Cities XL Preview

This is a very impressive game. It looks like Tycoon City: New York but with better graphics and a lot of cool things.

Quote:

Game Description :

CITIES XL™ is the next-generation in city-building games, allowing gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps using an incredible collection of unique structures. Would-be Mayors are challenged to create the right combinations of social services, leisure activities, special events and job opportunities within their cities in order to feed, employ and entertain their citizens. Realism will be pushed to the limit with cities that are bigger, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before.

The game’s optional online features and services will let gamers create interconnected cities on virtual and persistent planets. By combining a fantastic single-player game with the social and multiplayer aspects of an MMO, CITIES XL™ will shape the future of the genre by offering more variety, bigger cities and multiple gameplay layers.

What is in the box?

• 25 maps featuring varying landscapes - from canyons to grassy hills and snowy mountains
• Around 500 buildings based on various architectural styles (European, American …)
• Diverse citizen structure: Four levels of wealth, four main different needs (Services, Environmental, Prices and Traffic) split into many sub-categories (Police and Fire departments, Education, Leisure, Commerce, multiple types of Pollution, Taxes, Cost of Life, Distance to work and more)
• A rich enterprise selection ranging from agriculture to heavy industry, services, tourism…
• A complex, but easy to access, simulation based on 12 resources to trade with an opportunistic IA (electricity, waste management, agriculture, water, fuel, etc.)
• An ambitious traffic system including many type of roads (five different widths, costs, quality and capacity), highways, airports, ports, and much more. A complex bus system will be provided for free post release.
• A set of never-before-seen real-time construction tools allowing players to create curved roads, building zones of various shapes, elaborate bridges...
• An avatar studio and Web-based profile pages

"Planet" subscripton offer: what does it include?

Multiplayer gameplay both in-game and on the web:

• Trade resources with other players to develop economic strategies, specialise your cities, maximise your possibilities in a global economy
• Work cooperatively to build Mega Structures – special buildings that enhance your city aesthetically and economically
• Web-based city management -- check your trade contracts, receive alerts, adjust your decisions from any computer in the world

Persistent MMO world:

• Each player receives five slots to build five persistent cities on different Planets
• Contribute to the life and statistics of the Planets (economics, population, pollution…): what you do has an impact on the world

Community features and animations in-game and on the web:

• Visit one another’s cities, see other players’ creations and content, chat with other players
• Create and participate in online events, discover virtual cities and real people

Regular upgrades :

• All Buildings, Maps, simulation and functionality upgrades are free with the planet offer

So it's like Second Life but more like a city-building game and an interesting simulator where you can meet real people. I think i'll get a copy too.