izigame.me

Citystate 2 is basically a suped up Sim City 3000; the fully realised version that Maxis had originally planned before finical issues in the late 90s. It's designed by someone who has seen Citybuilders and ran with the concept. Smarts touches/concepts like the trees disappear when you zone or lay roads, upgradable buildings, the social ladder/immigration concept, transferring wealth to start a new city, slums, political affliation; these are ideas that the original series is missing and put this game in a full new level.
But citystate 2 isn't a fully realised city builder, or a fully realized nation builder. Yes you have a region, but only power is shared; not traffic or demand. Yes you have policies, but they seem pretty basic and only affect demand. You have a landscape but you can't really tranform to your hearts content. Yes you have roads, but they are a bit of a mess and city things like traffic aren't fully simiulated to a point of complexity. Failstates are difficult, and even intentionally runing a city into a ground doesn't really lead to much besides a few slums and basic riots.
The game is not skylines, which is a city painter not a city builder; as it is limited by it's engine. This is a city builder with some complexity, but complexity that is easy to learn. The game states "it's difficult to master" but this is more due to some concepts being explained poorly and not due to overall complexity. Once you master the game, it becomes pretty easy and straight forward.
The graphics are great, there is immense detail in the game when you look around. The blocky 3D look is charming, but the railroading into a grid format makes it more blockly then it should be. There's nothing wrong with grids, but sometimes there is way to many grids.
The thing is, i like it. It's like Sim City 3000. But 3000 is good for making a few cities, and then going onto something else like Sim City 4. That game, is unlimited. Complex, intricate, and very difficult to master and can be played forever. 20 years old and still nothing is similar to it. It takes the region concept and ran to high heaven with it, making this regional concept in CityState seem basic.
And when it's like 3000, it's good for a bit. And then you'll want more. There's a sequel in development for CityState 2, and i hope it takes what this game has and what's special about it and runs with it. This game is special, the developer is onto something, and there are very smart concepts/ideas in this game. But it needs to be fleshed out more. Like Sim City 3000; it's limited due to a narrow scope. But for what it is, and the price; pick it up, try it, and wait for the next one.