We were recently granted a chance to go hands-on with Maxis' forthcoming SimCity, a modern entrant in the classic series that spawned the city-building genre all those years ago.

While the code was early and our time limited, we managed to grab enough of an overall impression for the direction the team are heading in and for SimCity fans, it's all looking very peachy.

It's early days yet and there's a lot to add, and even more to explore given the depth at-hand, but if you're at all interested in the game, be sure to jump in and have a read of our hands-on report.