Cities XL 2011 Critic Reviews

Considering many of the missteps that the newer SimCity games have taken I am more than happy to say that Cities XL is more than able to contain the mantle of spiritual successor.

In the end, Cities XL 2011 is far superior than the previous game and its only downfall is that it may be a little too complicated for some.

Cities XL 2011 is an astoundingly complete game, which further enhances the quality of the previous game. It has almost infinite gameplay options, and although we miss a more human approach to our inhabitants, it has incredible management options for our city.

Cities XL 2011 is a good and realistic city-building simulator, but a bit conventional.

It's not a technical failure, but it just doesn't offer anything new to the genre that was created and has remained the same since Caesar and SimCity.

It's good that Focus offered a significant discount to anyone who had already bought Cities XL, as otherwise there would be little here to entice old players. New people to the franchise who've longed for a decent city-builder should definitely try this out though.

A complex and wellbalanced sim that's troubled by a severe lack of long-term objectives and dearth of character.

Cities XL 2011 is a complete city-building simulator, but it lacks of many basic features to become a really nice game. More realistic than deep, the game will give many hours of fun to urban management fans but those who enjoyed similar games in the past may not be attracted by this new offer. Let's wait for the mods.

Quotation forthcoming.

In many ways, Cities XL 2011 is similar to Civilization V. Although not nearly as grand in scope, there's a sense of pride after taking a squalid ghetto and nurturing it into a pristine metropolis.

Its lack of vitality, sluggish menus and missing multiplayer element rob it of a lot of the fun.

If you like the management games genre, keep in mind that CITIES XL tries to simplify every aspect of the gameplay you are accustomed to, but you still might like it.

More an update to the original experience than a sequel, Cities XL 2011 It's too easy and linear compared to other, older representatives of the same genre. Our advice is to keep playing Sim City 4.

This new iteration of Cities XL just lacks a little depth. But the solo gameplay is now more comprehensive (thanks to the inclusion of public transport, for example) even though there are still some issues like the freight. Unfortunately, the multiplayer disappeared in this refinement process of the previous iteration, without much to make up for the loss in challenge. Indeed, you'll have to do with the joys of management alone, or, of course, the simple pleasures of building lovely cities.

Beautiful graphics don't make up for the oddly empty feeling inside.

At the present time, Cities XL is an ambitious but incomplete product that will surely need further work from Focus Home Interactive to reach proper quality standards. The game experience is in fact fun and challenging but also limited in many ways, proving unable to create real commitment from the players.

Great visuals cannot hide the fact Cities XL 2011 game works only on well-established principles and brings no revolution to this genre. Everything works well but there is no space for surprise for anyone.