Review: Build a new city from the ground up

In the spirit of Sim City comes the latest attempt to offer an insight
into the challenges of planning, building and operating a city.

Cities XL
Monte Cristo
PC
Hayden Meikle
Three Stars (Out of 5)

You take the role of an all-powerful god/mayor and set about laying roads, planning suburbs, constructing buildings and generally putting in place everything a good city and its people could want.

These sorts of games tend to take time and Cities XL is no different.

A flurry of initial moves has to be followed by hours of patient planning and construction to get the most out of the game.

Socio-economic theory kicks in as well.

You have to think about what sort of workers (skilled, unskilled, elite etc) need to be based in the various parts of town, and build businesses accordingly.

The game has a fledgling online subscription service where you can interact with other city-builders, but most will find the single-player option rewarding enough.

Gameplay is fairly simple, and the process of establishing cities can be quite engaging.

It's sort of a game for the trainspotters, but there is plenty about Cities XL to enjoy.