My thoughts on Cities XL

[joeynymets 19]

I preordered the game and got it yesterday and here are my first thoughts (I will add more as i continue playing):

Pros
- Graphics, its easy on the eye and i like the 3-D world
- Easy to learn, as a SC4 player i was expecting it to be different, and it was, but it was easy to learn
-  Easy to layout roads

Cons
- Dependant on the internet: not a fan of this, i would like to just start up the game and play solo, without logging in or anything
- less content in solo mode: Really MC? your gunna force more money out of people for mass transit and more buildings? im not going to spend $10 a month just to get more content, especially when i wouldnt want to play online at all
- Autosave: i think there should be a option, at least in single player, to turn off autosave or at least ask if i want to save my city 
 
As i said, i'll add more as i play more of the game.  I was expecting this to be like SC4, where it will be playable many years after the release but first impression are telling me that it not going to end up that way.  Hopefully the people at MC will patch the game up so it doesnt turn into a big flop.

Comments?

[Urbangamer1 0]

I personally think it's going to be a big flop.....Just my opinion obviously but I do have lots of reasons for this opinion. Not sure if I'm still under NDA so I'll keep quiet.........for now...

[8elhaj 0]

Great point but please dont exaggerate about Online being 10$ because if service is as described then it is worth it. You can get 3 months for 19$ so thats less than $6.50 a moth. The only time where it would be a waste i think is in the beginning since there isnt that much stuff to get the online for yet.

[Brandon8181 0]

I really appreciate the review.  I'm so frustrated with MC joeynymets! 

I really want to purchase this game.  I'm a huge Sim City fan....all of their games.

However, I'm not going to be forced to pay extra money for something I feel that should be included in the game anyway...

Hopefully they'll add mass transportation... I've been so excited about Citiex XL 

[cheuk18me94 0]

everyting is money, that's all.

[Brandon8181 0]

8elhaj,

The price isn't unreasonable - but the thing is, if you stop paying, then you loose any city you've built online, and what if MC goes under?  Then you loose all your money, plus all your cities, right?

Brandon

[Brandon8181 0]

joeynymets,

When playing the game did you notice that any buildings were developing side by side, or really close together?

I had heard from the beta and demo that there didn't seem to be enough buildings and they were developing close together or even right next to each other in most cases.

Did you experience this at all?

btw, how about thouse New York Gians

Thanks,

Brandon

[joeynymets 19]

8elhaj:

Think about it this way, all the content in SC4 was free and it was a huge sucess, sure, if it offered something like PO to play on a planet with other people i would pay for it, but to include content is essentially vital in a good city and that should be avalible to all players doesnt make sense.

Brandon8181:

I too am a huge SC fan and ive been playin for 10+ years and i was very excited about Cities XL but right now it seems like a huge dissappointment, aslo, i have only played  for less than an hour ,because school work comes first, but i couldnt tell you about the buildings being so close but ill let you know as i play more.

Giants all the way

[Brandon8181 0]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I appreciate your time.  Just let me know when you find out something; I'll watch the threads.  Hopefully Cities XL will grow, create patches, and make the game better, etc.

Good luck in school too.

Brandon

[michael63000 0]

Monte Cristo . Why did I decide to buy this game?

[joeynymets 19]

michael63000: My thoughts exactly right now...

[Kingdom of Hispania 4]

having played Cities XL in the Beta, the demo and now the full game all I can say is that the gome is worth it (if you have the enough money for the planet offer) I'm going to subscribe for three months and see how it evolves, but, for a start, CIites XL is a good game. I fear though, that they'll get too picky with custum content and i'll fear that, at least some of those wonderful B.A.T.'s by heblem, simgoober, Peg, Debussyman and so many other extraordinarily talented guys won't be available, but, hey, let's cheer up! we still have SIM City 4 and we can still play it.

I, for one, will play both games

[Brandon8181 0]

Tolkienmexrepetido,

Would you mind if you have time breaking down some of the good and bad features about the game since you've played it?

Thanks,

Brandon

[Kingdom of Hispania 4]

ok, here I go

The Good Things

-Trade in the PO: is a tool with great potential, even with it's limitations it adds a new layer of realism to the game

-Graphics I have a lousy laptop with3GB in Ram and a Nvidia of 128mb  and i'm getting really nice graphics and a smooth gaming experience

-Landscapes: beautiful, just walking through them is a relaxing experience

-Building: there are plenty of good looking buildings

-Gaming: it has a easy learning curve

The bad things

-Custom Content is not here yet (and i seriously doubt that there'll be)

-You have to pay for the P.O. (altough right now i have a good salary and, thank God, that's no a problem)

-Limited terraforming

-no region playing

-no mass transit (not a big deal for me but I understand why some people is really upset by it)

-lots of the same size: i hope this will be solved with time

These are the main points, I hope that my view will help ypu to decide if bought it or not

[Brandon8181 0]

Tolkenmexrepetido,

Thank you so much!  That actually did help me alot!

You mentioned the landscape and "walking through it"  Did the feature where you can "create yourself" and walk thru your city is that what your talking about?  Did it work good?  Someone reported in the beta that it didn't.

I'm really happy about your comments about the graphics and how smoothly it works with your computer.  That's an A+.

Hopefully they will add mass transportation soon.

Thank you again so much!  I really value your opinion because it really helped, along with everyone elses.

Brandon

[jsieczka 19]

I borrowed my neighborers copy for a quick test drive:

The Good:

-Graphics are very nice

-Easy to use

-farms are nice

The Bad:

-lack of mass transit

-graphics bugs are still prevalent

-it is a hassle to get into single player

-far to easy of a game

-lot sizes are far to limiting

-trade system is unrealistic and arcade like

-zoning system is cumbersome and unrealistic

-GUI has issues, somethings too small, somethings too big, overlapping windows.

My overall ratings:

Graphics: 8/10 (close up zooms are a bit cartoony)

Sound: 6/10

Gameplay: 5/10

Longevity: 2/10

Overall: 5/10

[michael63000 0]

This game failed, I wish I could cancel my order.

[Brandon8181 0]

I think the Longevity and game play really concernes me.

So is what your saying is you think after a short time of playing you could get easily bored with this game?

Brandon

[gabry85 2]

Originally posted by: Brandon8181

You mentioned the landscape and "walking through it"  Did the feature where you can "create yourself" and walk thru your city is that what your talking about?  Did it work good?  Someone reported in the beta that it didn't.quote>

You can zoom in to street view and use your arrow keys to move and turn and click on your mouse wheel to tilt the camera, just like in a full 3D FPS. On the flip side, though, the FOV (Field Of View) is slightly too high and citizens look too cartoonish.

Other than that, it was definitely a relaxing feature I liked and used it a lot while testing the Beta. Your avatar is not required.

[packersfan 666]

I'm definitely going to be relying on Simtropolis impressions of this game because right now I don't have time to buy and play the game and when I do I don't know if I want to buy it if it is just going to be a flop so keep on talking about it, show some pictures, and tell us how it plays !!!

[jsieczka 19]

Originally posted by: Brandon8181

I think the Longevity and game play really concernes me.

So is what your saying is you think after a short time of playing you could get easily bored with this game?

quote>

Did I get bored no, more accurettly through out the beta and the couple hours I played today I could not get into the game to begin with.  I got more enjoyment "walking" around the city then I did playing it.

If you are a hardcore simulation fan then the game may not be for you.  MC removed alot of the detail work that you would want in a simulator and traded it off for playability.  It is in the same vane as Railroad Tycoon, where it has more realism then an arcade game, but less then a true simulator should.  At the same time if you liked Railroad Tycoon's level of depth then this might me up your alley.  Me my favorate sim is an airline sim that to play the game you need to have very strong understanding of the airline industry and are willing to make spreadsheets to keep track of what is going on.

[Abc987 3]

I agree with Packersfan...PLEASE show us some pictures!

[prozach1576 0]

The simulation seems extremely shallow to me and it's way too easy. I'm going to get bored with this game very quickly because of the lack of challenge.

[LordOscar 0]

Like most beta players.

[sthudig 0]

NO mass transit (see the thread "No mass transit for single players?"), nor do they intend to ever introduce mass transit into single player. So, my thoughts are turning towards the horizon, Tropico 3, Starcraft 2, and the Sim City 5 rumors surfacing here and there.

The single player seems almost like another trial or demo version...half the features are cut out, and what you can do is severely limited. Not something I will EVER be willing to pay 40 dollars for.

The beta and demo were so far below standard, and the game, in my opinion, is BORING. I just cant spend more than an hour at a time online with it. I wanted to give it a chance. I really did.

Forgive me, for I feel this really needs to be said, but the MC crew is even beginning to show some of the same stubbornness the Societies people did. My mind is made up.

[Inge Jones 18]

Oh dear! If they wanted the game to be played essentially online for a monthly sub, the box should have been given away free with your first month's sub!

[8elhaj 0]

Originally posted by: Brandon8181

8elhaj,

The price isn't unreasonable - but the thing is, if you stop paying, then you loose any city you've built online, and what if MC goes under?  Then you loose all your money, plus all your cities, right?

Brandon quote>

What some people dont get in this forum is that when you pay for PO you are not paying for a product. The product is the 40$ you payed for a copy of the game, and that you have it for yourself, you own it. But PO is a service and a service is by its nature perishable so you dont own those cities and when they get deleted after you did not lose anything because you still used the service and "ENJOYED" it.

edited for content.

swat

[stevens_uk 0]

8elhaj - im gonna ignore ur comment and agree with Brandon 8181

[Mk4UmHa 0]

I hope I didn't get taken for a spin by MC. I bought my copy from D2D but am asking them for a refund. It's never been installed or activated. For 40 dollars, I don't want a crippled game, adding MMO to the game should allow multiplayer aspects to the game, not add features into single player that should have already been in it to begin with.

[egod6969 8]

@ 8elhaj

You are paying $40 for the product.  But what if PO goes under and MC shuts their servers off in a year, will you still be able to play single player, remember you have to login there is no seperate launcher unless they release one.  Then your $40 is down the drain and you have a game you can no longer play.