14 DAY TRIAL // Just before the actual start of Gamescom 2012, the developers at Colossal Order and the publishing team at Paradox Interactive announced that they were working on Cities in Motion 2, a transport-focused simulation which would take the series into modernity and offer gamers more opportunities to build and tweak a network to their needs.
I was fortunate enough to get a look at the game and find out about the new ideas and features from Mariina Hallikainen, the chief executive officer of Colossal Order, and get a look at the alpha phase of Cities in Motion 2.
One of the big additions to the new game, which fans of the first one have long requested, is more control over the scheduling of vehicles and Colossal Order has added a number of options, allowing players to take into account rush hour and slower periods and giving them total freedom with a separate custom schedule.
Those who love depth can make sure that they tweak their transportation system to bet cover all periods and needs of the city, but more causal players also have the option to use default schedules created by the development team.
More focus has also been added to the financial aspect of transport management and it’s now easier to keep a company afloat without crippling loans.
Colossal Order has also abandoned their own game engine and switched to Unity, which has an instant impact on the look of Cities in Motion 2 which is much clearer and crisper than the original, a game that often felt clouded.
The new game is also more organic when it comes to the city growth and decline and creating well managed transport systems has a clear impact on the way the buildings and citizens look.
Colossal Order is also planning both cooperative and competitive multiplayer for Cities in Motion 2 when it launches during 2013.