Cities: Skylines has been out two weeks now (fifteen days at the time of writing), and I believe I have gotten far enough into the game to offer the sum of my experience with my take on the game, as well as the controversial similarity to SimCity (2013) of recent memory. Now I must say, forums were exploding at the announcement of this game saying that it was just a carbon copy of SimCity and that it wouldn't be worth buying. I doubt that this opinion is exactly objective, but I pose the question; exactly how different IS any one city building sim from another? The devil is going to be in the details for this one and I can't wait to get started.
Right off the bat I'd like to point out that long time fans of SimCity are going to notice some similarities. You start drawing out roads, ideally in some sort of logical shape or grid if you are a fan of progress in this game and then move into zoning. You assign the areas on either side of the road to be Commercial, Industrial, or Residential Districts and buildings grow up from each zone as you might expect. You'll next build stations to bring power and plumbing to the masses; so far so normal. You eventually establish schools as well as police and fire departments, then eventually schools and parks. The city grows as people move in and the population increase gradually opens more and more options for you to build and explore. These are all things that any city sim would lay claim to and, in fact, not the point of this article. With the hot issue of Cities: Skylines being "too" similar to buy or enjoy, I went into the game asking myself what makes this different, and how does this game stand out or expand the accepted formula on games like this?
Well for starters, it isn't always online and there isn't some half cocked multiplayer mode inviting people to come in and foul things up. Nope this is my city! However I refuse to garner any reputation for harping too hard on a game company, so here go my actual observations upon playing the game.
One of the key differences that expounds on the gameplay in a great way is the brush tool allowing you to divide up the city and create districts. In each section you create you may adjust taxes and policies independently of the remainder of the city, giving a sense of depth. Unfortunately it is just a sense, meaning it is just another layer of micro-management. But in a simulator such as this, is that really such a bad thing? I would figure that running a real city is quite a bit of micro-management. Likewise a real city needs to keep a close eyes on its resources, and so do you. As you play you need to keep watch over your wallet, though in reality it is simply refraining from overspending and moving sliders until you find a balance in the black. While nothing is overly complex about these systems and they aren't exactly groundbreaking concepts; it is no less rewarding to use these tools you are given to grow your city and watch the population soar when they are used wisely.
In addition your buildings can now level up in a rather interest new way of keeping the gameplay fresh, even into the later game. While I don't have a scientifically precise exploitation, I believe that your buildings in any zone will level up, grow, and become more productive once you have nailed down the proper services coupled with correct amenities. Such as education funding and parks allow your residential zones to do better.
Contrary to the overwhelming joy I'd feel when my city was thriving and my population rejoiced, you can expect to feel a terrifying tension that comes with the resulting failures of mismanagement. While most citizens are contest to leave passive aggressive complaints and suggestions on the faux twitter feed offered the the top of the screen, they will eventually abandon you en masse if you continue to screw up. So it is as you might think a balance that you have to maintain and growing your city slowly is a more stable way to go.
Over all I found the game immensely satisfying and certainly the experience was leaps and bounds ahead of the SimCity debacle of 2013. If you are the kind who isn't really turned on by building sims then I doubt that this will sway you in the other direction. However if you've enjoyed game like this before, then Cities: Skylines will be a shining gem in your Steam library and a game that I would certainly recommend.
