Video Review - SimCity
Review Scores
| Platform | GameSpot | Metacritic / User Score |
|---|---|---|
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- Mar 7, 2013
Cities crumble in this video review for SimCity.
175 comments
Forget about cracks and hacks, they will never break this game unfortunately. However, there is something even better, you can get a key for this game to play it legally and with all features included. There is this community called GameCardsBay, they have sponsors that are providing them with packages of game keys that they later distribute. You can get the free SimCity key from them at this link: http://gamecardsbay.com/simcity-key-givaway-is-here/
I found a working Sim City crack to play in Offline Mode. It's working so if you want this is link http://penguinhackz.blogspot.com
What the heck would you need to play on-line with a game like this? That would be like buying a Mustang to race in Formula 1. If you want a social network then go outside.
2 Like This online move is a blatent effort to monetize this title and keep the companies fingers as deeply inside the players bank accounts as they can get. This sort of activity is ruining good franchise titles all over. Just look at the disaster that is Diablo 3. That game is now universally abhorred and a failure. Everyone I know personally who bought it regrets the purchase and wishes they had not bought the title. I foresee the same thing happening with this iteration of SimCity.
I will never buy a game that tries to do this to its customers. And I also now have a much lower opinion of MAXIS as a company for allowing this to happen to one of its premier titles. I did not purchase this newest SimCity, and I will probably think long and hard before touching anything from MAXIS in the future.
@zenstrata you speak for the universe do you? it doesn't add weight to your opinion or argument...it just illustrates your desperate need to be correct.
Kevin Vanord is a great reviewer, but please loose the tattoo so that you can appear in the videos next time.
1 Like This game does not deserve a 5.0. That's too generous a score. It could have been a game of the year candidate if not for the Draconian always-on DRM, but EA chose to ass fuck its customers instead of making a game of the year.
1 Like Gamers need to learn critical thinking.
The good:
* It's a relatively good city sim.
* It is addictive, in a Sims kind of way.
* The graphics are decent.
* It focuses more on improving your city elements than mass building (similar to the query tool in SC4)
* It's fun.
The bad:
* DRM always-on, excuse me, online connection always on.
* A lot of bugs.
* Feels a little limited, like Sims without the expansion packs.
* The online / social component is not really an online / social component. The only true online SC was SC2 Network Edition.
The ugly:
* We knew that there will be a DRM through forced online play for months now. It's not like they throw this over night.
* Server outages - no ability to play in the airplane for example or in a train (unless you want to pay for over-priced wi-fi).
* Since it's online only, they could have done something similar to OnLive and stream everything from their servers. I don't see the benefits of the always on-line features, no matter how much Maxis likes it's social benefits. Having a game that would stream entirely without having it installed and having it work on any device that can run video would have been not ideal, but at least better than this current version.
* All games will eventually go to online only. I know it, you know it, it will get there. Diablo 3 started this and this is just the beginning.
* It's kind of expensive for what it offers. C'mon - $60? With $60 you can buy 5 - 6 discounted titles on Steam, titles that are superior to SC5. It's a good game. But it's NOT THAT GOOD. For the DRM mess and the limited functions (because just like SC4, it's not so much about having fun but finding a way to make it work. There is some diversity thanks to different resource fields available but if you find an best operating procedure to earn money, you'll follow it most of the time) a fair price would have been $30 - $40.
* Sim City players are not really Sims players since these are two different demographics (strategy vs. doll house) - however, I could see an integration of the Sims with Sim City. I could see something like having real people influence your town and the houses in your town by playing Sims and having these changes translated to Sim City.
That's all. The entire hype or anti-hype that came with Sim City seems just stupid and immature for the most part. Yes, it may have been the worst p.l. in the history of gaming but remember ...
* World of Warcraft
* Diablo 3
* Virtually every other big budget, multiplayer focused game that relied heavily on a central server.
1 Like EDIT: Weeks later, I would give this game an 7 or maybe a 7.5 for the game itself, not the service. It's interesting and fun but it starts to feel like Zynga games - like oversimplified mechanics that are rewarding you for everything you do by positive feedback (in money, sound effects, virtual praise) and which end up being swallow. I would not give this game an 9 though.
The Sims / SC / related games is one of the best sold series in the world. This means $$$$$$.
A LOT. Maybe more than the COD franchise.
With that $$$$$ you could have invested in better servers, better bug testing and optimization, better hardware optimization, improved mechanism and a map of the size of Seattle.
So the conclusion is ...
EA, you suck. First you ruined the C&C series. Then you closed down a lot of studios. And now you've ruined Maxis. Thank God you didn't got your hands on the THQ materials. And even if Maxis is the developer and EA is the publisher, the publisher is mostly at fault because he is looking to maximize profits.
1 Like this is so disappointing, I was going to pick this game up. Now, I think I'll wait until all the bugs are gone.
1 Like Thank you Maxis to make a choice for me, I was wonder would this be better(as in play hours) then Starcraft 2(HoS). But with no singleplay, how every you put it, this game has NO real singleplay as the game force you play it multiplay allthe time.
I would love to see this game reviewed again in a month or so. I remember skyrim scored a 9 on PS3 due to the review being done before these issue were uncovered which it deserved. I really think that this game as the reviewer states could be the pinnacle of the series and believe simcity deserve a second chance once all/most bugs are fixed.
On another note what the hell happened to releasing a game when it is perfect I would prefer games to be postponed rather than play an unfinished game.
I think this is a very fair score although I would to see a review without these issues, I remember skyrim on PS3 received a 9 but after the technical issues were discovered it was a different story. I think simcity deserves another review in a month or so just to really see the potential this game has as the reviewer states it could well be the pinnacle of the series, I for one hope this is true.
Sounds like everything that ruined this was unnecessary multiplayer and always on DRM.
What were those things gamers were complaining about for the last few years? Wasn't it unnecessary multiplayer and always on DRM? Huh.
I was about to buy Anno 2070, a city builder that scored 8.5 here on GS and that's currently available for just $17.00 on Steam. But on closer inspection I see that it too has "always online" and "install limit" DRM. Why, goddammit? Publishers' fixation on DRM is ruining what's left of PC gaming! :-(
haha! I have never felt more like torrenting something out of pure spite. Hmm not planning on making the game offline? its ok we'll do it for you, you greedy f**ks. lol
1 Like aside from all this games faults I never plan to buy it simply because the requirement of online....I want to be able to play this whenever I want even when the online community is dead and they decide to shut down....I still play Caesar 2 for freaks sake....there should should be an offline mode.....the online idea is cool but no I wont spend a bunch of money on a game that will be worth nothing in a year(possibly exaggerated)
i have heart of the swarm to occupy for a few weeks, then ill go back to simcity.
Kev you need to do another review in a month or so if the problem gets better
Save your money and go back and play the older versions. Until they fix all the bugs, the connection problems, and allow the buyer to play without requiring an online connection; I say boycott EA and Maxis and go elsewhere. Will Wright where are you?
I'd rather play SimCity for the 64DD... sure... it might be in Japanese; but DAMN is it ever fun. I also have never had ANY connectivity issues with it oddly enough... oh YEAH! Constant-online bullshit didn't exist prior to this generation of gaming.
2 Like A complete and total waste of $60. Back to CitiesXL. I never thought I'd say that about a Maxis product.
I guess that's what happens when you get swallowed up by a company like EA...
SimCity...what? This trend of naming games, movies, movie-games etc. after their original titles needs to stop. Looking at this though, it should be called "SimCity DRM." Blizzard/Acti-no-vision started a nasty trend and to see such a thing being replicated... oh wait, it IS EA after all, there's no way they wouldn't have pulled such shit like this.
1 Like GAMESPOT deserves a FAT 5.0 for grading the SERVICE of the game and NOT the game itself. How can you say the game is the PINNACLE of SimCity and then go on bashing it over and over and over. You guys have not done that with other games that have famously have had the SAME situation happen to them. If you want to judge DRM's fine but then you better go WAYYY back and judge the others the same way as well. Because once again a TON of games have acted like that in the past and you pleasantly avoid that topic, even though at times you could NOT have possibly played it that's ok because you don't want to make those fan boys angry, but since its SimCity oh well ...
@10171981 the GAMESPOT score is accurate...Simcity's SERVICE failed and kept players from actually playing the game, and that contributed to the low score...its not much different than if the game contained a BUG that kept players from playing the game (crash to desktop, driver issues, memory overrun, etc.), which would also demand a lower review score....the review also noted NON-SERVICE and NON-DRM issues which qualified for a lower score.
@10171981 While I agree that the score does not reflect the game as it is now I think GS has integrity to review a game on launch day as is. If developers want to have constant online game services and don't want to have these launch issues then they need to properly beta/stress test. I think Kevin's score is punishing and reflects this.
Also, they offload some of the processing to their servers which allows you to have more citizen simulations. It's crazy to watch thousands of individual sims in your city going about their business.
2 Like It's a great game! I think people and the editor are being overly harsh. Yeah, that connectivity issues were a pain, but when that is resolved it's an awesome game with a lot of detail. I've been playing for over 80 hours and can't wait to get back to play some more.
@hostingplan I agree the game is a blast but I can't fault Keven or GS for reviewing a game on launch day instead of doing the core code review or w/e like other sites were using.
I think people are being overly harsh. The game itself it awesome and is a lot of fun to play. It's a micro-manger's dream come true. I've played for over 80 hours. The issues related to connectivity were annoying, but it's a game that is worth the wait.
1 Like The bottom line is this is not city building it's small town building to equal a big city once it is combined with other towns. The plots are just not large enough to provide a deep gameplay experience. You just find yourself doing the same thing over and over again.
@G00zfraba @rpgguide rpgguide's comment made sense to me. It's also something that's been reiterated in a lot of reviews. The city sizes are just too small for any major city simulation endeavors. It's as though the game is not quite a city sim, and not quite a facebook game, but somewhere in the middle of the two.
It's a shame to see a sim city game released as such and titled just SimCity. A smarter move would have been to call it SimCity With Friends and then release a proper SimCity title for the city sim nuts
And these big companies shit on their product again with online drm. Did ubisoft teach anybody anything. Shit on your product and slap the customer in the face while looking like a disgrace. All their money and resources yet this is all they can muster up. Clearly they have built up this perception that most pirate games,most are decent people that are willing to pay,when their product is delivered as such more will opt for the torrent and now these companies are just creating the problem they scrutinize so often.
Don't waiste your money people! They're not gonna fix all those bugs, maybe just the most serious ones. That's why I try most games before I buy them, especially when they are the product of EA.
1 Like Very disappointed :( I have been waiting for a game with depth for a long time and really this is one of the few out there. I have been playing SimCity all weekend and I actually love the game itself. Maxis have done a great job (minor gameplay bugs aside) in creating a deep and complex simulation that is genuinely fun to play and very addictive. The majority of the issues with this game revolve around the forced social aspects (always online, no local save ?). I suspect EA was behind this direction as it gives them opportunity to try and justify their frankly over the top copy protection measures. I work in the industry and I get that piracy is very important but not at the expense of people playing the game, it has to be completely transparent to the gamer else you?re just shooting yourself in the foot.
I think I will avoid all EA titles in the future. I?ve had enough.
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