| System: PC |  |
| Dev: Maxis | |
| Pub: EA | |
| Release: March 5, 2013 | |
| Players: 1-16 | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p | Mild Violence |
GlassBox isn't just used for the game's charming visual aesthetic. Instead, the engine makes the city a living, breathing thing. Your sims will go to work, shop, and live. Well, they've always done this, but GlassBox allows you to actually see it. You'll be able to pinpoint traffic jams (there will be a lot of those), track an enormous amount of data such as land value, crime trends, which sims are being educated, and what areas are most likely to expand. For a game that features smaller map sizes, Maxis made up for it with a large amount of data to digest and comprehend.
And SimCity has a lot going on under the hood. Thankfully, Maxis didn't change the core gameplay experience, meaning it's still addictive, it’s still fun, and yes, it’s still frustrating. The minutes spent planning your city will quickly become hours, until you look out the window and wonder where the sun went.
I was finally able to get back into the game, but the servers went down during a play session. So while I’m still waiting for money to be gifted between cities, Origin’s servers earned some brownie points as my play experience wasn’t interrupted. I wasn’t thrown out of my game, nor did I receive an error message. Instead, just a warning in the top left corner of my screen saying I was disconnected. Once the connection was re-established, the warning went away and I kept playing. For all of the issues with the game’s launch, some kudos should be given for this one thing at least. But those issues are still a thing.
Even so, SimCity is a game I absolutely adore. When I’m not home, I miss playing it. When I’m failing miserably with my city planning, I’m learning how to avoid those same mistakes. Take that urban sprawl I mentioned earlier. In a bout of frustration, I demolished everything. The entire city is gone and all that remains are signs of pollution. Immediately, I regretted this decision, because there’s no undo button in this game. Everything you do has a consequence.
Ultimately, Maxis set out to create a real living world for players to tinker with. At that, they’ve succeeded. Well, they’ve succeeded whenever the game actually works…
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By Jake Valentine Contributing Writer Date: March 7, 2013 |
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