Cities Skylines 2 is the long-awaited successor to the beloved Cities Skylines 1, and while it may not pack the same amount of content right out of the gate, it's important to remember that CS1 had a full decade of DLC to bolster its offerings. So, let's dive into my experience with CS2!

First and foremost, CS2 is a stunner in the visual department. Even on lower settings, the game manages to captivate with its vibrant cityscapes and attention to detail. The landscapes are picturesque, and the city elements are beautifully rendered. Whether you're zoomed in to admire the intricacies of your city or taking in the grandeur of a metropolis from afar, the game is an absolute treat for the eyes. However compared to the original CS1, with some eye-candy mods, you this game falls short of it's objective, there is not as much level of detail in the props available for true customisation of your city.

However, it's worth noting that CS2 isn't the most optimized game on the market. Yet, with my mid-ranged hardware, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could still make it work. Sure, I had to tinker with some settings and make a few compromises, but the core gameplay experience remained intact. The occasional frame rate dip or stutter was a minor inconvenience considering the grand scale of city-building satisfaction this game offers.

if you land somewhere between the minimum and reccomended specs for the game, you are very capable of experiencing the beauty the game has to offer. If you are not sure if you can run it, There are two real options for you:
Buy a month of game pass, and play it on Game Pass, see if it runs on your hardware and if you enjoy or it not.
If you cannot afford to do this, give the game 6 months to become more optimised and more flourished with content before you pick it up.

While the game is expensive, 42 GBP for the ordinary edition, or 75 GBP for the ultimate edition, if you're a real fan of the franchise, it's worth the price. If you expect to put in hundreds or even thousands of hours over the years, then the ultimate Edition is also really worth the investment.

In summary, Cities Skylines 2 may not be the perfect sequel in terms of optimisation, but it shines where it truly matters. It's a beautiful game that captures the essence of city-building in all its glory. With a bit of patience and hardware tweaking, even mid-range PC gamers can dive into the world of CS2 and lose themselves in its urban wonderland. So, if you're a fan of city builders with a beefy PC, don't let the optimisation concerns deter you from experiencing the beauty and depth that CS2 has to offer and join us all on the years-long ride ahead of us!

Gameplay 7/10
Graphics 8/10
Audio 8/10
Replayability 10/10

War Thunder - A Mixed Bag of Authenticity and Frustration

Rating: 4/5

War Thunder, developed by Gaijin, is a free-to-play, cross-platform military MMO that offers players an unrivalled immersive experience in the world of World War II, Cold-war and Modern era combat vehicles. While the game undoubtedly has its merits, it also suffers from certain flaws that can be a source of frustration for players.
One of the standout features of War Thunder is its attention to detail and authenticity. The game boasts an impressive array of accurately modelled tanks, aircraft, and naval vessels from various nations, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The attention to historical accuracy and the painstaking level of detail put into the vehicles' design is commendable. It truly allows players to feel like they're stepping into the shoes of a World War II pilot or tank commander.
The game offers a variety of game modes, including arcade battles, realistic battles, and simulator battles, catering to different player preferences. Arcade battles provide a more accessible and action-packed experience, while realistic battles attempt to replicate the nuances of combat more faithfully. Simulator battles take it a step further by implementing realistic flight and vehicle mechanics. The range of options ensures there's something for everyone, regardless of their skill level or desired level of realism.
War Thunder also features a robust progression system that allows players to unlock and upgrade vehicles as they progress through the game. This sense of progression and the thrill of unlocking new equipment can be highly addictive and rewarding.


Positive Aspects:

War Thunder offers an immersive and authentic experience with meticulously modelled vehicles and attention to historical accuracy, ranging from WW1 all the way up to the Modern ERA, even including 'meme' vehicles such as the GAZ AA trucks for russia, elsewise known as 'Milk trucks', and some 'paper vehicles' which theoretically did not exist, such as the 'Yak-141' or the 'E100', giving the player an unprecedented level of potential in what they can see and achieve in the game, making this game the most accurate, and arguably the BEST military 'simulator' game which has ever been developed.

The game provides a variety of game modes, catering to different play styles and levels of realism, which also offer varying rewards when swapping game-mode, including Arcade Battles, Realistic Battles, Simulator battles, custom battles for playing with friends, and includes some lesser played modes such as Helicopter battles, and assault air/ground arcade to obtain boosters to assist in the grind of the game.

The progression system and unlocking of new equipment can be highly addictive and rewarding for players, especially once you unlock that 'one vehicle' you've been going for since it's such a high-intensity grind, however this can also be one of the games major drawbacks.


Negative Aspects:

The game is incredibly fun to play, if you play the era you have a vested interest in, however has some drawbacks as a result, if you're interested in the Modern Era of combat vehicles, you will have to grind for years, or spend quite a lot of money to get down to those tiers, especially if you are not the greatest at the game yourself. - This is impacted by the constant addition of new vehicles to the game added into the tree to increase the time it will take for a new/casual player to reach 'top tier'.

The matchmaking system often results in unbalanced battles, pitting players against opponents with significantly more advanced vehicles due to the compression of the battle-rating - with a notable example being the MAUS, the MAUS is either going to dominate if it's the highest tier vehicle in the server, or it will get slaughtered if it gets pitched up a battle rating due to everything becoming 70s/80s tech, with ATGMs and heat rounds.. which are the bane of the MAUS.

The game's economy and freemium model can create an imbalance between free-to-play and paying players, potentially undermining the experience and fun that the common player may have against more experienced players.
The learning curve in War Thunder can be steep, posing a challenge for newcomers and potentially discouraging them from fully engaging with the game, or cause the new players to outright quit.
Another raging issue with this is that a lot of new players aim to skip the grind and buy a top-tier vehicle, say the T72 TURMS for Russia. This will then cause a lot of lobbies at that level to be infested with these premiums who are not only less skilled, but generally only spawn once, get shot at then leave, ruining the game for the others in the lobby who suddenly have only 2 or 3 players to actually shoot at.

The compression of battle ratings, the years-long grind, and the lack of stock keybinds for higher-tier vehicles can be frustrating and detract from the overall enjoyment and make the game more difficult to learn as a whole since if you buy a new jet... you not only do not know how to fly since the tutorial for flying is in a propeller driven aircraft, but most of your keybinds (such as firing an air-air missile) are not set by default so a player then has to research into what keybinds they need to set to have the full experience and fun with the new plane.

The expensive premiums and the lack of proper communication from the developers regarding player feedback are additional negatives which lead to frustration amongst the player base as seen recently with economic complaints about the state of the game.

This review was an honest take, rather than a negative one but does address some of the major concerns that need to be addressed due to gaijins recent actions.

having a lot of fun, however the game can be a bit much to jump into without having seen it before, such as needing to pull things out of play non stop to either reduce lag, or to allow them to move without proper automation, but other than that, excellent because it allows such a degree of customisation, to naval assets, that games like NavalArt, just cannot compete with, it is incredible to allow your inner demons out.

v skeet skeet

good fun bang shoot