Despite the major headache that has been SimCity's major connectivity issues, early reviews of the game have been fairly positive overall, although almost all of them cited the always-on features as the biggest negative.
Polygon called it, "A near-perfect fusion of the classic simulation game with modern social and online play elements." While GamesBeat reported that it was "wonderfully complex, but very easy to play," concluding that it has, "come together beautifully overall."
However, even many of the positive reviews gave hints at what was to come, with Hardcore Gamer Magazine saying, "When it's working, SimCity is an ecstatic god game that can be addicting to play; when it's not, it's one of the most frustrating experiences you'll have."
PC Gamer noted, "Constant connectivity does have benefits, such as leaderboards, worldwide challenges, and the Global Market, but it's not even close to being worth the hassle for those features, and hardly touches the essence of what makes SimCity so diabolically addictive and engrossing."
Game Revolution probably echoes the feelings of many players currently struggling with the servers saying, "As Electronic Arts and Maxis fix the issue with the online servers, which the entire game hinges upon, feel free to add up to one full star to the grade."
A review by Destructoid was even more damning:
"At first I started to enjoy it, but soon all I found was frustration. I can't recommend this game to anyone, and I don't want to play it anymore myself because I am afraid of seeing all my efforts lost due to server issues. It's a decent game if it worked right, but the online dependency, forced multiplayer, and DRM ruin it. "
Lastly, Quarter to Three's analysis really captured gamers' frustrations, pointing out that fixing the multiplayer should have been "done before they sell people the game, not after they've been caught flat-footed for botching it so completely."
The reviews aren't even the end of it though. Many having been taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations as well.Game Informer executive editor Andrew Reiner for example Tweeted, "Wait... What if SimCity's login issues, tutorial issues, and online issues are the new disasters, replacing tornados, robots, and fires?"
Overall, it seems that there's a really good game buried beneath all of the always-on functionality. If EA is smart, they'll remember come their next release. If not, well, I hope everyone learned their lesson about pre-ordering EA games.