![]() ![]() ![]() Compelling, attractive city-builder with massive mod community.Colossal Order says the sequel won’t have a population limit and will be optimized for multi-core systems, giving desktop PCs with 20 or 30 cores a chance to shine. It’s a good time to get into Skylines, too, as the game’s hugely anticipated sequel is scheduled for release on October 24, 2023. Some players build entire cities from custom assets and spend hours perfecting the aesthetics of a roundabout or highway on-ramp. Alternatively, you can turn to the game’s active mod scene for thousands of custom buildings, parks, and landmarks. I recommend picking up After Dark, which adds tourism, and Mass Transit, which adds transit options like streetcars. The developer, Colossal Order, offers a confusing list of DLC. The alluring 3D presentation makes it possible to follow individual citizens’ daily lives. There’s a ton of depth in the game’s modeling of traffic, pollution, and city demographics, but players can brush that aside and build a beautiful city. City: Skylines hit Steam two years later and kicked off a new golden age. The game’s oversimplified gameplay seemed to torpedo my hopes of seeing a modern update to the city-building genre. The bungled 2013 release of SimCity broke my heart. High-level play requires a quick mouse hand.Relentlessly playable, yet quick to pick up.Microsoft released Age of Empires IV in October 2021 and gave both the initial Age of Empires and Age of Empires III the Definitive Edition treatment. Gamers who’ve had their fill of Age of Empires II should try other games in the series. You can play like you’re on the path to pro with endless waves or horse archers (and, in fact, the game has a healthy tournament scene), but I usually kick back and see how many layers of walls I can build between myself and the enemy. The latest, full-3D entry in the franchise, Age of Empires IV, is a nice-looking game, but it doesn’t hold a candle to its older sibling.Īge of Empires II, like most real-time strategy titles, is mentally and physically taxing to play at a high level but remains enjoyable at the leisurely pace my aging wrists require. The work began with the 2013 release of Age of Empires II: HD Edition by Hidden Path Entertainment and transformed into the Definitive Edition, a game that’s not just playable but beautiful on modern PCs.īetween this and Diablo II: Resurrected, which also beautifully updates an older game’s isometric 2.5D visuals, I think it’s time for even all-new PC games to reconsider this approach. (Crumpe may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.)Īge of Empires II: Definitive Edition is the primary example of how to faithfully remaster an old game for a new era. Deftly balances approachability with strategic depth.Experienced players who feel the late game is too easy, on the other hand, can try one of many weird challenges dreamed up by the game’s YouTube community. Many gameplay quirks can be fixed with user mods. Fortunately, the community has stepped in. The Frontier Pass and Leader Pass are good value, adding tons of new civilizations and leaders, though they’re not essential.Ĭivilization VI’s only flaw is familiar to 4X strategy fans: The late game can drag. The expansions add must-have systems such as a Dark Age and Golden Age mechanic (which came in the first expansion, Rise and Fall) and the climate mechanic (which came in Gathering Storm). Fall down the rabbit hole, however, and you’ll spend half an hour puzzling out the best location for a new city. Newcomers can leap in, start a game on low difficulty, and have an enjoyable time. The result is a game that’s difficult to master yet forgiving to approach. ![]()
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