Next week sees the release of Cities: Skylines 2 on PC Game Pass, but sadly it sounds like a lot of players aren't going to be enjoying it to its fullest at launch. Despite some good reviews, there are also performance issues to be aware of.
In a recent update, Paradox Interactive admitted that the team hadn't "achieved the benchmark we targeted" with the PC release, and therefore it sounds as though the game will require a very powerful system in order to run. The plan is to "improve the game over the coming months" and "ensure it reaches its full potential".
"Cities: Skylines II is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements. With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted."
"In light of this, we still think for the long-term of the project, releasing now is the best way forward."
There's definitely a fair bit of concern in the Cities: Skylines community, but the game itself has actually been getting some largely positive reviews so far. It currently has a Metacritic average of 77 based on almost 40 reviews.
We'll throw some examples below, and you can try the game for yourself as part of PC Game Pass on Tuesday, October 24th. The Xbox console release won't arrive until 2024, and it sounds like that's for the best right now!
God Is A Geek (8.5/10)
"While it does struggle under the weight of its own ambition a little, Cities: Skylines II is still a super addictive city sim."
VG247 (4/5)
"This is an excellent sequel, and an exciting foundation for what I’m sure will be a bright, addition-packed future. For those with weaker machines or a focus on performance, you may very well want to wait."
Game Informer (7.5/10)
"The sequel is ambitious and wants players to juggle hundreds of considerations as they build towards Elysium, and it delivers in that aspect. Yet, unfortunately, the game’s consistent technical problems tend to mire that calculated success."
IGN (6/10)
"Cities: Skylines 2 is an ambitious sequel that might have bitten off more than it can chew – be prepared to do a lot of terraforming if you don't want your metropolis to look like a nightmare."
Will you be trying Cities: Skylines on PC Game Pass next week? Tell us down in the comments below.
[source forum.paradoxplaza.com]
Comments 16
At least they came out and stated they released it in a less than stellar state before everyone else did.
Right? /s
I'm not too bothered by high system requirements, as long as it is performant on a high spec machine.
I'm running an i9 10900K with a 3090 and 64Gb of ram. I don't expect it to stutter and TBH it should manage at least 1440P 60hz - surely?
Looking forward to trying this - I loved the last one.
I don't normally play a lot on PC, far prefer console gaming, but this type of title I feel really benefits from K/B and mouse input, so I'm happy to make an exception for this
The first game is one of my favorite games of all times. I can't wait for this one!
Can you imagine paying to see a film or buying a book ,only to find the last 20 minutes missing or the last chapter not there,and then to be told dont worry we will add that later ,seems to be the norm for games at the moment ,thank god for playstation and Nintendos first party games,at least you know you're gonna get a finished polished product.
I’ve been watching the developer diaries and numerous content creators since this was first announced and so far I’ve had mixed feelings.
On one made it’s easy to see the potential there and I ultimately feel it could be amazing eventually.
On the other hand, the streamers playing it a week from launch have all noted that they are still using beta builds, and there does appear to be some jank and weird choices regarding which features have been brought forward and which have been dropped.
I’ll be giving it a go on PC GamePass on the wife’s PC when she’s at work, but I’d rather play on console with my keyboard and mouse like I did the original.
@Mephisto2869 didn't insomniac just say new game+ for spiderman 2 wont be available at launch but will come later when its ready?
I also remember Mario Tennis Aces launching and then patching in full game modes a few months later.
@BacklogBrad youre seriously comparing new game plus and new game modes ,to a game that has performance or game breaking bugs 😂😂😂 good grief....really 😂😂 ill remember your name ,need to make sure I keep an eye out for other such gems..classic.
@Mephisto2869 you complained about missing content then praised teams that have also launched without content. Just wanted to point out that hypocrisy.
@BacklogBrad there is no hypocrisy, dont be a silly Billy,new game plus is not a given ,its an added bonus that devs include at some point to add value for the fans of the game,there's many games that dont include it,doesnt make them broken,now does it.
@Mephisto2869 all spiderman games have had it. Most sony games have it, seems reasonable to expect it in this case. I personally am not upset it will be patched in later, whenever they finish it. I just thought it was comical to see "thank god for playstation and nintendo" in a post about games releasing unfinished when just yesterday sony announce they will patch something in later. Nintendo also released Switch Sports without Golf and patched it in 7 months later even though it was advertised in the reveal trailer.
Your film/book analogy about them missing end content fits spiderman better than a game with tech issues. Should have went with typos or something.
"while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted."
Then why release the game if not satisfied or not up to today's standards? I'm sure fanboys will flame me for that. And I'm m fine with that. Please do.
But not sure about other gamers. I'm just tired of paying to be a beta tester.
@BacklogBrad youre talking absolute twaddle,to deflect from your original nonsensical comment, nice try though.
@Mephisto2869 you can buy or stream TV shows that don't have an ending. Technically any movie in a series being cancelled wouldn't have an ending. lol
@Raw_Dawg 😂 I suppose,im gonna start ripping out the last pages of books in libraries,but seriously ,referring to the other comment, it amazes me how some people are willing to look stupid to just try and prove their point.oh well...such is the world now.
@Mephisto2869 I get what you are trying to say. You want a finished product. It just wasn't the best analogy to use. Which is why I was giving you a hard time. The 1st reboot of Spiderman was never finished it should have been a trilogy. Rowling could have got stuck with the Harry potter series and never finished or had a long pause. Most people say the ending to GoT was terrible. Martin was probably burnt out and only slapped together something because he was under contract with no choice. Which I think is part of the problem in the gaming industry. I think a better way to show this is bad for the consumer. Would be to ask if they are willing to purchase a car at full price without wheels and windows if they were promised they would get them in a few months. What if they were told they would end up having to pay extra for them? What if you were told that they weren't sure if they would even come in? Who TF would buy something like that? So, why do gamers? I think some of it is FOMO. I think the game is call Age of Extinction. They released what will be it's final update then delisted it. In the comment section of the story. Someone says "They didn't even give us time to panic buy it".
I think the real problem is honesty and price gouging.Starfield for example. To me it's not finish and I'll probably never support it. They could have been honest and they would at least had my respect. They could have said "Hey we have been working on this game for 8 years and are burnt out. We will Take community feedback in order to finish the game over the next two years." Which is essentially what they are doing. Then there is the issue with pricing. It used to be at least on PC that when you bought into something that was unfinished like a beta or early access. You would get it at a steep discount. Typically 50% off. Again the gaming industry got greedy and I guess the FOMO drives sales. Starfield in it's current state isn't worth $70-$100(at least to me). To me it's worth $40 until it's finished. Not until it's actually finish should they release a physical copy and charge $70. I understand why they release it unfinished. Not wanting all the money and man hours going to waste but I'm right there with you this has gotten ridiculous.
Although I feel it's hard to complain about a new game that you can play for under $20. It's releasing on PC which for the most part has become digital early. In which case everything gets updated and you don't really have a choice about it. So, a game that still needs work doesn't feel like it matters as much. Typically the biggest issue for me when they release an unfinished game is in regards to physical media. The nice thing about physical media or buying from GOG is that you can play the original version as it was if it was finished. I don't always care for all the updates. They don't always make things better. I guess I can be a bit of a purist.
I'll be playing when it lands on Xbox.
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