So according to The Escapist, EA has sent out a survey asking players of Sim City what they'd like to see in an expansion. That's right folks EA is planning on releasing an expansion for this game that most have thought to be left dead and floating down a river that's always online, you know, so the water doesn't cheat. Well there is a long list of things to be added to the game, but the survey obviously means that not everything on the list will make it in. The crushing part here, and the reason I'm writing this, is that most of the things on the list are fixes for the current game; things in my opinion that should have been there in the first place.
First thing that everyone probably noticed on this survey was "Classic Mode" which is described as, "In offline or online mode, play a single fully functioning city using cheats and unlocks that allow you to create your perfect city". Did you find the special word in that sentence? In case you missed it it was 'offline', that's right folks it looks like EA and Maxis have realized that not everyone has an online connection all the time, like while traveling, and are releasing offline mode in the yet to be announced expansion. Sounds good right? Not quite.
I'll get to the other stuff they may be adding in second, but first I'd like to point out why all the good news is actually bad. Offline mode shouldn't come in an expansion pack. An expansion pack means that there is a cost involved and knowing EA it'll probably be around $40. Not a bad price, but not a price that people should have to pay for a fix that should have been in the game in the first place. The game is still priced at $40 at Best Buy Canada and other retailers, making the total package $80... $80 for the unbroken version of the game. You want to bring people back EA, make this feature available as a patch so that we can at least play the current game and not have to fork over a ton of cash to get a playable game.
But enough about that, on to the other features; some of which I think should have been in the original game and don't really count as an expansion. Next on the list, Terraforming! That's right a feature that's been available for a long time in the series is possibly coming back. This is one of the features that disappeared from Sim City 4 and one that again think should have been included in the original release of this Sim City. Bigger cities are also on the list, another thing from the fourth game in the series that got scrap in this iteration. One way roads, naming of streets and buildings, subways, and more extensive roadwork are all on the list of features that EA wants tog get your opinion on, all are features in the last main Sim City game. While I know that the new Sim City is a while new engine which means it was built from scratch but why you'd leave features out that were in previous games is beyond me.
So is there something on the list that could actually belong in an expansion? Maybe. More online stuff like shared events, such as zombie invasions (regard my last blog post in regards to what I think about that). Other online things involve Leaderboards, tracking useless information so you can 'compete' with your friends and guilds, another feature that I think will be completely useless. Co-op play is also on the list a feature that many on the internet seem to want, but again one that you'd think would have been included in a game that's always online... Sim City Exchange is another feature on the survey. This one is intriguing, allowing you to build building and decorations and share them with the Sim City Community. Maxis is essentially giving you their tools to create objects and buildings for them a feature some might remember from Sim City 3000; that's right another old feature making it's return.
Again I ask, is all this really worth the money for a game and an expansion or should EA and Maxis have included some if not all of this stuff in the original release. Maybe if they had done so they wouldn't have such such a flop on their hands. For a look at the survey, click here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Photo used under Creative Commons from Poetprince