Now dated, Cities: Skylines 2 wants to go even further than its predecessor in terms of simulation by making it possible to monitor the standard of living and contentment of each citizen.
After a first successful opus which sold no less than 15 million copies, Cities Skylines 2 is due to arrive on PS5, PC and Xbox Series on October 24, 2023. The many players of the genre are impatient to see how this second part will surpass its predecessor in particular on micro-management, weak point of the first episode. While this question is still on the minds of players, the publisher Paradox Interactive wants to quickly put out the fire by announcing a huge management of the individual.
Cities Skylines 2 aims to become the ultimate city builder
On the Steam page, we could already read “the most realistic city building game ever”. A sentence that Paradox Interactive does not want to follow up since the studio has just said more about “the ability to follow the life of a citizen from childhood to older age”. Thus, the game developed by the Finnish studio Colossal Order will offer the possibility of following the daily life of the citizens who live in our city. Each character will have “his own way of life”. You will therefore be able to do everything so that a newborn can have a better standard of living, a better education and a job superior to what was intended for him at birth.
In a video of more than 4 minutes posted on the official license channel, we can see the many features that will improve micro-management. It will be possible to see the indicators of a particular district, but also of a citizen. By clicking on one of the inhabitants, a floating pane will show all the history of this one: his happiness, his education, his job, where he lives, his standard of living, and even where he is currently going. A lot of information that serves to improve his happiness, the rate of which is detailed by passing the mouse over it. So, if my citizen is worried about the distance to the nearest hospital, I can satisfy his concerns. It will be possible to pin the profile of some citizens that we follow to find their statistics in a dedicated menu.
A revolutionary feature?
We imagine that this more “Sims” approach could well speak to a new public type. Players who will have the ambition to create a real utopia for their citizens or, on the contrary, to see how long they can remain happy in a totalitarian system with a police monitoring the actions of all citizens. This new dimension should bring more life and credibility to Cities Skylines 2, in addition to helping it stand out from the competition. While many city builders are fond of micromanaging and bombarding players with menus, few apply themselves to giving residents a unique identity, let alone in games of this size. It remains to be seen whether or not this feature will be really useful in the medium and long term. We will soon have the heart net.