If you were disappointed by the size of SimCity's metropoli (metropolises?), your eyes are about to bulge from your head. And I mean that literally: the above teaser trailer has been known to cause eye-bulge, so watch it at your own risk. Cities XXL is the latest game from the folks that made Cities XL, and if that extra X didn't clue you in, it's aiming to renew its position as the "world's largest city builder".
What's in it, apart from bigness? Well, "over 1000+ buildings, 70+ maps including new landscapes and environments, and ecological features", plus a "vastly improved game engine" for rendering all of that. There will also be Steam Workshop support. Here's a big block quote that makes Cities XXL sound rather appealing:
"Cities XXL features low-level city management mechanics, such as local air and noise pollution levels illustrated with the new stream-lined UI, and beauty hot-spots suitable for holiday locations to supplement cash-flow. At citizen management level, you'll be able to track a person's route to work in order to best manage transport from sea, underground and over-ground rail, or air. Cut-down on traffic queues with the park and ride and buses, or even bike hire—reducing that carbon footprint!"
If, like me, you find the naming conventions of citybuilding games a tad confusing, know that Cities XXL bears no relation to Cities: Skylines, Colossal Order's similarly promising, but less embiggened, game of metropolitan management and building placement. Either way, fans of citybuilders are going to be spoilt for choice next year.
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Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.