Cities Skylines 2: Crowned as the Most Intense Game of the Year

Cities Skylines 2: Crowned as the Most Intense Game of the Year

Cities: Skylines 2, set to release on October 24, promises an aesthetic allure in its recent glossy trailer. A radiant city basks under the sunlight, slabs of glass reflecting beams of light that beckon potential city-dwellers, hinting at a world full of endless possibilities. Streets teeming with vehicles mark your own hand-crafted districts while a flurry of life unfolds under the towering high rises, condominiums, and penthouses that overlook the urban rhythm of the city. This creation, a conglomerate of your erected cathedrals, chemical plants, foundations, factories, opportunities, and offices, emerges as a testament to your command over this world. Notwithstanding, the game’s violence remains a contentious debate.

Just like its predecessor, Cities: Skylines 2 revolves around city-building directives. Everything we observe in the trailer – every road, every home, every skyscraper, every district is nothing without you, says the trailer, adding an almost threatening note to the otherwise inspiring narrative. The feeling of playing a villain, obliterating everything in the path for our comfort and joy, is inescapable.

However, it’s important to clarify that the game doesn’t advocate violence. Building a lethal maze teeming with creative and deadly traps for your unsuspecting residents is far from its objective. It doesn’t resonate with violent-adjacent games such as Humanity, where you can throw your followers off the edge. Many argue that Cities: Skylines 2 is not violent in the slightest.

In contrast, Cities: Skylines 2 positions itself apart from the ‘kill or be killed’ games, advocating for tranquillity instead. You get to build a city block just like playing with Legos while listening to soft background music. The process is calming and orderly, evoking a feeling of snug comfort. The game, despite its realistic graphics, serves as the perfect example of a wholesome and cozy gaming experience.

Playing Cities: Skylines 2 might induce a similar sense of tranquillity. It’s an excellent choice when you just want to unwind, relishing the joy of constructing a colossal city. It would resonate with the satisfaction that Animal Crossing: New Horizons bestowed upon me with its launch, which has kept me engaged for an additional 50 hours courtesy of the expansions. Albeit, in Animal Crossing, your interaction extends to the local flora and fauna. You only disrupt nature through sustainable fishing and occasional garden weeding.

Conversely, in Cities: Skylines 2, your creations trample over nature. The teaser offers a glimpse into the reckless destruction of the local ecosystem. Your construction endeavors uproot trees and convert grass into roads. You bathe the city in artificial light, stealing the stars and polluting the air while destroying natural habitats just to accommodate more humans. With deforestation, pollution, climate crisis, and overpopulation being the current pressing issues, it’s strange to see a game glorify all of this as a fun and wholesome activity.

This depiction isn’t necessarily a critique of the game but an observation of our own hand in destruction, a reckoning of how we are marching towards our own planetary demise. Cities: Skylines 2 doesn’t inherently dub you as an immoral player. But if we look at games as tools for political narrative, Cities has a powerful statement that it voices indirectly but robustly. Personally, I would prefer to retreat to Diablo 4, slicing through hordes of demons, a decidedly less violent endeavor.