Published: Wednesday, 25th November, 2009 3:57pm

Cities XL

by Photographer

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PC

The problem with city building sim games is - as a younger sibling will always be compared to their successful older brother - their achievements won't ever be considered without comparison to SimCity.

This is, when you think about how long it's been since we've had a decent SimCity release, actually a bit harsh - although that isn't going to stop it from being the case.

In the case of CitiesXL though, the comparison is favourable. Anyone who's coming at this having played SimCity will pick things up easily, but there's a host of new features that mean this is an immersive and fab gaming option in its own right.

At its most basic level, CitiesXL is a strategy game, where you become mayor and oversee the development of your city from the ground up. You start off by choosing where you'd like to build, and then you start setting up residential areas and commercial ones, setting up your city hall. But deciding you're having a residential area is just the beginning - you've got different types of zoning providing you different kinds of workers who have different needs. Unqualified sorts won't mind working at the farm, but if you want elite workers then you'd better make sure the shopping is good and the schools are ok.

The juggling act between making and spending money is the toughest element of the game - and where things can go awry.You have to make sure you have enough people for the number of jobs, to ensure everything is profitable.

Once you've got to grips with the game on a single player level, it's time to become part of the global economy and this is where CitiesXL proves it really is XL. In a multiplayer more akin to an MMO, you can trade and interact with other cities in a way to make yours the most popular of all - and this is where you'll be suddenly finding you've been sitting at the PC for a couple of hours without feeling the time fly by.

This is one of the best strategy games out this year, and is well worth picking up if you're a fan of city building sims - it eclipses SimCity Societies and brings a whole new aspect to the gaming that'll keep you busy well into the new year.

Four Stars