In the Wake of SimCity Fiasco Another Look at CitiesXL

I first played Cities XL in May of 2011.  I last played a year ago in April 2012.  At the time I said I couldn’t wait until Sim City came out.  However, we know what a fiasco that has become.  So, discouraged about playing Sim City I decided to load up Cities XL.  This is the first one - not 2011, 2012, or Deluxe.  The graphics are pretty amazing and rival anything in the current Sim City.

I don’t know how I never zoomed in this far before, but it’s pretty great.  I really have the feeling of having built a real city in a way that I never have before.  It’s so fun to zoom in all the way and then move around the city.  Check out how neat it looks at night.

Oh, and not to be a jerk, but it can actually be a big city:

Yeah, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to convince me to spend $60 on a broken Sim City with this great game when the latest version is about $30.  Perhaps part of the reason is that they have in-game ads.  But at least the ads look realistic.

It was hard to get back into after a year - with all the mechanics involved so I  started a new city.

The volcano map:

After a while a restaurant opens up in my city:

Later, around 10,000 citizens, I think, I gain medium density skilled worker plots:

It’s neat that you can see road usage end while zoomed all the way in.

The moon was a nice touch:

This is an executive level low density house:

And a bridge I constructed:

Anyway, the point of this post isn’t really to poop on Sim City. It’s more to point out that there’s a great alternative out there that doesn’t force you to play with others and I’m actually having a blast playing it.  And, unlike with Sim City - Sim City 4, I actually am doing really well and making money without having to play the game at a really slow pace.

• Cities-Xl