I’ll always have a soft spot for Cities: Skylines. Seven years after its initial release it still stands as one of the most comprehensive city builders of all time. And while I’m still enamoured with its endless detailing, horky borky intersections, and traffic flow brainbusters, it’s about time Colossal Order brought us a Cities: Skylines sequel.
Every year I go through a rotation of my favourite games; when I get the urge to manage traffic and lay pipes under the roads (right where they belong), Cities: Skylines always pushes itself back into my life, for better or worse. With Colossal Order’s recent announcement of the Plazas & Promenades DLC (opens in new tab), I’ve been hearing the distant chirp once again.
“Start a new city,” it seems to whisper from the annals of my Steam library. What can I say? I like the feeling of defacing a fresh map, rather than ruining my previous creations with feverish addendums each time a new DLC rocks up.
But even with all $250 worth of Cities DLC (opens in new tab) sitting at my fingertips (not obsessed, just enthusiastic), I’m getting antsy for something new. Something no DLC or workshop item can deliver, however brightly coloured or pedestrian-focussed. Starting the same game over and over will only amuse me for so long—and I only discovered the game about three years ago. I can only imagine how the Cities: Skylines veterans feel.
For the longest time, we’ve been convinced Cities had scared off all the other urban city builders (opens in new tab). But with deep and comprehensive indie games like Urbek City Builder (opens in new tab) taking stage now, Cities is starting to look a little drab. There’s just so much potential here for a new game; a better game, one with less annoying sound samples on a two second loop when you zoom in.
Think about what the devs could do with what they’ve learned from making Cities: Skylines, the incredible features they could integrate that their dedicated modding community has so lovingly designed. A proper traffic management system, anarchy from the get-go, the ability to rezone, or swap normal roads for bridges wherever I damn well please. Is it so much to ask?
Packing all these features up under a whole new aesthetic would be the dream, but even if Colossal Order brought us something collated, and optimised it enough that it won’t eat through 32GB of RAM on loading, it would make my year.
I understand that a Cities: Skylines sequel might draw a lot of traffic away from the current mods and their Patreon links, but it’ll also present modders with a new and exciting challenge to undertake in their spare time.
Anyway, after seven years surely enough is enough. You can’t expect games to stay the same forever. Isn’t that what Cities: Skylines is all about? Adapt, evolve, expand… respect the topography? Alright so my metaphors may not be hitting, but it can’t just be me having this urge for a new king of all the city builders.