An unbiased sim city review...

[Spud1]

Hi All,

Ok so we all know what happened - Sim City launched last week (sort of!) and was instantly plagued by server problems. Next thing, the entire internet jumps up and down about it (Me included) and we all take a totally negative view on the game...again including me and some of my recent posts.

I wouldn't dream of defending EA or the server problems, however when it comes to the game itself..is it really that bad? Isn't there some reason that lots of people were excited for a new Sim City game in the first place?

A friend of mine had bought it on the Grainger games £28 deal last week so I got a chance to play last night..and I was really surprised as to how much fun it was. I had zero server problems, no obvious bugs, and spend about 1.5 hours playing (got up to 10k citizens). Yes the maps are small, but they will address that in a future update I am certain (I expect the current limit is due to expected server load - they should be able to cope with bigger maps as it matures), and yes it's simplified to some degree but to me, that's a big plus - SC4 was too much simulation, not enough game for me.

I'm not convinced enough to warrant paying £35+ for it at the moment - but I will almost certainly be getting this when it falls to the £25 mark.

Anyway this isn't the review I wanted to pass on - it's this one from 10hammer - I think the reviewer does a good job of being fairy impartial and ignoring the server/drm issues, and focusses purely on the game. Something which I am yet to see any other review do (including ign/eurogamer whos reviews I usually trust).

http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/simcity?page=1

Worth a look if you want to know what the game itself plays like!

[ehhhhhhh]

Hi All,

Ok so we all know what happened - Sim City launched last week (sort of!) and was instantly plagued by server problems. Next thing, the entire internet jumps up and down about it (Me included) and we all take a totally negative view on the game...again including me and some of my recent posts.

I wouldn't dream of defending EA or the server problems, however when it comes to the game itself..is it really that bad? Isn't there some reason that lots of people were excited for a new Sim City game in the first place?

A friend of mine had bought it on the Grainger games £28 deal last week so I got a chance to play last night..and I was really surprised as to how much fun it was. I had zero server problems, no obvious bugs, and spend about 1.5 hours playing (got up to 10k citizens). Yes the maps are small, but they will address that in a future update I am certain (I expect the current limit is due to expected server load - they should be able to cope with bigger maps as it matures), and yes it's simplified to some degree but to me, that's a big plus - SC4 was too much simulation, not enough game for me.

I'm not convinced enough to warrant paying £35+ for it at the moment - but I will almost certainly be getting this when it falls to the £25 mark.

Anyway this isn't the review I wanted to pass on - it's this one from 10hammer - I think the reviewer does a good job of being fairy impartial and ignoring the server/drm issues, and focusses purely on the game. Something which I am yet to see any other review do (including ign/eurogamer whos reviews I usually trust).

http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/simcity?page=1

Worth a look if you want to know what the game itself plays like!

I had the same impression when one of my friends showed it. After the game loaded (on 3rd try though) it was fine (I noted only a few insignificant graphical glitches)

I wouldn't pay full price for it, but I think it's worth around 25.

Also, I don't mind that it needs to be online always - it's not the 90s that this should be a concern.

[Jonj1611]

Can't say I agree with the bit about the game running partly on Ea's server because of "heavy simulation", it's not doing anything more difficult than what Tropico 3/4 or any other sim based game is doing. Think the reviewer was a bit gullible to believe that.

On the whole not a bad review, but what people got excited about, including me was a new Simcity game, one that runs on my own PC, I am fed up with games that I half own, games do and will get shut down and cut off from their servers after a certain amount of time, yet I can still load and play Simcity 4 10 years after it was first launched. Always online, god, wish my internet stayed always online.

I think the review was balanced however, but to be honest how it got 95 where a lot of elements on the original Simcity games is missing is beyond me, and you all know bigger cities are going to come of a paid DLC pack within the space of no time at all.

But as Spud1 said, I guess its what you want from a game, I prefer it to stick to its root's myself but there you go.

[Spud1]

Can't say I agree with the bit about the game running partly on Ea's server because of "heavy simulation", it's not doing anything more difficult than what Tropico 3/4 or any other sim based game is doing. Think the reviewer was a bit gullible to believe that.

Possibly - but when you think about how it does the modelling..a big big difference between this and the older games is how each individual citizen can be tracked. Every car, bus, person..they all have a state/lifecycle and have to be tracked and modelled, rather than working at a higher level or on averages as previous games have done. Not sure on Tropico 3/4 but I wouldn't expect that they go down to that level.

In any case it doesn't really matter - I personally have no problem whatsoever with requiring a persistent internet connection, every other game I play on my PC does anyway so its a non-issue for me.

[Jonj1611]

Yeah, tracks the same on the Tropico games. I guess its always going to be each to their own on the persistent internet connection.

[TheAnimus]

It's not a case of been biased. Most critics have said its a fun game, if it were not for the city size limit and stupidity of the routing AI.

That's even allowing the fact that the Delux version which includes things like English Cities is £59.

I'd buy it, even with the DRM were it not for:

A) No idea how long it will work for. They might pull the plug in 5 years, or in 6 months unless you buy expansion pack xyz.
b) No SLA for availability to play. I'd imagine that my desire to play might well be peak times. Sunday afternoon for instance I'm often available to play games, but I've already heard they've had to throttle the game (Cheeta mode is off).

So given that the limit of city size is party due to DRM. That the DRM makes it a no purchase.

It is worth slating the game as a whole. The more press coverage it gets, negative it may be, so long as its attributed to the DRM the better.

If they fix A+B, personally I wouldn't mind, as I'd know what I'm getting.

[Chadders87]

Personally I had been waiting a long time for a simplified SimCity like this. Where I don't need to think too much about it and can pick up a few hours a week without losing too much time remembering the original plans I had for the city.

Shame the always on makes it impossible to play on a laptop while travelling.

[shaithis]

The DRM isn't the issue for me, the size and price is....especially when I fully expect larger maps to cost money.

[jimbouk]

With all the issues and the 'promise' of improvements even mentioned in the article I'm surprised by the 95% rating at the end. Sounds like the author would have been happy and brushed over the inadequacies whatever was produced.

And why they could have had a sliding scale of realism rather than just one dumbed down mode I don't know. Theme Park (the original) managed it, from happy ride placement to having to order the burgers at the right time so they didn't run out before the delivery arrived.

Maybe they'll do an iPad version where you won't really notice that the maps aren't large...

[aidanjt]

Still, no matter how good the game eventually gets, it's still plagued with the same critical design flaw that screwed its initial release, that some processing functions are performed server-side, meaning the game will eventually be rendered useless once EA no longer gains sufficient net profit from the game and shut down the servers, or should you be travelling between cell towers on the train, well screw you anyway.

[Spud1]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...not-necessary/

[aidanjt]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...not-necessary/

Of course it's unnecessary, that was never any doubt. But the always-on DRM is still there, and it still depends on server functionality and connectivity for the game to work.

[Chadders87]

So who thinks EA will eventually allow larger maps via micro-transactions?

[Spud1]

If I had to put money on it (And I likely will ) then it will either be the first expansion pack or when they announce "Sim City Premium" for another £60 ala BF3.

Bigger maps will come but it will be an expansion pack I am sure of it.

[cheesyboy]

The DRM isn't the issue for me, the size and price is....especially when I fully expect larger maps to cost money.

Since nearly every item of feedback, excluding pure DRM rants, mentions map size, you can bet EA has been planning that little money spinner

[GeorgeStorm]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...e-indefinitely

Plot thickens.