Very addicting, even when I can't play. A review of the game as is, not as it will be one day from now. .
Let's start with the launch date fiasco and all the lies EA HR and PR people are telling consumers:
"#SimCity is here! We're now live in NA, Mayors. RT if you're ready to play! " - Nope, not at all. .
"Origin @OriginInsider Due to the high demand for SimCity, Origin has experienced delays impacting a small percentage of users. We're working non-stop to resolve." - Small percentage?
"SimCity @simcity #SimCity server update: NA East 1, EU West 1, and EU West 2 are officially back in business. And EU East 1 is low, so check it out." - and yet, i am here writing this review because I can't play :(
Oh will the lies ever stop? Now i respect the fact that EA (not MAXIS), but EA wants to protect its IP with always on DRM, fine. There were several ways to handle the situation, look at guild wars 2, had a flawless first day.
Putting the server issues and HR bull$hit aside.
Graphics - 7.5/10, I would have expected more from a 2013 release, but it is nice to play a classic in 1920x1080.
Sound - 10/10 The soundtrack and audio quality is phenomenal!.
Game play - 8.5/10 City Scope: This is only when playing one city, does not take the region as a while into consideration. All the elements have been fleshed out and work quite well together. There are some issues with for example police, firetrucks not bypassing traffic, like they would in real life. Other than that, on a scope of a single city, the game play is phenomenal. Even the city size is just right since you have a region to control. But since you're the major of a single city, you feel somewhat disconnected from the region, whereas you feel in touch with your city. At the same time you miss some features from earlier Sim Cities.
Game play - 6/10 Region Scope: Region trading is amazing, some players say it doesn't work, but it takes time, this isn't an instant trade, even with money. The truck leaves your city and heads towards another city. There is traffic on the highways, so it takes a while to transfer resources but the ability to do that is amazing! An issue is with buying/selling utilities such as power for example. City A for example has a vast excess of power but City B can only buy a miniscule amount for no apparent reason, even though there is a lot of power available for purchase. Could be that the server is lagging in updating region data.
Overall 5.5/10 - I am judging the game as is, not what it could be in the future. Because of the rent, not own agreement we all signed. EA just as easily choose to forget fixing the game and just scrub the whole project, shut down the servers and forget about us. Look at FF14 online, the game was terrible at launch date and got a terrible score, Sim City is the same. The current game is buggy and fault ridden. These are faults which deter your fun and in most cases are detrimental to progress.