Well its an open ended sim game. The goal is what you make it, just like any of the sim citiy games. For me when I start a city (in citys XL or sim city) I have a plan either productive like "how high can I get my population" or challenge//fun such as "Create a working city with no industrial zones"
Sim city 4's "region mode" was a really great idea, and honestly set a genre wide standard (at least for me). There is no excuse that Cities XL did not implement something of the same nature. I think Monte Cristo attempted to counter region mode with their online mode. Which has potential, but it should really be offered for free if thats the case. Trading with other players just isn't worth me paying for it.
My main gripe with Cities XL is that it feel unfinished. Mass transit being main evidence of this. But also the fact that you cant change the budget of ... well anything. Also I would love to be able to bulldoze just 1 small section of my road or highway not the whole freaking thing!!
However, I wouldn't say Cities XL is a bad game, the problem is that Sim city 4 is just that good. Cities XL feels like an updated version of Sim city 3000, which is unfortunate because it should have been an improved version of SC4.
