It might be a little late to the party, but here’s our review of SimCity courtesy of Pixel Enemy content…
It might be a little late to the party, but here’s our review of SimCity courtesy of Pixel Enemy content producer Jamin000.
So, even with the server issues, is SimCity worth your time and money? Read on, or better yet, watch the video review to find out!
SimCity: I can build it better
After a 10-year absence from gamers’ minds does the storied, 24-year old franchise have what it takes to win back the hearts of the SimCity faithful in a market where FPS games are the mainstream?
I started to get excited for the release of SimCity when I first heard of the closed beta and spent countless hours refreshing my Twitter page trying to be quick enough to get my hands on a precious key! I eventually gained access and haven’t stopped playing since.
SimCity had this attraction factor that makes time seem to fly by when playing, I would not advise starting a game if you only have 20-minutes to spare – you simply will not be able to turn the game off in that limited time frame. The 2k x 2k plot size, I admit, at the surface seems a little restrictive but they have remedied that concern in a number of ways. The first is the depth of the game simulation, where every single Sim in the game has his/her own set of needs and wants, and your role as mayor is to fulfill them all in order to be successful. Secondly, Maxis has introduced the concept of Multi-play – a first for this franchise that allows you to work with your friends or by yourself within your region where each city in that region affects its neighbors! Making the right decisions in each city is crucial to gaining a Metropolis status by using the specialization feature.
It wouldn’t be right to review SimCity without mentioning the server issues that plagued the release of the title and EA’s choice of using an ‘always on-line’ system to run/save the game. Besides having to wait in queue a few times to work on a ‘saved’ city using a particular server, the server issue hasn’t really left a sour taste about the game itself. Global leader boards or Achievements are not the main reasons I play SimCity to begin with, I will agree it was a fail on their part but they are working to make it better and that is all that matters.
SimCity gets a solid recommendation from me and it would even be more if they had a smoother launch. So if you are looking for a game that is a little different than mainstream but promises to deliver hours of enjoyable, relaxing gameplay and challenges you to think: ” I can build it better,” every time it loads, – SImCity might just be the game for you!
Final Score: 9/10
A copy of SimCity was provided by EA for review. I played 40 hours of single-player, and roughly 7-10 hours of multiplayer. I have developed 12 cities, each with different specializations, destroyed two because one the Sims weren’t smart enough and the other because it felt so damn good the first time!