The SimCity beta kicked off today, and while registration is now closed, several outlets have already chimed in on their experience. As the first entry in the series to introduce multiplayer, Maxis hopes to reinvigorate the two-decade-old brand and expand its audience. While some players may take issue with the 'always-on' requirement which necessitates internet connection to play, critics' impressions appear to shine a light through the initial cynicism many may feel. Blizzard had a particularly bad experience with this setting when servers crashed at the launch of Diablo III and prevented fans from accessing their copy of the game. But, in a perfect world EA has learned from Activision's mistake and has fortified its networking. Without further ado, let's take a look at a few hands-on impressions of the game.
"I know that the smaller map thing sounds like a big deal, but ultimately I think it just creates a different experience. Six hours left me wanting more, and I think that might be due to the smaller maps. In past games, I made one city and worked on it nonstop. In SimCity, I really feel like I'm going to make one city hum and move on to the next - move on to the casino city or the solar city or whatever challenge I feel like tackling because the sections of the map are manageable."
"Having spent a day with SimCity, it's easy to leave some of the cynicism about the project at the door. The general impression is that the online-only integration stems in part from Maxis' desire to have as many tools at their disposal as possible, whether as a content delivery system or as a means for delivering on Quigley's vision of a global marketplace.:
"We were completely glued to SimCity. Construction in this sandbox is a fascinating and instantly gratifying process, and one that demands experimentation. But even after six hours in its company, the extent of the end game and longterm play is still hard to tell. How much effort does it take to unlock a Great Work between friends? Will multiplayer in the wild have more impact on individual cities?"
"I find myself eager to get back into SimCity -- there are dozens of buildings I never got to construct, trade networks I never got to explore, and perhaps most important of all, I haveto build a bus network with an average wait time (a statistic displayed when you click on the station) of less than 45 minutes. After all the complaining I do about San Francisco's MUNI system, I owe it to my citizens."