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CXL 2012’s city building mechanics are streamlined enough for accessibility but complex enough that those who put the time and effort into exploring them will be amply rewarded. There’s plenty of choice involved in kicking off each new settlement as well. This is pretty neat and a real pull that helps to get players invested in the game: play enough and you can be the architect of a brave new world. In theory, the player can create an entire customized world (though it is kind of baffling that the planet map uses the occasional real-world location set upon the a fictionalized version of Earth) by linking one town to the next. After creating one thriving town and getting bored with its management, it’s refreshing to head back to the world map, find a level with completely different geography (say, a beach, an island or the base of a mountain) and start off again with a new aesthetic. The visuals are detailed, holding up well from close-up or far-out zooming levels, and a wide variety of terrain types make for a number of novel locations to plant a city in. Once the meat and potatoes of the game begins - actually building a city - this is easier to ignore. Menus and tutorial dialogue are filled with sloppy mistakes like misaligned text and sentences that are cut off by the edge of a window due to careless design work. The first thing a player will notice is that CXL 2012 is not presented particularly well.
Cities xl review update#
CXL 2012 (which I will now refer to it as, in true spreadsheet fashion) is available as either a fully updated standalone or an update to the original game, but this review focuses on the total package.
Cities xl review software#
The base game is a fairly robust simulation focusing on the ins and outs of constructing and managing an urban centre, while the expansion is comprised of additional maps, an assortment of new building types and modding tools (including, for the most hardcore, the ability to convert drafting software creations into game files).
Cities xl review series#
It’s important to note that Cities XL 2012 is, essentially, DLC for Cities XL 2011 - a title that looked to fill the void left behind by Will Wright’s Sim City series (which hasn’t had a proper iteration since 2004 or even a spin-off since 2007). Yet, somehow, on the other end of it I gained an appreciation for the game as a niche experience with a lot of love for its subject matter. A lack of passion for zoning issues, the creation of virtual economies and management of public infrastructure (vote for me in the next municipal elections) made for a few ounces of trepidation as I went into reviewing Cities XL 2012, a city-building simulation. I’ve never wanted to be a city planner - but then again I’ve never wanted to be a Marine, a ninja or a plumber, and videogames have made those jobs fun enough.