Preview: Cities in Motion
by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Wednesday 22nd December 2010
We are all familiar with the traditional city simulator - building cities around the needs of the populace, placing buildings and parks and
squares in strategic locations to keep your citizens happy, all the while trying to balance the finances, ignore the advisors and keep up
with the ever changing needs of the city. It's a manic and frantic situation, and usually presents a challenge that you can rarely ever
manage. It's also a formula that has been done to death.
Luckily for us, then, that Paradox Interactive have come along with Cities in Motion. The idea of the game is that the city that you are in - which can be one of four big European cities; Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna and Helsinki - is run entirely independent of you, aside from the transport sector, which you are entirely in control of. The city evolves around you; the various classes are constantly changing themselves, the city is always creating new buildings to cater for it's people and new jobs crop up constantly. Your job as a transport chief is to build transport lines, provide vehicles and create stations to meet the transport needs of the constantly changing city.
The game is very simple to control and get used to, especially if you follow the tutorial. It takes just minutes to get to grips with the game, and once you have mastered that, then you can be on your way and begin enjoying the game. The campaign stretches over 100 years - from 1920 to 2020 - and that affects how you play the game. You have to make sure your infrastructure is kept up to date and that the vehicles that you are using don't fall behind. You have a finite budget, and you can use it to either improve the existing services, add the best new vehicle, or you can choose to build entirely new infrastructure and new lines. There are also five services that you can control, and they are buses, trams, metro, helicopter and boat, the useful and quality of each of these services changing as you move along the time frame.
It's fairly simple to guess where the citizens want to go based on their job type, and knowing if they are happy of not with the service
that you are providing is clearly shown by either a happy or sad face above their heads. You must also keep an eye on the economic trend of
the city, if the economy falls, you must lower your prices in order to keep people happy, and if it rises then you can raise your prices to
squeeze as much profit as is possible.
Visually, this game is stunning already. You can zoom out and awe at the massive beauty of the rendering of your city, or you can zoom in and delight at the fine detail that has been put into the game. So often do these types of games fall down the trap of using generic models to create a same-y environment, but not Cities in Motion. Having never been to Vienna, I can't comment on the accuracy of the layout, but frankly the graphics are so good it's difficult to really care.
Cities in Motion is set to be fantastic, and is easily one of the best sims I have ever played. The control scheme is simple and easy to use, the gameplay is simple, yet has enough depth to provide a lot of enjoyment, and the graphics are something to be awed at. Cities in Motion is scheduled for release early next year, and the system requirements that Paradox Interactive are aiming for means that you may just be able to play this game while travelling.
Luckily for us, then, that Paradox Interactive have come along with Cities in Motion. The idea of the game is that the city that you are in - which can be one of four big European cities; Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna and Helsinki - is run entirely independent of you, aside from the transport sector, which you are entirely in control of. The city evolves around you; the various classes are constantly changing themselves, the city is always creating new buildings to cater for it's people and new jobs crop up constantly. Your job as a transport chief is to build transport lines, provide vehicles and create stations to meet the transport needs of the constantly changing city.
The game is very simple to control and get used to, especially if you follow the tutorial. It takes just minutes to get to grips with the game, and once you have mastered that, then you can be on your way and begin enjoying the game. The campaign stretches over 100 years - from 1920 to 2020 - and that affects how you play the game. You have to make sure your infrastructure is kept up to date and that the vehicles that you are using don't fall behind. You have a finite budget, and you can use it to either improve the existing services, add the best new vehicle, or you can choose to build entirely new infrastructure and new lines. There are also five services that you can control, and they are buses, trams, metro, helicopter and boat, the useful and quality of each of these services changing as you move along the time frame.
Game Images
Visually, this game is stunning already. You can zoom out and awe at the massive beauty of the rendering of your city, or you can zoom in and delight at the fine detail that has been put into the game. So often do these types of games fall down the trap of using generic models to create a same-y environment, but not Cities in Motion. Having never been to Vienna, I can't comment on the accuracy of the layout, but frankly the graphics are so good it's difficult to really care.
Cities in Motion is set to be fantastic, and is easily one of the best sims I have ever played. The control scheme is simple and easy to use, the gameplay is simple, yet has enough depth to provide a lot of enjoyment, and the graphics are something to be awed at. Cities in Motion is scheduled for release early next year, and the system requirements that Paradox Interactive are aiming for means that you may just be able to play this game while travelling.
Cities in Motion Trailer