1. The servers were finally stable, new ones were being added.
2. Problems with traffic and the like were being fixed.
3. I'm optimistic (maybe overly so) that eventually, there will be some kind of offline single player. And if not? I'll just mod it like another user did. Either way, I WILL play offline single player.
So, here's the review. Enjoy!
1. Installing & Patching - Score - 9/10
- The install went fairly smoothly, but the patching wasn't necessarily as smooth. At one point, it froze at 60% and the program stopped responding. Then there was the issue of processing large files and whatnot. Not perfect, but surprising decent given EA's reputation.
2. The Beginning (Tutorials & Starting a Game) - 8/10
- The tutorial was fairly informative and introduced you to the tools you would eventually use. It wasn't an overly long tutorial, but it wasn't as in-depth as I thought it could be. As far as starting a game, I think EA still needs more servers, as a lot are still full. Starting a game is easy, you have several regions to choose from, and multiple cities to start.
3. Region Play - 9/10
- It was pretty interesting to finally jump into a city in a region and a city (that had been abandoned. It was a city that was specialized for mining ore, and had around 15K population) to play with others. Before that, I had been playing solo to get a feel for the game itself. I wound up getting the abandoned city up to 55k population, got unemployment down, improved services, and added education. The only problem seems to be that the city is quickly drying up, and buying water isn't working. Neither is offloading sewage. If you can find an unclaimed or abandoned city (good luck with that), then you may enjoy working toward a common goal with other players. If you can't, then simply create your own region, claim multiple cities, and work toward it on your own.
4. New Content - 10/10
- Specializing your city to trade/sell Electronics? How about making your city the ultimate gambling destination? What about throwing a concert or a sporting event at the Expo Center? Okay, not all of these are brand spanking new, but these various things give your city that unique touch. It also keeps the game from getting boring. When you've made your own Silicon Valley, you can go on to trade ore, mine for coal, or drill oil. There are many possibilities for your cities.
4. Ease of Use - 9/10
- If you're an absolute beginner at Sim City, there will be various things that you won't understand, and you may eventually have to Google "Sim City tricks, tips, walkthroughs" to get various answers about what the tutorial doesn't show you. However, once you start playing and playing, you will eventually get the hang of it. The tools are easily recognizable, it's easy to zone, but what makes it hard is the beauty of the game, which is planning, planning, and more planning.
5. Graphics - 10/10
- The graphics are beautiful, and they don't seem to be that taxing on my computer, but all computers are fairly different. I know mine could probably use an updated graphics card and a smidgen more RAM.
6. Bugs & Issues - 4/10
- The launch was a disaster. EA/Maxis was completely unprepared for the droves of fans that purchased the game and tried to play, and they should have known what a turnout it would have. Between server drops and server queues, some couldn't play their game at all, or for a short period of time. Even if they logged in a couple hours of playtime, sometimes it just wouldn't save, and they lost progress.
Not only that, but there was one bug in particular that I had to deal with, and that was an absolute lack of terrain. Yes, folks, if you buy the discs and install from them, you run the risk of having this bug. You will see nothing but the blue grid underneath your city. You'll see buildings and roads, just no land, no water, no terrain. How is this fix? Uninstall and reinstall via Origin. I did that, as suggested, and it worked. But it's an annoying fix, and a problem that should have never existed. I also partially think it's done on purpose so you have to use Origin. Origin sucks. Let's just get that out of the way.
- Another bug is a motion blur, which can slow your FPS, and according to fellow players, it's caused from abhorrent lighting. It will likely be fixed eventually.
- Traffic and pathfinding. This is another big bug that can have crappy consequences for your city. I haven't logged on to play today, but Maxis said it would be fixed. When/If it is, I'm sure cities will run much better.
7. Other Issues - 1/10
- Always On DRM - Is highly unnecessary. It encourages piracy. In fact, it doesn't do much of anything to prevent it. And even from a standpoint of the game always being online to encourage multiplayer play, there's no reason not to have a single-player offline mode. Not only that, but a player proved it by modding the game to play indefinitely. Granted, he has to go online and save, but then he can just unplug and go back to playing offline. If a player can prove that the ability to play offline is possible, then Maxis doesn't really have a case to argue it.
- Maxis not only has a disregard for the fans, but disrespect as well. Offering a free game as an apology? Lying in the face of their fans by saying offline mode is impossible, only to be proven otherwise by a player? Even employees have spoken anonymously that offline mode is very possible. Even so, after being proven wrong, they stubbornly insist that offline mode will not happen. And if that's truly the case, even after a year or two, then they will be disappointed to discover any future Sim City titles will not sell as well as this one has. And when that happens, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.
Total Score - 60/80
Overall, I feel the game is good, but it's still broken, and it was unnecessarily broken from the beginning. EA/Maxis should have been prepared, ready, and obviously missed testing the pathfinding. No game will ever be released 100% free of bugs, which is understandable.
However, the biggest downfall is the attitude from EA/Maxis. Lying to your fans, treating your fans like criminals, then trying to bribe them with a shiny game from your POS Origin store is sickening. Not to mention refusing to hear their case, or consider what they say. EA has proven, time and time again, that they are a company that values money over the fans. And every company they touch goes from a great company, to a shoddy EA division. That was the case with Maxis back when they were purchased during the days of The Sims 2. The Sims was a fantastic game while Maxis owned it. Once EA stepped in, the games became buggier, the Expansions rushed, and the communication with fans went from once a week, to never in a million years. Not to mention that EA allowed a 13 year old kid from Israel spam the forums with pornography for a good year. They did nothing about it. Eventually, a couple of members from the community made a stop to it. Mods made by members of the community are what fixes the games, thanks to EA's lack of testing, and usually any patches made either don't fix the bigger problems, or break the game even further. And let's not even talk about Spore.
Not to mention Bioware, as before they were bought out by EA, they did well on their own with the Mass Effect series. EA stepped in, and behold Mass Effect 3, which was subpar and substandard to previous Mass Effect titles. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had successfully taken over Take Two? Imagine the Grand Theft Auto series in shambles. It would have been a travesty.
All in all, I honestly don't like giving even a 60/80. I feel that EA's behavior should negate a lot of the score. However, the game, as I said, is good, when it's working, and when you can access it. Being able to play is the first hurdle you have to get through. But when you get through the hurdle, get ready to be swept away for hours.
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