Our Easter Fix: Simcity 2013

Simcity 2013 may have hit the shelves over a year ago, but with consistent changes and updates, it’s hard to see it as the same game. Last year’s release was met with mass disappointment, with gamers experiencing server issues that deemed the game unplayable for hours on end. To add insult to injury, players didn’t even have the choice to play their £50 game offline – despite Simcity traditionally being a single-player game, players were now forced to connect to the internet to play, in a rather forced attempt by EA to foster a multiplayer experience. Understandably, consumers were unhappy.

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Things only seemed to get worse as players were finally able to log on, only to find a myriad of bugs and issues that hampered gameplay. Issues with traffic flow meant that buildings burned and sims died whilst fire engines and ambulances drove in circles. The restrictive size of the maps made it difficult to have a successful stand-alone city, and perhaps most disappointing of all, the franchise that had once been a modder’s paradise had been shut off to player input due to the risk of corrupting the host servers. Complaints to EA were mostly met with unsatisfying answers. The company stated that an offline mode was impossible due to the complex calculations that required their glassbox engine, and that larger city sizes would require more power than most players’ computers could handle. However, experienced gamers weren’t fooled by these answers and continued to apply pressure to EA. Finally, players have received an answer to one of their problems.

See your city thrive, or watch it fall to destruction by meteor strikes, earthquakes, tornadoes – even UFO invasions and more

In early March, EA achieved what they had called ‘impossible’. An offline mode was launched for Simcity 2013, meaning that players with shaky internet, players on the go, or even players who just fancied a single player game had the option available to them. Having played both the on and offline versions, I’ve seen no difference in the speed or running quality of the game. In fact, the only difference I’ve noticed is that I no longer have to wait to connect to a server that allows me to interact with people I don’t want to interact with. Many other players have said the same, and the online community at large seem much more content with their purchase now.

Whilst building the great works is a fantastic challenge, you can’t help but feel like you’ve ‘completed’ what should be a sandbox game once you’ve finished them.

There’s another cause for celebration too. Whilst EA won’t give us larger cities (they’re still rolling out the processing power excuse), the modders might. With the threat of corruption removed, Simcity is now open for modders to dig into the code and make their own additions to the game. Custom content is doubtless on the way, and the modding community are definitely more receptive to the wishes of players than EA. Mostly because they are players themselves. Other improvements have been made along the way as well – there are still traffic flow issues and mines and trade depots don’t always hold as much as they should, but updates have alleviated the worst of the problems, making the game far more pleasurable to play.

Simcity 2013 allows players to build impressive megacities, but the aim of the game is to build a ‘great work’

The game does have a lot of good features that shouldn’t be overlooked. Although city sizes can be restrictive, each region has multiple cities with different amounts of natural resources. You can co-operate with other players to make your region successful, with everyone specialising in different things. Alternatively, you can take on the challenge yourself and try to build up your own set of interacting cities. The ultimate goal is to build one of six ‘great works’ that will provide your region with different benefits. The international airport will bring tourists to fill your casinos and stadiums, whilst an arcology will give your sims a place to live, so you can dedicate more of your city space to industry. Whilst building the great works is a fantastic challenge, you can’t help but feel like you’ve ‘completed’ what should be a sandbox game once you’ve finished them.

So is Simcity 2013 a good game? Yes, it is. It may not be quite as good as Simcity 4 (which is rather disappointing when you’ve forked out a decent chunk of money), but the constant improvements mean that it’s getting better all the time. However, even with the offline mode, it still feels as though Simcity 2013 is stuck somewhere between a single and multiplayer game and it isn’t excellent at either. Hopefully once the modders really sink their teeth into the game, we’ll see the improvements that will make the game great. Either way, it’s one to keep you entertained these holidays (and the Easter Bunny too, if he comes to visit).

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Which game is in your disk tray this Easter? Tweet us @BoarGames with your answers!