SimCity (2013) Review

Having been a fan of SimCity for a while now, finding out I would be reviewing the latest version was a little nerve-racking, because it had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately the game has had a troubled start, and a lot of bad press, but these problems will be addressed in the review.

First of all, there have absolutely no problems with the servers for me. The installation took a while, but once it finished, logging in was fine. Perhaps this was extremely lucky, or I just managed to missed all the upheaval of the first couple of days. There have been many people angry that they've had to queue for a single-player game. but SimCity is technically a multiplayer game, in which case it needs servers to run. Yes, you can play alone, but that is your own choice.

So keeping that in mind , it's no wonder really that there were kinks to iron out in the beginning. Yes there was a beta, but any game that exists on such a large scale is likely to encounter some problems, so we can't hold grudges for that. What Maxis have achieved in creating an always-online, cooperative, city-building game should be applauded.

The second issue that I would like to address is the microtransactions. Again, the idea of microtransactions has been heavily criticised by gamers around the world. Well, if you're having an issue with them in SimCity, then you must be going out of your way to look for them. They are not at all in your face, they in no way affect the enjoyment of the game, and ignoring them altogether doesn't limit your advancement. Honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Now on to the game itself. Off the bat, I am going to say it is great; a really fun, addictive game. Several times my eyes and head were hurting, but the words "five more minutes" kept popping into my head, which, for me, is what any good game should aim to do.

The starting tutorial is short and simple, but educates you in the basics, without being boring or overly convoluted. It is a far cry from SimCity 4, where it felt like the tutorials were endless, and I emerged the other side, feeling more confused than when I started. By incorporating the helpful 'Guide Me' function within the gameplay, there really is no need for any complicated tutorial.

When starting the game, you can choose one of eight regions, each including a set number of possible cities (from two to sixteen) and something called 'great works'. These are areas in the region which can be filled with a great work, an international airport perhaps, that each city can combine resources to build. Within the regions you can choose to play them privately (invite only) or publicly (any old fella can jump in) and you claim whichever city you like the look of. There is also a nice mode called Sandbox, which give you access to some cheats, a much bigger budget, and all buildings are unlocked to start, which really lets your creative juices flow.

The cities' landscapes are pre-designed and unchangeable. That's right, no terrain tools whatsoever. This can be a little frustrating when building, but to be honest I didn't really miss the hassle of it. Also each city has a predetermined amount of resources. So in one region you may have three cities, one with lots of untapped oil and potential ore mines, and another with an abundance of water, whilst the other may be particularly breezy.

All of these resources can be harnessed, one can send water from their city to the other to fuel their nuclear reactor, or breezy town can set up an expansive wind farm, and donate all the extra power to a city specialising in gambling (all those flashing casino lights can be electrically demanding!).

I chose a little city, rich in ore, oil and water, named it Penguinopolis and got started building my city. There are still three type of zones for your city, Residential, Commercial, and Industrial, each one defining the type of building that will be established in that area. How dense the area can become (the difference between skyscraper apartments and little cottages) is controlled by the type of road it is attached to. This is fine at the beginning, but becomes a slight issue which I will cover later on.

A nice new addition to this rehash of SimCity is that city necessities, like the police station, hospitals, and schools can all be modified to maximise efficiency. For example, you can add extra ambulances to your hospital, which mean they can help more people, and you can also lend them to your neighbour cities if they can't quite afford a health care system yet. Schools can have extra classrooms and bus stations can expand to accommodate more passengers. All this means that every city can be tailored exactly to what its needs are, and definitely helps with replay value.

As your city becomes more successful, better educated, and higher tech, you'll notice the buildings begin to change. If you've attached your zones to high density roads, no problem, but if you haven't then you have a pesky problem on your hands. There is no move button. You can't simply move buildings out of the way, build higher density roads, and then pop them back on. There is only one solution; bulldozing, and bulldozing the road means bulldozing all the buildings attached to it. That nice Arc de Triomphe you spent hundreds of thousands of pennies on, gone. You don't get a reimbursement either, you simply have repurchase.

This means that when designing your city, you really have to plan ahead, otherwise you can end up in some really dire situations. I built a nice industrial area, but noticed that the high street wasn't hacking it with regards to traffic, so decided I need to change the roads into avenues. As there were no purchased buildings in the area, I thought, okay, I'm not losing any real money here, and bulldozed the lot, rebuilding it to be more lorry-friendly.

Then I nearly had a panic attack. All of those lovely factories that I had to wait to be rebuilt, were now producing no money. My budget went from 5000 simoleons an hour, to MINUS 5000, nearly bankrupting me. So if you want to restructure your city, this is definitely something to keep in mind. Obviously this makes perfect sense; renovate your city in parts, and I lay the blame entirely on my aforementioned sore eyes and head preventing me from thinking straight... yeah.

Once I got to grips with these two irritating facts, it really was just a case of enjoying the game. Managing the city was fascinating and accessible, with a fantastic, streamlined user interface. The graphics are absolutely stunning, with the nice, cartoony edge that wasn't present in SimCity 4 (which was very dull to look at in my opinion), and the passage of time is shown amazingly. The difference between day and night is gorgeous to behold; the street lamps and windows lighting up in the evening, and the town slowly waking up as the sun rises. Also, things like pollution have a gradual effect on your city, with the sewage pipes darkening the ground around it, and clouds of air pollution rising from your industrial area.

Another thing that I found surprisingly delightful was the music. Beautiful piano music plays whilst you are gaming; it reminded me of the type of music you would hear on a nature show, where you watch as a spider spins her web in high speed. It really was truly captivating and made all the more noticeable when it took a turn for a more sinister music when I was attacked by ZOMBIES. Yes, zombies. Tiny little green people rampaged my streets, eating brains and generally causing havoc. I'm sorry but that is very, very cool.

Overall the game is thoroughly entertaining, and despite all the bad press, definitely worth try. I would honestly recommend this to anyone who enjoys city simulation games, and the challenge of working as part of a strategic cog in a larger machine, whether that includes other players, or just yourself.