I enjoyed playing Cities VR on the Meta Quest 2, but I felt like there was a number issues presented with the game being on the standalone device, but felt it laid a good foundation for city builders in VR. So, when I heard it was coming to PSVR2 with a enhanced edition, I was interested to see what it could do with the extra power.
GAMEPLAY
As you start your City, you start with the roads coming from the motorway, then need to start off your road and planning the layout for your city. This then brings in the core mechanics form Cities: Skyline, with needing create your cities infrastructure which includes; utilities, city zoning, sewage systems and power-lines. As the population and city grows, you need to keep an eye on the coverage of the utilities, and start adding the new buildings and features you unlock like medical, education and parks – this in turn keeps your residents happy.
You will need to keep an eye on what zoning you need to increase in the city, from residential, shopping and industry. All of which helps yours city turnover stay out of the red, as you are covering the general up-keep costs. If up-keep is out of your control, you can look at taking loans or increasing costs like taxes – with the later causing a possible stir with your residents. Keeping an eye on zoning is important, as if you build too much industrial or shopping areas, you might not have enough people to do those jobs, meaning these will go out of business and get shut down.
Then you also have to make sure you keep the population happy by having education, emergency services, medical care and waste management available to them. While doing this you also have to make sure you have enough power and water coverage to keep all the buildings running.
I was surprised that unlimited money and unlock everything was present in the game from the beginning and not unlocked further down the line. But, in a way I also understand why it is as well, as some played might just want to build a city with no stresses, so it gives them the option to enjoy the game from the get go.
One big issue I had when reviewing the Meta Quest version of the game was the lack of a detailed tutorial, which made it feel like the game was aimed at people who had played Skylines and not new comers to the series. However, the team had already taken this on board and released a patch with a much improved tutorial before the PSVR2 released, so new players don’t worry you are now covered.
Also with the release on PSVR2, it has allowed the team to increase the map size for your cities to nine times larger than what was available on the Quest, meaning your cities can be much grander in design.
PRESENTATION
Cities VR was slightly let down in the visual department, with it needing to run on the standalone device, but what it did was use what it could well. But, with the extra power of the PS5, it means the team have been able to introduce improved visuals – even with the bigger map size. My main issue with the Quest 2 version was the amount of pop-in the game suffered, although understandable it was distracting visually. Where this is still present on PSVR2, it is nowhere near as bad, which removes from the distraction.
The games is really brought to life by the audio design, as the city comes to life around you so does the hustle and bustle of the city life. Going close into the world and buildings like the hospitals gives you more clear audio to suit that building. Add to this a nice relaxing soundtrack, and the audio design does become a very important part of the experience.
With the improvement in the visuals and the great audio design, when you get your city off the ground and running, it really does feel like you city is coming to life before your own eyes. Soon you will taking in all the citizens going about their life by foot, their own vehicles or the public transport system you have put in place.
COMFORT/CONTROLS
When it comes to comfort the game can be played seated or standing – but, being perfectly honest I do not see any reason to play it any other way than seated. You can then move around the map using teleport or smooth locomotion in like a God mode flying over the city. With the final options being snap turning and vignettes for those who suffer for motion sickness.
TRACKED CONTROLLERS
GAMEPAD
With the controls on the Quest, this really was something that took away from the experience, as it was so easy to select the incorrect item from the menu and it was all a little finicky. Again, with the feedback given previously, these have all be tweaked and much more easy to use and get used too in the enhanced edition.
LONGEVITY
If you take the charm of Cities VR – Enhanced Edition, be ready to keep those controllers charged, as you put many hours into the game. There really is a lot to keep you busy, especially if you play without activating the unlimited money and unlock everything option – but even with these on hours will fly by in no time at all. If you take to the core mechanics of the game, you will really have endless hours of fun in the game, as you can start a new city at any point.
REVIEWED USING PLAYSTATION VR 2
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a review code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press code does not affect my judgement of the product.
REVIEW OVERVIEW
Cities VR – Enhanced Edition uses the power of the PS5 to build on the foundation of the Meta Quest 2 release. With much larger maps, improved visuals and performance, which is mixed perfectly with the core of Skylines but in virtual reality. Stating with the options that will make it accessible for those who want a full city building simulation experience or those who just want to relax and build, giving the player the choice of how they want to play. Either way if you take to the core gameplay, you will find yourself spending many hours in the game without realising.
GAME DETAILS
Release Date: February 22nd 2023
Developer: Fast Travel Games
Publisher: Fast Travel Games
Price: US $29.99 / CA $39.99 / €29,99 / £24.99
