Last weekend, Maxis allowed thousands of players to test out its reboot of its classic simulation series, SimCity. Like many fans of the series, this was the first time we got our hands on the new SimCity – but what did we make of it?
This version of the beta test only allowed players to play through the first hour of a city, but that didn’t stop us playing that first hour over and over again. Yep, SimCity remains as addictive as ever. Planning cities is as fun as it was in SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4, but this time around it’s much easier because water and electricity travel underneath all roads that you place, meaning that you don’t have to worry about leaving space for power lines everywhere.
Roads have become more important than ever. As well as serving as the routes for power, water, and the majority of transport, in the reboot of SimCity zoning can only take place along roads. All residential, commercial and industrial buildings, plus any other parks, services and buildings must be placed next to roads. It did take some adjusting to, particularly with parks. It is possible, however, to plant trees anywhere on the map, so I went ahead and filled in all the useless green space was some lush deciduous woodland, grinning manically as my Sims happiness rocketed.
Sims in the 2013 of SimCity seem to be much more tolerant than the last generation of Sims. First they demanded power and water, then a sewage system, then waste disposal, then healthcare, then a fire service. The services they demanded are directly related to population size, making the first few hundred citizens a fairly orderly, quiet bunch – but when the hordes arrived, things got rowdier.
Here’s my first (and probably only) problem with SimCity’s gameplay: it’s too easy. Not once did I run out of money, not once did I feel any pressure when dealing with my Sims’ needs. With each city I made, after five minutes I was already making 500 Simoleans of profit every Sim-hour. In previous SimCity games, it was always a struggle to stay out of the red – you had to seriously think about what you spent your money on, but that certainly isn’t the case in the new version, not unless you’re really trying.
I really hope the mid-to-endgame is more challenging, or that Maxis tweak some of the costs of early-game buildings, otherwise SimCity’s longevity will be limited. Players need challenge, particularly in a simulation environment where the real world is being reproduced. Having near unlimited funds to play with made the whole experience seem rather pointless. I don’t have to choose between expanding my hospital or adding a fire station – I can do both.
The only limiting factor on city development is space. It’s been said plenty of times over the past few days, but I have to say it again: the map size for each city is too small. Even in an hour of play, I was already finding that I was reaching the edges of the map. Presumably, further time in the game is spent increasing the density of cities, because there’s no room for outward expansion.
I hadn’t expected map size to be an issue, but it was. This is the second change that SimCity requires if it wants to live up to its predecessors: increase the map size, or at least give players the option to use larger maps if their PCs can cope with it.
This is a beta build, and much could change over the next month or so before release. Many of the advanced and late game features weren’t in this build, so it’s difficult to gauge the depth of SimCity at this stage.
Over the course of the weekend, I had the chance to play the demo about five times in total. If I’d have had the opportunity to, I would have happily played for double that, but EA’s servers struggled under the load. At one point, whilst trying to log in, I was put into a waiting room and the client attempted to log me only every ten minutes.
In theory, testing server resilience and capacity during a beta should help reduce the problems when SimCity launches, but it would be ridiculous to expect a perfect launch. This is not the place to discuss (or complain) about a constant Internet connection as an anti-piracy measure, but feel free to vent in the comments.
Overall, SimCity felt like any other SimCity game: the planning, the subtle dark humour, and of course, the llama references. Yet in Maxis’ reboot, gameplay is sleeker, smoother, tidier than previously. Our impressions from the beta alone are that it’s easier too, and is definitely more accessible for the casual player.
As a veteran SimCity player, I missed several features. I missed placing water pipes and power lines. I missed being able to undo my last action. I missed the larger maps. I missed the option to zone areas as different densities. I missed being able to zone away from roads. All minor issues, but all significant for the returning SimCity player.
SimCity is a good reboot to a great series. The beta didn’t allow us to discover the real depth of the game, which will ultimately determine whether it’s a huge success or a major disappointment.
SimCity launches on Windows on March 5 in North America and March 8 in Europe. No release date has been set for the Mac version.