Developed By: Maxis
Published By: EA Games
Date of Release: March 5, 2013
Price: $59.99 ($79.99 for Digital Deluxe)
In the year 1984 an enterprising young programmer named Will Wright released his first game. In "Raid on Bungeling Bay" players had to bomb a series of factory towns before they could develop more advanced weaponry. Upon realizing how popular the game's editor was among players, Will Wright then set about to build it into a more detailed game, and in 1989 Sim City was born. It proved to be a smash hit, with amazing city planning features and a level micromanagement depth that had never been seen before. Over the years more and more sequels were made, advancing the series gameplay as technology allowed and bringing the series to many different platforms as well. And now in 2013 we have the most advanced Sim City game yet, simply titled "SimCity". The world of city planning has reached new heights!
The first thing you will notice upon starting SimCity is the new graphical presentation. Rather than being sprite based as previous entries in the series, SimCity is fully 3D rendered, with a tilt-shift effect which makes the entire experience reminiscent of playing with a model set. However this model set is alive and breathing, and you can watch your citizens as they go through their daily routines. The tilt-shift effect is quite frankly breathtaking, and combined with the Sims-esque aesthetic, it really makes this new SimCity stand out from previous entries in the series. The audio is quite remarkable as well, as you select the different infrastructure categories you hear very appropriate sound effects, be it the humming buzz of electricity, or the gloop-gloop of sewage processing.
Those who are new to micromanagement games need not be afraid of SimCity, as the built in tutorial will guide new players along without being too controlling, and it also serves as a welcome refresher even to veterans of the series. Those who don't care for a helping hand can turn it off completely, however it does tend to add a bit of narrative and charm to the experience. SimCity is after all a game that is all about the details, no matter how small. The depth of information in the various submenus is astounding, and in this reviewer's humble opinion the breadth of it's scope cannot be matched by any of the previous entries in the series. Rising to power as a mayor has never been so richly informational. The presentation for this game is top notch all the way, and every little detail really does shine.
Now I do have to address one small negative point with SimCity, and that is the server connection issues. For the first week after launch the game's servers were so taxed that many players couldn't even connect to play the game. However those issues are quickly being ironed out, and in fact at the time of this writing I myself have not experienced a single connection issue yet. EA has taken massive steps to smooth out the experience for everyone, and are even offering a free game as compensation to people who bought the game during the server troubles. That is a pretty good gesture in my opinion, and it shows how dedicated EA is to satisfying their customers. So minor server hiccups aside, SimCity is a rich and bold city planning experience, and it should not be missed out on. And if you want the best experience, definitely spring for the Digital Deluxe version on Origin, it adds some VERY classy building styles. Also superheros. Can't go wrong with those! So fear not if you are on the fence, and go buy SimCity today. Your city needs you, Mayor!
