SimCity was one of the first major sandbox games that allowed the player to flesh out the role of a God and control an entire city on his screen. It was created by Will Wright and till this date enjoys fan appreciation and respect. Recently Maxis decided to launch its newest endeavour in the SimCity series called SimCity Online. For old fans and newcomers alike this was major news as it was allowing them to step into the shoes of the Almighty once more and build their city from scratch. Little did they know that they would be in for a nasty surprise.

Since SimCity hit the fans screens it spelt doom for its popularity that it had acquired over the years. It got storms of negative reviews and remarks from all over the gaming community and upset almost everyone. Maxis or Electronic Arts were holding on to their heads and racking their brains as to solve this predicament they had landed themselves into. SimCity launched after a long period of hibernation and the developers had major improvements set for the series in this latest instalment. They talked about new transportation options, population determination by roads along with an immersive multiplayer experience and several other features but it all went wrong.

This version of SimCity has wonderfully new and refreshing features that put the other games to shame. It lets you trade online with your neighbours where you can help one another. Your own city is a part of a gigantic network that is interconnected with several other towns and cities. This helps the player to evolve over time at an increased rate and lend a helping hand to his neighbours. The graphics are stunning and have certainly come a long way from the early days. The water shines with magnificence and the air sparkles while the smoke rises into the sky and the leaves rustle with peace.

The sounds are a pleasure to listen to as they each have a unique blend of tones and echos that resonate throughout the gameplay. Impressively the UI of the game is fantastic as it helps the player at every step of the way. It proves to be a great help if the user comes across some complexities that he is unable to comprehend. But all these improvements cannot save it from the disaster that it went on to create and become at the end of the day.

However there are several instances where SimCity was bogged down with server related problems which affected the gameplay and put a halt to all the fun that one would normally enjoy. The worst part about the game is that the player needs to be online at all times as it does not support offline gameplay. Bugs and various other threats flood the gameplay with irritating and time consuming tasks. Multiplayer options are welcome but it does not possess MMO qualities like cities being affected due to neighbouring towns and disasters. Login errors were rampant and the players were furious with EA.

SimCity was a great experience but due to the numerous problems and issues it fostered, the entire gameplay experience went to absolute hell. Now the only hope is that EA stands up and pulls its socks up to clear the difficulties and hear out the problems that the many gamers are putting up with.