SimCity Review

SimCity / Version Played: PC
EA / Maxis / PC – MAC / March 7th / $79RRP

SIMCITY STORY

This is the first major installment in the SimCity series since the release of SimCity 4 a decade prior. The game is considered to be a reboot of the SimCity series.

simcitygraphics

The graphics of SimCity are vibrant and enjoyable. Your city feels more alive than ever and little quirks such as power lines going down as soon as you place roads, make you feel like your city is actually coming to life before your eyes. The music of sim city is as loveable as ever and puts you in such a good mood from the start.

simcitygameplay

It’s hard to talk about the gameplay of SimCity at the moment for a number of reasons. The main downfalls of the game currently are due to server problems or optimisation problems that have had to be made due to server problems. You have to be always online in order to play SimCity which has caused a lot of uproar. In the first week, this was very problematic as even getting into a server to play the game was almost impossible. This has now eased up and getting into a game at any time isn’t a problem.

There is still a few things missing from the game such as Cheetah mode and leader boards but Maxis and EA assure us that this is coming back soon. There is also some simulation problems such as traffic not using roads that are completely empty but this is supposed to be getting fixed as well. The biggest addition to the new SimCity is the fact that you’re now playing with other people within your region. The main aim of the game is to work together in order to make your cities thrive within a region. With the right group of people this is magic. It adds a whole new goal to the game and brings so much more satisfaction and realism to your gameplay. If this isn’t for you then you can still play privately by yourself and take control of multiple cities within the region. The only downfall to this is that smaller land sizes are now apart of SimCity. Due to the fact that the developers expect you to play over multiple cities, the map sizes are now smaller which provides some limitations.

SIMCITY PIC

The simulation aspect of SimCity is great. The amount of options available is mind blowing. There are so many different scenarios that can play out which keeps things interesting and keeps you on your toes. It will take you a few hours as a new player to understand everything but this makes it even more satisfying once you finally feel like you have full control over your city. One thing to keep in mind is that all cities are stored online so there is no going back one you’ve laid something or made a cyclone hit your city.

SIM CITY CONCLUSION

I feel that SimCity is a game that’s going to get better with time. Once the bugs are squashed and the optimisations are made, it will be a game that everyone should play. It’s still a great game at the moment, but it’s being held back by some bugs. We’d recommend that anyone with a PC pick this game up but whether this happens now or at a later date depends on your patience level.

REVIEW CONCLUSION