‘This is SimVillage’
Big game releases these days are almost always going to be subject to some literary abuse via the outlet of Metacritic user reviews, especially when a major publisher like Electronic Arts is concerned. In the case of SimCity, however, the rage has been taken to the next level.
As used as I am to seeing Metacritic user review backlash, SimCity‘s overwhelming negativity is nothing short of a spectacle. The general sense that it deserves all the criticism it gets for a contemptible use of always-online DRM serves to make the whole thing even more delicious. People are righteous in their fury, and this time there are few who would argue otherwise.
At the time of writing, SimCity has a user score of 1.6 with 1,848 negative reviews compared to 260 positive and 41 middling.
The most interesting part is that the vast majority of reviews are decently written and make calm, calculated criticisms. This is a break from the usual blind venom that gets spewed, and certainly helps show just how seriously angry users are with EA’s horrible decision. We’ve collected some favorite comments below for your reading pleasure.
“The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game. Lots of people cannot play their single player game because of this and gamers need to do everything they can to stop developers from including it. Do you still play SimCity 4? Good luck playing this game in 10 years. The servers will probably be down then and you’ll be locked out of your single player game. SINGLE PLAYER!” – Busterofwar
“It may be looked down upon to use this as a megaphone to shout through but the fact is that people need to see this, that NO-ONE should EVER support always online DRM for a single player game, on my partners 2nd attempt to play this game, she was told the servers were at full capacity and could not play until 235 minutes had elapsed. There are a staggering amount of other problems, such as the save states being tied to client-side servers, so that once EA decides this game is finished so is your progress and your ability to play it, forever. Not only that but, as probably said before, this game is on Origin only, so you must install this malicious, unoptimized, buggy front-end to just begin to play the game. Regardless of how the game plays as a Simulator, or whether or not it is improved upon it’s predecessors, these issues need to not just ironed out, but abolished completely and utterly. The business practices being executed here are absolutely disgusting and should not be tolerated, at all.” – Penemue
“BEWARE: Forced online DRM, will you be playing this 10 years down the track like previous Sim Cities? No, you wont. And they want this, so you buy the next one. Servers go down? Well screw you, EA already has your money. DLC available from release, server side save-games. I repeat, FORCED ONLINE DRM Also, server queues at launch. Thanks for destroying video gaming and my most treasured franchise.” – gemanner
“Always online DRM, smaller, non-connected cities due to engine limitations, DAY 0 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT, poor customer service and delivery of product (waited almost an hour to connect to my single player game), and a swath of simplifications in the gameplay that ruins it for a SC veteran like myself. Don’t bother to get this game. Save some money and buy Sim City 4, or Sim City 2000. You can play them OFFLINE as well.” – BeardtobeFeared
“This is an $80 facebook game. This origin (spyware) dumbed down piece of garbage, not only costs $80 for the full game (any lesser version witholds ingame content), but comes intact with intrusive, always-online DRM. Many people, even reviewers, were unable to access their games or load old saves because this. As a consumer, we should have a zero-tolerance for this sort of practice and boycott any game which is essentially an $80 rental. As to the content of the game, the city plots are abysmal in size, deals with neighboring cities is done automatically, connections with other cities (highways and rails) is done automatically, and much content like subway stations have been cut. The overall nature of the game is so limited that it when taken into context with it’s social gaming aspects, you have to conclude that would be better fit for a facebook or iphone game.” – RPGFan2
“Played this game for 6 hours. DO NOT BUY IT. I got disconnected from the server 3 times…you cannot save your own game! So there is no more let me test and reload if it doesn’t work. I started over at least 10 times while getting used to some of the features. The city size is just unacceptable. Its not a city AT ALL…More like a village. You will fill it up in an hour. I’m already bored with the game. I won’t even get into the always on drm…its a terrible move IMO…but in addition to that the game is not worth the money. I gave it a 3 because some of the new features are neat and useful but its they aren’t enough to save the experience. Buy tomb raider instead.” – Purgatori
“The critic reviews are undeniable proof of “gaming journalism” being rotten to the core. This is the exact same game as SimCity Social, except you have to pay $80 before you’re allowed to start paying for extras.” – Articuno
“I won’t even start on the mandatory online component/DRM that stuff is bad enough but what really bothers me are the tiny map sizes. Who at Maxis/EA possibly thought that would be a good idea? People said it’s a limit of the beta version, but now the full game is just like that. This is NOT SimCity. This is SimVillage.” – CriticoDubioso
“Absolute Fail Im gona kill my self if every game gona have Forced online DRM The game is good but EA want money in every way like day 1 DLC or microtransactions It fells like the game ist finisd and wee must buy the Patch DLC to make play normal i buy ME 3 and im never gona buy game from EA again and now u guys know why” – Curbes
“I have now wasted hours of my time. I rebuild, then get disconnected and loose everything. Rebuild, get disconnected, and loose everything. Not being able to save your game on something like this is absurd. Whoever came up with this idea should be fired, and take the idiot who approved it with you. In an attempt to prevent piracy, they have angered the people that actually paid for the game. I have no idea why they even bother. People that pirate the game either have no money to buy, or would not even if they did. They are not your customers, the people that pay are, focus on that. PLEASE!” – AvailableName
“1. ALWAYS ONLINE DRM IN A SINGLE PLAYER GAME 2. DAY 1 DLC… WITH PLENTY MORE NICKEL AND DIME TO FOLLOW 3. MICROTRANSACTIONS Leave it to EA to kill yet another Franchise. VOTED WORST COMPANY IN THE USA 2012” – StinkyMcGee
