A good attempt, but not SimCity
On a plus side it is a nice ALTERNATIVE. But I wouldn't say it's completely a Simulation. The game as a fair amount of depth but not as much as other games.
Theres very little micro-management for your city, such as transit(or lack of transit) etc. I found making money is relatively hard but due to the game punishing very harshly on where you place "Qualifed" and "Non-Qualifed" population in relation to businesses and the number of businesses seems to break the immersion.
It's not a really hard game to play, but compared to Simcity it has to be played slightly different.
Graphically the game is really good looking for this type of game. Full 3D plus the ability to zoom eye-level in to your creation is very nice.
The sound of the game is pretty standard, nothing special.
Multiplayer: Well, I purchased the Limited Edition version and I have to say the Planet feature isn't bad, but i'm still not convinced to part with more cash for it. But, it is early days yet so let us see what happens. Right now all you can do is trade with other players and visit their cities etc, not worth the money.
Gameplay: Good news for those who played the Beta/Demo, the perfermance issues appear to have been resolved. The full version runs very smoothly, however, I do not like the idea of working on my city on Planet Mode and then suddenly the servers going down for maintanence and then losing my work!
Another gripe is the lack of Mass Transit from what I can tell. I've not fully unlocked everything and i'm writing this on day of release so this review should be taken as more of a guide as i'm sure it'll go out of date quickly.
I don't think Cities XL is a bad game, but it needs more work and polish. I think possibly make it a bit easier to make money or make a sandbox mode for those who just want to make a city of their dreams especially as there are no cheats(not even for solo play).
The games flexible game engine, easy to pick up, maybe deeper management and slightly easier to get your city how you want it especially for people that don't want to spend hours trying to get a zone of industry to be profitable.
I'll most likely delete this review and submit another one in a few months after patches etc.
I rate this game 8.0 - A good game thats almost there but is lacking slightly near the mark