Developer: Monte Cristo

CITIES XL is the next-generation in city-building games, allowing gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps using an incredible collection of unique structures. Would-be Mayors are challenged to create the right combinations of social services, leisure activities, special events and job opportunities within their cities in order to feed, employ and entertain their citizens.Realism will be pushed to the limit with cities that are bigger, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before.

The game’s optional online features and services will let gamers create interconnected cities on virtual and persistent planets. By combining a fantastic single-player game with the social and multiplayer aspects of an MMO, CITIES XL will shape the future of the genre by offering more variety, bigger cities and multiple gameplay layers.

Key features of CITIES XL include:

* Hundreds of buildings and monuments based on American and European-influenced architectural styles

* Extra large and incredibly detailed 3D maps feature a variety of terrains: mountains, hills, canyons, beaches and islands, all set in different climates from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate. Topography and terrain affect resource availability and city design

* Sophisticated transport system: players can define the number and uses of traffic lanes; while using bridges and tunnels to expand the size of their cities

* Realistic representation of the population. Citizens have a profile consisting of age, education and wealth. These profiles will affect what types of services and entertainment the player must make available to the city's inhabitants.

* Self-sufficient global economy, balanced by price fluctuations and citizen demands throughout the game world

* On going content production allowing player to regularly upgrade their game.

* GEMs (Gameplay Extension Modules) allow players to switch their mayor position for CEO seats, from car dealerships to ski resorts, players will find a wide variety of businesses available to them.

* Fantastic high-end graphics engine provides near photo-realistic quality visuals

* Developed by the team that created the popular City Life serie

Planet offer allow users to :

* Create interconnected cities on persistents planet, populate a world

* Trade with each others in a global economy and specialize their cities

* Visit each other creation, customize their avatar, chat, create their blog and social network

* Participate in events and competitions

For a desktop
* CPU: Intel Core 2 or better
* RAM: 1.5 GB (XP), 2 GB (Vista)
* Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850 or better. 512 MB VRAM or better.

For a laptop
* Platform: Intel Centrino 2 w/ nVidia or ATI GPU w/ 512 MB VRAM
* RAM: 1.5 GB (XP), 2.5 GB (Vista)

For every type of platforms
# Sound: DirectX Compatible
# DVD ROM: 2x
# Hard Drive: 8 GB
# Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP SP3 or Microsoft Windows Vista SP1
# DirectX: 9.0c

Cities XL MMO servers to close - January 28, 2010
It surely has been short-lived. The Planet Offer mode in Cities XL is closing down, as of March 8, 2010. This is the MMO mode of the city-building...

Cities XL Christmas pack - December 17, 2009
Monte Cristo has a treat for all Cities XL players. The upcoming Christmas pack, to be released this week both for solo and online players...

Cities XL second content patch - December 9, 2009
Monte Cristo released the second content patch for Cities XL - you can read about the first patch here. There's new stuff for both Solo mode and Planet offer, including a bus system.

Cities XL first content patch - November 5, 2009
Monte Cristo released the first content patch for Cities XL, their city building game with a MMO mode. These updates usually add new buildings or new features...

Cities XL Available in North America - October 10, 2009
Monte Cristo has announced that Cities XL is now available in stores across North America. The European version was released earlier this week.

Cities XL US demo available - September 8, 2009
Monte Cristo released the Cities XL US demo, as announced about a week ago. You can check the list of mirrors on the official website.

Monte Cristo has announced the prices for the Planet offer in Cities XL. Planet is a massively multiplayer game mode...

Cities XL Demo Coming Soon - September 1, 2009
Monte Cristo will release an official demo for Cities XL on September 8th. Here are the included features...

Cities XL Limited Edition contents - August 10, 2009
Monte Cristo reveals the contents of the Limited Edition box of Cities XL, which was recently delayed to October 9 in Europe. A North American release date is yet to be determined.