing for big publishing companies nowadays. What's even worse, EA doesn't offer refunds for digital purchases. Well, we'll see about that... Apparently, it'sThe launch has been a complete disaster. Single player game is basically unplayable, because of idiotic online DRM implementation. Seriously, if you can't offer good service, just don't offer it. Unfortunately, this is rather typical thing for big publishing companies nowadays. What's even worse, EA doesn't offer refunds for digital purchases. Well, we'll see about that... Apparently, it's not ok to steal their games, but it's ok to take someone's money without consequences.… Expand
  37. p360assassin
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Ignoring all the terrible DRM problems, this game is still awful. You cant have any city building game when your city is so small. If I run out of space in under 2 hours, the game is already bad. There is games where map size isn't that much of a problem, but in city building games, you by default need a large area. The multiplayer interaction is forced, and seeing as I like playing it inIgnoring all the terrible DRM problems, this game is still awful. You cant have any city building game when your city is so small. If I run out of space in under 2 hours, the game is already bad. There is games where map size isn't that much of a problem, but in city building games, you by default need a large area. The multiplayer interaction is forced, and seeing as I like playing it in single player, that is unacceptable. No point in having 5 cities per regions if they are not always progressing when I am not playing in them.… Expand
  38. TrueGamerOz
    Mar 9, 2013
    0
    This is what happened to SimCity, EA do what EA does best, destroy franchises, they've destroied three seperate franchises in three months (Including SimCity), not bad even at EA standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-LE0ycgkBQ
  39. SkippyDunbar
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    Thanks for ruining a great game EA games.. The city size limit, DRM and required on-line play are a total failure. And detract from the games visual appeal.. THANK YOU FOR OFFERING REFUNDS TO THOSE WHO WANT THEM. I have already requested my refund and have un installed the game. I will stick with SimCity 4... It works...
  40. Trustme_imaDoct
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    I literally made an account to give this game a 0 and tell everyone it sucks dick. Forced online and so many great features gone, leaves this game to be known as one of the worst in Sim City history...
  41. BrotherDodobird
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    Poor launch experience. Origin claims the release is on march 7th. A large beta test would have fixed all of this. Hopefully some negative reviews will get the message across.
  42. khorramdin
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    What a disgrace! I can't even play this game and I can't get a refund. Thank you EA for destroying another franchise and than you Maxis for allowing them. Shame.
  43. Joe0
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    The FarmVille of SimCity titles. This is almost as bad as Civ V. Between the ridiculously small maps, and 'regional building', as well as all the DRM server issues, this has to be as big of a disappointment as Spore.

    $80 is a big pill to swallow for this awful representation of SimCity, Ocean. Thanks for killing the series.
  44. Puk3ify
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Always online even to play singleplayer, and then the server is down. DO NOT BUY! WASTE OF MONEY. EA is clearly buying good reviews from critics. Besides, they kill all the good series anyway.
  45. BluSpecter
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    I cant believe how disastrous this "final product" is (though we all know this games current dlc is just the beginning). No manual, less than helpful tutorial, unbelievably small maps, utter lack of support, draconian wait times, bugs abound, coupled with the obviously massaged critic reviews that will inevitably "trick" less people into buying the game than EA thinks, this has got to beI cant believe how disastrous this "final product" is (though we all know this games current dlc is just the beginning). No manual, less than helpful tutorial, unbelievably small maps, utter lack of support, draconian wait times, bugs abound, coupled with the obviously massaged critic reviews that will inevitably "trick" less people into buying the game than EA thinks, this has got to be one of the worst follow-ups to one of my all time favorite game series. I still play SimCity 4 to this day. EA has failed the gaming community......… Expand
  46. Harmor
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    If you buy this game, you just tell EA that cloudsaving is totally okay and you have no problem with not being able to play in case the servers are down. You'll also tell EA that it's perfectly fine to buy a SIM CITY game that in reality should rather be called Sim Village, while you're eagerly waiting for the DLC that gives you HUGE maps like they were in the earlier games of the series.If you buy this game, you just tell EA that cloudsaving is totally okay and you have no problem with not being able to play in case the servers are down. You'll also tell EA that it's perfectly fine to buy a SIM CITY game that in reality should rather be called Sim Village, while you're eagerly waiting for the DLC that gives you HUGE maps like they were in the earlier games of the series. EA, you're nothing short of disgusting! Don't buy this game, because that's our only voice to tell the publishers enough is enough!… Expand
  47. 4en1vanm
    Mar 6, 2013
    3
    This game has been such a disappointment considering what it could have been. While the game play itself is decent the lack of city space (Only 2km square) and the obvious nickel dime that EA is planning by not having basic city options, such as subways, and already including $20 of additional buildings in an $80 purchase makes this game not worth it until you find it on a discount rack.This game has been such a disappointment considering what it could have been. While the game play itself is decent the lack of city space (Only 2km square) and the obvious nickel dime that EA is planning by not having basic city options, such as subways, and already including $20 of additional buildings in an $80 purchase makes this game not worth it until you find it on a discount rack.

    Oh and did I mention its DRM requires always online internet connections. This little gem of and idea just won't go away even though gamers have strongly voiced their disdain against it. I guess EA liked being named 2012's worst American company that they wanted to be in the running for it again in 2013. Until EA completely sells Maxis to a competent software company that listens to gamers avoid any and all EA or Maxis games including this POS!    … Expand
  48. GnrHardy
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Complete and total failure by EA to anticipate server loads. Game is unplayable in North America due to servers full with extremely long queues. Europe Servers finally opened up in the middle of the night there.
  49. kafkaten
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    The level of disdain that this company must have for its customers is unreal. To force paying customers into an "always-on-line" system for an ostensibly single-player game is already a dangerous, anti-consumer road for the industry to go down. But then to have that system be a miserable failure at launch? And this after a extensive Beta? Wow. I sincerely hope their sales take a hit,The level of disdain that this company must have for its customers is unreal. To force paying customers into an "always-on-line" system for an ostensibly single-player game is already a dangerous, anti-consumer road for the industry to go down. But then to have that system be a miserable failure at launch? And this after a extensive Beta? Wow. I sincerely hope their sales take a hit, because I'd hate to think that EA could get away with this kind of business practice and still make a massive profit.… Expand
  50. MikeF
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    Garbage DRM, Windows only. Really? In this day and age, Windows is old news; cross-platform is the future. Get with the times Devs. These big game companies are dying, grasping for air with reboots and old content.
  51. Sneetches
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    TL;DR Here lies the corpse of SimCity, slain by the dishonorable EA.

    Don't even waste your time or your money, let alone give another cent to EA, please just don't do it. You're basically paying for a neutered SimCity that removes many key features in exchange for "Always online" to play a strictly SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Besides the Always Online, DRM, bad graphics, neutered gameplay, full    TL;DR Here lies the corpse of SimCity, slain by the dishonorable EA.

    Don't even waste your time or your money, let alone give another cent to EA, please just don't do it. You're basically paying for a neutered SimCity that removes many key features in exchange for "Always online" to play a strictly SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Besides the Always Online, DRM, bad graphics, neutered gameplay, full servers that don't enable you to even play, and just about everything else that could go wrong, this game could have been released for free and been just as bad. All the critic scores having an average of 91 could make me puke, welcome to the current state of paid reviews.I can go dig out the disk (well you don't need one actually) for SimCity 2000 right now and play it. What are the chances, that in 13 years, that you'll be able to play this pile of garbage? EA will have to cancel the servers or release an offline version, but I wouldn't even bet on those scumbags to do that.    … Expand
  52. tigraner
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Preordered the game and for that Origin decided that I can only download it on march 7 2 days after initial release. Also people who were lucky to be able to download cannot play because of the server problems. Big FAT Fail on the franchise!
  53. TheBrit0n
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    I am so dissapointed I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt but they have let us down proving once and for all that always on DRM can never and should never be industry standard on anything relating to single player content. This I can only assume is a an antipiracy counter measure that is about to backfire massively the only thing that this will achieve is to encourage piracy.I am so dissapointed I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt but they have let us down proving once and for all that always on DRM can never and should never be industry standard on anything relating to single player content. This I can only assume is a an antipiracy counter measure that is about to backfire massively the only thing that this will achieve is to encourage piracy. Also on the TOS claims I haven't read them personally but I can assure you I will be checking my games in future I have never rented games I do not intend to start now I would rather quit the medium than allow these major corporation dictate how and when I can play my games. I realise a lot of you are enjoying this game and you have to understand no one is saying its a bad game there saying it's bad business and bad practice and just saying oh well that's the way the industry is headed is just burying your head in the sand gamers are an extremely powerful group unfortunately we are fractured it is time we took a stand stopped fighting ourselves and put our consumer power to test against these people it is the only way things will ever change.… Expand
  54. freddieanto
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    I would love to give you a great review on game play, but due to DRM, needing a constant, always on internet connection, and server management, I CANT EVEN PLAY THE GAME!! I already lost the first town I had because the server that I started it on was gone, so I had to start another. Now I cant play because the game can't find any servers. The game times out and quit's.

    Great job EA!    I would love to give you a great review on game play, but due to DRM, needing a constant, always on internet connection, and server management, I CANT EVEN PLAY THE GAME!! I already lost the first town I had because the server that I started it on was gone, so I had to start another. Now I cant play because the game can't find any servers. The game times out and quit's.

    Great job EA! With DRM, the ONLY people you screw are the people who pay for this game. The PIRATES already have this game cracked and are building themselves great cities.    … Expand
  55. Kelukan
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    City size is inexplicably small. I was able to fill 5 entire plots in about 4 hours of play. Unfortunately, it took more than 8 hours to get 4 hours of play, due to the servers constantly crashing. And even though the game is usually played solo, you have to have an internet connection and connect to the servers in order to play. Utter failure. Ill be seeking a refund as the game has noCity size is inexplicably small. I was able to fill 5 entire plots in about 4 hours of play. Unfortunately, it took more than 8 hours to get 4 hours of play, due to the servers constantly crashing. And even though the game is usually played solo, you have to have an internet connection and connect to the servers in order to play. Utter failure. Ill be seeking a refund as the game has no replay value whatsoever.… Expand
  56. LegalEagle2
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Extremely unimpressed by the changes made to a once loved franchise. Smaller "cities" (towns), DRM that requires me to be connected to the internet (what?! SimCity was what I went to play when I wasn't able to get online) horrible servers, DLC available on day one (if we're required to get onto your shop just to play the game, why didn't we get all content for the game on day one? AnythingExtremely unimpressed by the changes made to a once loved franchise. Smaller "cities" (towns), DRM that requires me to be connected to the internet (what?! SimCity was what I went to play when I wasn't able to get online) horrible servers, DLC available on day one (if we're required to get onto your shop just to play the game, why didn't we get all content for the game on day one? Anything after that point I understand, but shoving DLC we have to pay for down our throats when we're supposed to be enjoying our brand new game? Your ads are on my main menu for Christs sake, I expect that from a free to play game, not one I just dropped $80 on.

    The new SimCity literally a better looking "Farmville". Get rid of the online DRM so people can play and get out of those massive queue's, enlarge cities so we can build what we want, and please let me save to my hard drive so every 15 minutes I don't get disconnected from your sub-par servers.

    Signed,
    A long time fan utterly disappointed    … Expand
  57. Seagoon
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Unplayable. Completely ridiculous to pay 60 bucks for what is really a single player game and then not be able to play due to server issues. EA are thieves
  58. Whitemare
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Be aware that this is a 100% online game. i only discovered this today. not only are people having to wait to log on to servers like an MMO launch, but i actually got booted and now i can get back on for more than a few seconds. There are no save games and no loading. you have no control over this. the game let me play for about 30mins offline. then it wouldn't let my place buildings orBe aware that this is a 100% online game. i only discovered this today. not only are people having to wait to log on to servers like an MMO launch, but i actually got booted and now i can get back on for more than a few seconds. There are no save games and no loading. you have no control over this. the game let me play for about 30mins offline. then it wouldn't let my place buildings or advance time etc. i restarted and it didnt save anything since my last connection. I haven't played EA games for years because of crap like this and now i returned for this 1 game and i get screwed around again. Its my own fault for trusting them again. Such a shame… Expand
  59. Hiddendesk
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    This game isn't functional, don't waste your money.

    If you hoped for a rewarding city building experience based on the long running Simcity brand, you'll be sorely disappointed. Small cities and social gimmicks are all you'll find in this reboot. Play a facebook game and you can have most of the experience without the dysfunctional drm.
  60. Ardais
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Some aspects of the game are good, but the constant DRM means you often get errors when trying to start your city. For the past few hours I have been getting an error where I can't start a city. Also, almost every time I restart the game I have to re-do the tutorial all over again because there must be a problem with their cloud storage. TL;DR You pay for a game and get terrible service. ISome aspects of the game are good, but the constant DRM means you often get errors when trying to start your city. For the past few hours I have been getting an error where I can't start a city. Also, almost every time I restart the game I have to re-do the tutorial all over again because there must be a problem with their cloud storage. TL;DR You pay for a game and get terrible service. I am going to try and get a refund.… Expand
  61. jctaylor
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Not only is it required to have an internet connection at all times to play the game, it forces you to download Origin which is EA's sad excuse to capitalize on Steam's success. Day one there are persistent server issues that make the game unplayable and to top it off many gamers who can play are losing saves because all save games are held on the server. This is absolutely ridiculous.Not only is it required to have an internet connection at all times to play the game, it forces you to download Origin which is EA's sad excuse to capitalize on Steam's success. Day one there are persistent server issues that make the game unplayable and to top it off many gamers who can play are losing saves because all save games are held on the server. This is absolutely ridiculous. If I were to go into a movie theater and the projector couldn't display the movie I just paid for, I'd get my money back. This is the reason why people hate you EA. This is the reason why I avoid purchasing any games made by you. Maxis, I'm sure this is a wonderful game and thank you for your work as a developer. I am truly sorry EA screwed you guys and many of your fans will never get the chance to play your game...including the ones who bought it.… Expand
  62. Beefnose
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    This game would be much better if it was actually playable. User interface failures on epic levels (I am unable to even see the buttons that are needed to progress through the tutorial, and there is very poor support in the manuals to assist this process), Preposterously bad DRM, (this is a single player game, no matter how much they want you to be able to interact with your neighbors)This game would be much better if it was actually playable. User interface failures on epic levels (I am unable to even see the buttons that are needed to progress through the tutorial, and there is very poor support in the manuals to assist this process), Preposterously bad DRM, (this is a single player game, no matter how much they want you to be able to interact with your neighbors) and depressingly small cities (even when the game is playable you are limited because of the forced "multiplayer" nature of the game) all combine to make a depressingly awful experience. If you don't own it, don't buy it.… Expand
  63. ratt22
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    EA has lost my business forever! I can't even play the game by myself; have to have an Internet connection and there is no guarantee the server will save your game! EA saw this coming and did nothing to fix it before it actually became a problem. With all the preorders, how in the hell were they not able to fix this problem! EA is a bunch of turds!
  64. t_h
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM blows hard. What if someone wanted to play while abroad, offline or in an area with no internet connection? There are those who love multiplayer games and there are those who love their single player games. SimCity will always be remembered for catering to the latter. "These are games that a lot of people like to play single-player," says Graham Smith, the editor of PCAlways online DRM blows hard. What if someone wanted to play while abroad, offline or in an area with no internet connection? There are those who love multiplayer games and there are those who love their single player games. SimCity will always be remembered for catering to the latter. "These are games that a lot of people like to play single-player," says Graham Smith, the editor of PC Gamer magazine. "People don’t want to play with other people. They want to play alone."

    Way to ruin an excellent single player franchise, EA.    … Expand
  65. nitehawk
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    EA ruins a great franchise. Always on DRM means this game will not endure into the future and that paying customers cannot play a game they paid for. EA's policy of Nickel-and-Dime downloadable content policy makes you pay a ton for the right to pay a ton for the game. Tiny cities go against the classic gameplay.
  66. xxysyndrome
    Mar 6, 2013
    1
    I'm not the type to complain over every little fault in a game, especially one as ambitious as SC5 right after release. But little faults aren't this game's problem it's massive, fundamental design decisions that have completely changed the way this game is to be played, and overwhelmingly not for the better.

    City size too small this is a mind-blower. Did the developers really think    I'm not the type to complain over every little fault in a game, especially one as ambitious as SC5 right after release. But little faults aren't this game's problem it's massive, fundamental design decisions that have completely changed the way this game is to be played, and overwhelmingly not for the better.

    City size too small this is a mind-blower. Did the developers really think people would rather have nearly invisible microeconomic individual sim simuation rather than the ability to build full, complete cities that didn't look like ridiculous postage stamps? I get that it's a performance issue my machine is a beast let me have bigger cities. Let us ALL have bigger cities and get rid of the unhelpful low-level modeling. We came to build cities first, and enjoy drill-down metrics later.

    Always-on DRM: I don't like this mechanism in general, but I don't dismiss it out of hand either. For some online games, it can be useful to limit or prevent hacking and cheating. Diablo 3 needed that, and even though it takes away a lot from the game and can add much frustration, it has its positive points as well. But I cannot for the life of me figure out why in the hell SC5 has a mandatory on-line requirement to simply play the game. It makes no sense whatsoever. A good multiplayer option is always nice, and hopefully it actually works in this game, unlike some other city sims of late, but Sim City is at its core a single-player game that invites the user to experiment, tweak, mess around and generally goof off sometimes. Now? You can't even set a save point to go back to. You make a mistake, too bad. You ruin your economy? Start over from the beginning. Does EA not know what a "simulation" is? I didn't sign up for a Roguelike. Of all this game's misfires, this one is the hugest of all. How am I supposed to learn how to build anything efficiently or aesthetically or economically when the game punishes the living crap out of you for experimenting? I mean PUNISH, as in hours and hours of your life wasted, with very little learning payoff. It's a really huge problem that destroys this game. Never mind that the first 3 times I was able to play the game crashed and nothing was saved on the server anyway. But really bugs get fixed, and they don't ultimately deter me. But awful design decisions do.

    It's impossible to play this game without almost suffocating in the understanding that this game is going to do everything it can to nickle and dime you to death. Hell, they had DLC available the first day! $60 and I get a no-frills economy model? At least PRETEND like you aren't going to charge for every stupid park and church and billboard or whatever and give me a sense, however fleeting, that I have in my possession a complete game with loads of content. Stuff that was in the initial release of SC2K and SC4 is gone here. Gee, wonder how I can get it. Make a great game, give me great content up front and I will pay at least a little for great NEW content. The cynical microtransaction scheme in place here is ham-fisted and infuriating.

    The Glassbox engine is beautiful. The data maps are even moreso. This game is GORGEOUS. I love the tilt-shift look a brilliant design decision. The music is fine and the animations are ok, I hate the stupid Sim language but I can easily get past that. And that's what REALLY kills me this game could be, nay SHOULD be a great game. The technology is there. I mean right there on your machine. Glass box, microeconomic simulation, expensive production all right there waiting to be turned into a really cool game. But the implementation here is so bad, the overall game experience so misguided, and so radically different and worse than any SC before, that this game can ultimately only be considered a huge, massive and crushingly depressing flop. It's hard to imagine that you can take a brilliant game like SC2K or even SC4, add 10+ years and a customer base with PCs literally 1000x more powerful, and THIS is what you get. EA, I have never said this about any game ever, but I want my money back. This is a travesty.    … Expand
  67. starkline
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    I have to say. Wow. Having never written a review for Metacritic, SimCity has all but angered me to the point of voicing my opinion in a sea of others. I'd generally say that writing a review on or very near launch day is counter-productive. There will always be server problems and 0 day bugs, but EA/Maxis/Origin have done an amazing job at an EPIC FAIL.

    I gave this some thought. How is    I have to say. Wow. Having never written a review for Metacritic, SimCity has all but angered me to the point of voicing my opinion in a sea of others. I'd generally say that writing a review on or very near launch day is counter-productive. There will always be server problems and 0 day bugs, but EA/Maxis/Origin have done an amazing job at an EPIC FAIL.

    I gave this some thought. How is it fair to rate an entire game based on server issues alone? My conclusion is this: How is it not? I paid for a game that requires an internet connection. Any idiot born since 1970 (or earlier) knows that means the game will require servers. Knowing this, the servers are an integral part of the package. They're just as essential as the premise, design and execution of the game play. Reasonable people should expect that a product they paid for should be available for use. Whether it be the first day or 3285th. Occasional server crashes and bugs are human error and random acts of electrons. 10s of thousands of Twitter reports and FB posts are something different. In my case, I was able to play once in 2 days of trying. In fact, I spent all day trying to play one damn time on any of the servers. I was not able to play.

    So, my review is hugely negative. If you think it's unfair to judge a game based on server problems, then you're entitled to your opinion. Me, I'm tired of getting the run-around from mega-corporations and shareholders who only care about greed. I'm sick of 1/2 baked excuses. From day 1 and forward, a game includes all its aspects, and a review should encompass all of it.    … Expand
  68. Dogcat
    Mar 13, 2013
    0
    We were promised a great revival of the franchise. Instead we got a really casual boring game that should be rather called "sim-really-small-town". And yet it costs 80$ has a huuuuuuuuge set of bugs and has the worst kind of DRM ever. To all fans of SimCity3000 and SimCity4 I'd recommend buying CitiesXL and avoiding SimCity 5.
  69. ezioauditore
    Mar 9, 2013
    1
    I have been waiting for this game for a long time, waiting for innovation and an entertaining, LARGE city-building game. This is a horrible game. And I'm saying this not taking into account the million problems I have had trying to play online. Not expecting this many players is a horibble excuse Maxis and EA. I severely recommend that nobody plays this game. The graphics, I don't evenI have been waiting for this game for a long time, waiting for innovation and an entertaining, LARGE city-building game. This is a horrible game. And I'm saying this not taking into account the million problems I have had trying to play online. Not expecting this many players is a horibble excuse Maxis and EA. I severely recommend that nobody plays this game. The graphics, I don't even want to talk about it, I recommend Cities XL. DO NOT play this game, do yourself this favor.… Expand
  70. 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
  71. Zenn3k
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Unable to connect, unable to play. If I DO connect finally, and DO play...the game crashes and nothing is saved. I've tried for 5 hours to play with nothing to show for my efforts. Getting a refund. Avoid.
  72. TreborYelam
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    Let me start with a disclaimer: I've never really been a fan of EA. Customer support is non-existent and they rarely spend a dime accommodating for customer concerns. However, I am not rating this game a 0 due to prejudice against EA (I actually used to be a huge fan of Maxis, the developer).

    I'm giving this game a 0 for one major reason: If you do not have a 100% consistent internet    Let me start with a disclaimer: I've never really been a fan of EA. Customer support is non-existent and they rarely spend a dime accommodating for customer concerns. However, I am not rating this game a 0 due to prejudice against EA (I actually used to be a huge fan of Maxis, the developer).

    I'm giving this game a 0 for one major reason: If you do not have a 100% consistent internet connection, like me, then do not buy this game; it is rendered almost completely unplayable. You cannot save the game of your own accord, the EA servers decide when your game auto-saves, and there are not multiple save files. If you lose your connection to the EA servers and cannot recover it in 180 seconds, you are SOL. The game will boot you and, obviously, since you are not connected to the EA server, your game will not save. Compounding this issue (as of launch, servers probably won't be so busy a week from now), when you do try to reload the game, you are sent to the back of a queue, of which I have yet to see the end of (I've been waiting almost 3 hours now), before you can get in the server (even if you just want to play "single player").

    If you have absolutely no worries about the consistency of your internet provider, than you have a decent 7/10 game on your hands. For the total of maybe two hours I have gotten to play the game, I can say that I was genuinely enjoying myself. The game is very identical to Sim City 4, but the graphics are much better and it is quite fun to build a city in a region with up to 16 other people. It would easily be a 9/10 minus a few moderately annoying drawbacks:

    1. You cannot save on your own, the EA server will auto-save for you. This took away one of the most stress-relieving elements of Sim City 4: Saving your perfect city before wrecking havoc on it's unsuspecting inhabitants with disaster after disaster, only to be able to reload the old save when the fun was over, good as new.

    2. You cannot save on your own. Again. If you make a mistake, you're stuck with it. Accidentally jerk your mouse and place that $150,000 Nuclear Plant in the wrong place? Too bad. No refund, no reload.

    3. There are a lot of glitches with creating private regions, and inviting friends to them. Five of my friends bought this game. Only me and one other have been able to play together so far.

    4. The plots are very small. Do you know any cities in real life that are 2km x 2km? Me neither. I didn't even play for two hours and I was running out of room to put new schools. And God forbid you have a river running through the middle of your city there goes half your land area.

    So there you have it. SIM CITY: A decent creation by the developers, ruined by the producers.    … Expand
  73. ScottieClayson
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    EA deserve all of this. The only way they'll ever stop being such a horrible company is if we make it clear how much we hate things like always on DRM. Releasing a game which is unplayable is an automatic zero.
  74. Cschnurr
    Mar 19, 2013
    1
    First, I despise the fact I have to play this game online. I have all the simcities at home play them when I want and how I want. Now to the game.

    I paid $79.99 for this? I have limited control. All the vehicles look the same. Land area is far too small. It is not realistic planning. I have SimCity 4 at home and have played it everyday since I bought it 8 years ago. I never    First, I despise the fact I have to play this game online. I have all the simcities at home play them when I want and how I want. Now to the game.

    I paid $79.99 for this? I have limited control. All the vehicles look the same. Land area is far too small. It is not realistic planning. I have SimCity 4 at home and have played it everyday since I bought it 8 years ago. I never grow tired of it. This "version" of SimCity is the ultimate fail. Yes, I like the graphics; but I was hoping for something even remotely similar to SimCity 4 only even better. Online play should be optional. This game would rock if it was SimCity 4 but with the new enhancements. I can't even construct my own buildings; plops etc. This version reminds me of SimCity on Facebook and it's free! ULTIMATE FAIL, EA! I want my money back.    … Expand
  75. pyeriv
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Always online DRM on a single player game?... ha ha ha that's funny! wait?.. you're serious? YOU'RE FIRED! seriously.. I hope this fails so hard, no other developper will try that.
  76. Shrugnick
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    Day 0 DLC as a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of you, always online requirement for a single player game, tiny city sizes forcing you to specialize and take part in a region, and no saves? Yeah... what was I thinking. There is a reason they didn't call this Sim City 5 and just Sim City. Really what they should have called it was Sim City Online. This is not the sequel to SimDay 0 DLC as a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of you, always online requirement for a single player game, tiny city sizes forcing you to specialize and take part in a region, and no saves? Yeah... what was I thinking. There is a reason they didn't call this Sim City 5 and just Sim City. Really what they should have called it was Sim City Online. This is not the sequel to Sim City 4 that I was looking for.… Expand
  77. Emhster
    Mar 5, 2013
    0
    This launch is a disaster. You can only play online, your cities are saved on some server which hasn't been stable on day 1. I'm usually forgiving when I encounter those problems on a MMORPG, but Simcity isn't.

    Please skip this game. At least for few months.
  78. jakealake4
    Mar 5, 2013
    2
    I enjoy playing, but the drm, server problems, and city size persuade me to just play SC4. I didnt think that it would be this bad but its so very annoying that I cant make sprawling large cities. Digital Rights Management is a joke, and servers, while fixable, are so very flawed. The actual gameplay is very enioyable but I just cant say this is something worth buying.
  79. Fantuus7979
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Get ready not play, and if you do get to play you may randomly lose hours of progress. Online saves are the only type of save games and the servers crash A LOT...
  80. F1aw1ess1
    Mar 9, 2013
    0
    I hate EA since a while back when they up Madden past like 02 or 05 or something, and also did the license thing. At that time, I thought that was really messed up because I thought they are forcing you to buy their games (always more of a 2K guy( then they up battlefield 3 for PC (always online DRM also). Since then my hatred has turned into a passionate hatred. I HATE EA. I did not buyI hate EA since a while back when they up Madden past like 02 or 05 or something, and also did the license thing. At that time, I thought that was really messed up because I thought they are forcing you to buy their games (always more of a 2K guy( then they up battlefield 3 for PC (always online DRM also). Since then my hatred has turned into a passionate hatred. I HATE EA. I did not buy this game, (was not even interested because it's EA anyway and once I seen the artwork I knew it was just going to be The Sims, City) But since I hate them so much. I'm taking the time to hop on the bandwagon and add fuel to the fire. YOU SIM CITY AND EA! MUAHAHAHHA ENJOY YOUR 0… Expand
  81. 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
  82. Gankatron
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Well it looks like the people have spoken their feelings to online DRM. If EA feels that this is the future of gaming then they had better expect an even greater stigma attached to their name as many people will refuse to support this. I cannot understand how EA marketing seems to purposely degrade their brand with a constant barrage of heavy-handed policies which demean their potentialWell it looks like the people have spoken their feelings to online DRM. If EA feels that this is the future of gaming then they had better expect an even greater stigma attached to their name as many people will refuse to support this. I cannot understand how EA marketing seems to purposely degrade their brand with a constant barrage of heavy-handed policies which demean their potential customer base.… Expand
  83. 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
  84. Nate_T
    Mar 14, 2013
    0
    EA blatantly lied to everyone about the DRM. Modders have already shown it only needs to connect to the servers once every 30 minutes in single player. All actions work while being disconnected from the internet. EA you should be ashamed.
  85. thept
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Don't waste your money on this game. The servers are down and there isn't an offline option,
    This was the last time I bought a game from EA: They are really a mediocre company.
  86. DuncanIdahoTPF
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    In the middle of the day on a weekday 3 days after launch and all the servers are busy the game is unplayable.

    Obviously EA only responds to hits to their pocketbook, please be sure to rate this game 'fairly' on 3rd party retailer sites such as Amazon.
  87. OnlyOneWing
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I will never again support Origin, EA or always online DRM. I am sick of this game after only two days. There are so many problems with the game. From graphical glitches to network glitches, it is a mess. Besides, other than graphics(which aren't all that great) and online features(which aren't all that great) it isn't much different from any other simcity game.
  88. buttski
    Mar 6, 2013
    0
    this game is published from ea. this alone is reason enough to keep away from it, as good as it may be. ea is known to be the worst publisher ever. can't believe that maxis didn't went to another one.
  89. jim109109
    Mar 8, 2013
    0
    When I read SimCity had constant online DRM I didn't buy it. When I read Deadspace 3 had microtransactions I didn't buy it. It seems EA is including these things that players DO NOT WANT in their games and they are now sourly paying the price. EA is the next THQ, watch it go bankrupt. The only difference is that EA actually deserves it.
  90. zaphod6502
    Mar 9, 2013
    1
    It seems games companies refuse to learn from past mistakes. Or maybe they keep retrenching employees after every game release who would have known better. And so SimCity joins the long line of failures because of lack of developer/publisher planning and heavy handed DRM schemes. UbiSoft learned a hard lesson from forcing DRM on people. And now EA will learn that lesson as well. If I can'tIt seems games companies refuse to learn from past mistakes. Or maybe they keep retrenching employees after every game release who would have known better. And so SimCity joins the long line of failures because of lack of developer/publisher planning and heavy handed DRM schemes. UbiSoft learned a hard lesson from forcing DRM on people. And now EA will learn that lesson as well. If I can't play a game because I am locked out of a server or I can't interact meaningfully with other players in SimCity because features have been turned off at the last minute well what is the point of selling me that game EA.

    Shame on you EA. Once again you continue to feed your own stereotype of one of the world's worst game publishers.    … Expand
  91. ZenFury
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Having been a huge fan of the Sim City franchise I was really looking forward to this latest Sim City. Needless to say, that's the only Positive things I have to say about this game.

    The always on DRM and the fact you MUST be connected to the internet in order to play this game is an automatic deal breaker for a few, you basically do not own the game, you lease it per say. If the    Having been a huge fan of the Sim City franchise I was really looking forward to this latest Sim City. Needless to say, that's the only Positive things I have to say about this game.

    The always on DRM and the fact you MUST be connected to the internet in order to play this game is an automatic deal breaker for a few, you basically do not own the game, you lease it per say. If the servers go down, you're SOL. Since it's launch time and the servers are unload heavy load they've been up and down, a big turn off.

    The gameplay itself could be improved upon through patches and what not, but as it stands the cities are kinda small, graphics looked way better in the ads and trailer then they do in the actual game. (latest drivers Gtx 580)

    I would strongly suggest to wait and see if they can salvage this game in some fashion. But, $60 is way too much for a game you don't even own, buggy as hell, and you MUST be online in order to play.

    Extremely Disappointed.    … Expand
  92. 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
  93. atzach
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    City size is too small but that doesn't matter because you won't be able to play the game because "they are working on the servers". Not worth the money, they won't give refunds. It was a big cash grab and and epic failure. EA is a terrible company.
  94. 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.
  95. 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
  96. drevils
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    I got to play past a unskippable tutorial, after that the game wont start because of online DRM servers. Just helping to drag down the rating here in hopes that EA will learn a lesson here.
  97. Grady
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Despite how well this game is designed from a gameplay perspective, we should NOT allow EA the satisfaction of thinking that we are perfectly fine with an always-online interface by purchasing SimCity. If we buy this game, we are telling EA: "I'm completely okay with your decision to make this game all online, all the time! Why don't you do that with ALL OF YOUR OTHER GAMES?"

    If games    Despite how well this game is designed from a gameplay perspective, we should NOT allow EA the satisfaction of thinking that we are perfectly fine with an always-online interface by purchasing SimCity. If we buy this game, we are telling EA: "I'm completely okay with your decision to make this game all online, all the time! Why don't you do that with ALL OF YOUR OTHER GAMES?"

    If games like these see financial success, gamers like us will be continually screwed for the years to come. Game companies will no longer see the value in making a single-player experience at all. They will push un-wanted (and un-necessary!) social features on us until we eventually start to believe what they are trying to tell us right now: "You guys wanted this, right? We're just giving you what you wanted!"

    NO. Just...NO! This isn't right. EA knows that, and you know that, so let's make it perfectly to them that we will not support this intrusive, obnoxious, and completely unnecessary inclusion into what would've been an incredible game. Vote with your wallet.    … Expand
  98. stripe523
    Mar 7, 2013
    4
    Ignoring the DRM/online only requirement/servers are crap issue for a minute I still have mixed feelings. The lack of a save/load feature is painful because you can't experiment with your city layout once you put down your roads, if you made them slightly too widely or narrowly spaced, you can't plop the buildings you want. And since the addons to the different upgradable buildings (aIgnoring the DRM/online only requirement/servers are crap issue for a minute I still have mixed feelings. The lack of a save/load feature is painful because you can't experiment with your city layout once you put down your roads, if you made them slightly too widely or narrowly spaced, you can't plop the buildings you want. And since the addons to the different upgradable buildings (a nice feature in itself) can only be placed in certain locations, you may need to bulldoze and rebuild the base building a few times to find the right location but you can't just reload a save to do so. The map size is also way too small. Sure you can specialize and design multiple cities in a region, but I play SimCity because I like creating and designing massive urban sprawl it's too simple to do it in bite sized chunks. And then the region map looks strange with tightly packed squares of development separated by empty wide open spaces. If they want to leave regions intact, so be it, but make them directly adjacent to each other so the empty space is gone its an eyesore otherwise. Now to go back to the server issue pure incompetence. They should have known by the amount of the preorders what the expected server volume needs to be. Once the game rolls out in other countries, the volume is only going to go up, and they haven't even solved the problem for existing customer. Not only is this a PR disaster by itself but EA's overall marketing strategy of micropurchasing depends on satisfied customers. Customers aren't going to be willing to be nickeled and dimed for add-ons if they feel cheated by the initial product. Irritated fanbois with short attention spans are one thing. SimCity has a lot of long term fans who are now well into adulthood and have been playing the series for decades (such as myself) cynical marketing and poor technical execution. This game is taxing everyone's patience and customers deserve much better. ***One final comment from someone who knows PR: thanking customers for their patience when they are actually not patient, and have valid and justifiable reasons for their frustration is the opposite of soothing it causes more frustration by making the speaker sound condescending and arrogant. Just apologize and tell us what you're doing to fix the problems stop thanking us for our waning 'patience'.… Expand
  99. EABanBoy
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    EA After years of destroying franchises and companies, they have finally broke the camels back for me. Thus I have now boycotted all products with EA's name on it. Their "Worst Company In America" award is well deserved.
  100. ymqwtqoq
    Mar 7, 2013
    0
    Made a metacritic account just to say how bad this game is. I paid $60 and have not been able to play even one moment. The servers are constantly "Busy" or "Full" and even if you find one that is available it will make you wait upwards of half an hour just to play. DO NOT BUY!
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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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