Cities in Motion

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 114 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 114
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 114
  3. Negative: 12 out of 114
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  1. steevm
    Nov 23, 2012
    5
    Cities in Motion could be a great game. Unfortunately there are numerous glaring flaws in the game which even after a couple of years have not been fixed. The most glaring issue is the bizarre way that implementing a mass transit system in your city is a recipe for gridlock. Yes, that's right - getting people to ditch their cars for public transport results in massive traffic jams. VeryCities in Motion could be a great game. Unfortunately there are numerous glaring flaws in the game which even after a couple of years have not been fixed. The most glaring issue is the bizarre way that implementing a mass transit system in your city is a recipe for gridlock. Yes, that's right - getting people to ditch their cars for public transport results in massive traffic jams. Very counter-intuitive. The reason for this is quite simply incompetence on the part of the programmers, as there are several issues that conspire to create this situation: poor AI (cars never overtake even when there are two lanes), incredibly slow loading and unloading of passengers at stops and the inability to build stops that don't block traffic. One of the "solutions" to this problem on the official forums include the gem of suggesting you do not build lines where there's high traffic (which defeats the point). What you can do is build metro systems instead - but that kind of defeats the point of the game if the other modes of transport are rendered obsolete. So CiM is a nice try, but quite simply not good enough. Traffic Giant didn't have these glaring issues and is a much older game. It's a pity that the devs don't seem to care, because a little bit of effort on their part would turn this game from mediocre to enjoyable if they could just fix these issues instead of charging an arm and a leg for unnecessary DLC when the core game has such fundamental issues.… Expand
  2. markwhitton
    Nov 20, 2013
    4
    I really don’t quite know what I was thinking when I got this game… It’s one of those that looked fun in the trailer but ended up being a complete nightmare! The simulation genre hasn't really been something that I am overly fond of… With exception to The Sims Franchise, Theme Hospital and The Movies there aren't really any decent ones (from my opinion)! The game involves a simple elementI really don’t quite know what I was thinking when I got this game… It’s one of those that looked fun in the trailer but ended up being a complete nightmare! The simulation genre hasn't really been something that I am overly fond of… With exception to The Sims Franchise, Theme Hospital and The Movies there aren't really any decent ones (from my opinion)! The game involves a simple element set-up tracks and routes for transport methods; and that’s it really! Quite a boring experience but if for some reason you love the simulation genre, I don’t think this has been covered before so maybe you’ll have a new unique experience; but this wasn't enjoyable to me!… Expand
  3. peashooter
    Jul 19, 2011
    4
    From the producers of Magicka, paradox interactive's newest title: Cities in Motion. Cooperational traffic simulation basically sums up with the game is about. You get to construct metro lines and bus lines, and basically you have the monopoly over the whole business of public transport (apart from taxis). As always, great concept. And similarly, as always, the game needs quite a seriousFrom the producers of Magicka, paradox interactive's newest title: Cities in Motion. Cooperational traffic simulation basically sums up with the game is about. You get to construct metro lines and bus lines, and basically you have the monopoly over the whole business of public transport (apart from taxis). As always, great concept. And similarly, as always, the game needs quite a serious amount of polish and further development. If you have been through Magicka, you'll remember that the game is released with a great amount of bugs and glitches. The good thing is that there aren't that many bugs for cities in motion. The only problem which I've faced after 3 hours of game play is that certain roads ends abruptly and it's possible that, because of this bug, you can't complete a bus route and thus certain area cannot be reached by bus. The bad thing is, there are a lot of flaws and incompetencies among the game concept. One major flaw is that all bus lines have to be made into circle lines. That means that either you have to make bus stops on both side of the road and let the bus loop on a route back and forth continuously, or you'll have to route the bus line in a circle. Another thing is you cannot interact with anything outside your map. That is, unlike sim city, you cannot have a "Cross border" bus or train. There are other problems too, such as, for most maps, you will realize that it's pretty much pointless to have metros or boat lines because a well established bus network can do the trick. Game mechanism aside, the contents provided are actually quite little, with 4 full maps and one tutorial maps, and you can choose 5 types of transport to construct: bus, tram, metro, helicopter and boat. Like other paradox interactive's games, Cities in Motion, although a single player game, relies heavily on DLC. That is, if you want additional contents, such as new transport types or new maps such as Tokyo, you will need to buy them as DLCs, and the total cost of the current available DLCs are double that of the game itself, which sells at 19.90 USD. I will give the game itself 6, but because of this marketing technique which paradox is implementing, and which I really detest, I'll give it a 4.… Expand
  4. ChoicestGames
    Mar 3, 2012
    7
    Not a bad 20 hour distraction if you like transport management games although it doesn't have as grand a scale as the classics (e.g. Transport Tycoon)
  5. sweet
    Jul 11, 2012
    3
    I am a fan of city builder, transport style games and I feel I have to warn similar fans against buying this game. It's crude and simplistic in the extreme. You'll never get the feeling of building a COHESIVE transport system, it's all stick a token bus stop there and run a tram over there without any allowing for any intelligent approach. Sure, ad-hoc stupidity might be how urbanI am a fan of city builder, transport style games and I feel I have to warn similar fans against buying this game. It's crude and simplistic in the extreme. You'll never get the feeling of building a COHESIVE transport system, it's all stick a token bus stop there and run a tram over there without any allowing for any intelligent approach. Sure, ad-hoc stupidity might be how urban transport systems are planned and run in the real world (where I live anyway), but people play these games to do better than the real world.

    There's no control over schedules, no allowance for interchange, no way to see where people need to travel apart from vague color scheme. Route building is fundamentally broken. For example vehicles can't return down the same line without a loop, you can't get vehicles to use the same stop twice unless it's closing the loop, you can't place stations diagonally, you can create tram and train lines, but not bus lanes or roads, why? The cities themselves are tiny, the maps look like they were copied from SimCity 1. If you strip away the graphics, the basic game might be something you could expect from 20 year old freeware, it's so inferior to other older games of the genre it's not funny and a long way away from the sophisticated transport game it sells itself as. No doubt they had dozens of people working on cute graphics and a single intern working on the actual game engine, they don't appear know the meaning of the word "sandbox" either. Given you can't actually do anything in this game to fulfill your inner urban planner, the game essentially boils down to ticking off popup tasks which becomes unbelievably boring very quickly. I tried... but it's a dumb game. Do not waste your money.    … Expand
  6. SirNiXXon
    Jul 14, 2012
    4
    I love "Tycoon" and "SimCity" type of games and really wanted to like Cities in Motion, unfortunately, bellow it's nice graphics, good presentation and interesting premise, it's a bad game, not an awful one, but still bad. You can struggle for hours micromanaging every detail of the game just to squeeze a few bucks, and those few bucks won't be enough to build your efficient transit grid.I love "Tycoon" and "SimCity" type of games and really wanted to like Cities in Motion, unfortunately, bellow it's nice graphics, good presentation and interesting premise, it's a bad game, not an awful one, but still bad. You can struggle for hours micromanaging every detail of the game just to squeeze a few bucks, and those few bucks won't be enough to build your efficient transit grid. The game is very, very slow, in various points I had to put the game on fast forward (a pretty slow FF) and go take a bath, have lunch or whatever, so when I got back on the PC I could buy a new metro station or build a new tram line. Also, the traffic simulation ain't realistic, you'll find out that building lots and lots of small, interconnected, bus lines is the way to go because: a) long lines became quickly became too chaotic and problematic to manage, and b) your passengers don't mind paying and six or eight different buses just to get to work; is just doesn't make any sense, making the game really counter-intuitive . And, to worse things out, the developer seems just greedy: there are 10 DLCs for Cities in Motion already, none of them adds much to the game or are fairly priced (their formula is to charge U$4,00 for five vehicles to use on the game, which is pretty ridiculous). Avoid the mistake I made and stay away from Cities in Motion.… Expand
  7. prof
    Feb 25, 2011
    5
    after consulting various forums: unfortunately the traffic jam's make playing practially impossible at this time... i hope the developers will soon react to this...
  8. paws
    Feb 25, 2011
    3
    Apart from the eye candy, this game is worse than the freely available open source games OpenTTD and Simutrans. It's also bugged and very instable.

    If you're interested in buying this game, check the paradox interactive forum to see if the problems have been taken care of.
  9. Philippe
    Feb 24, 2011
    3
    Once again, paradox releases a demo as a game. Traffic grinds to a deadlock after playing for a few minutes, passengers don't care if the ticket prices are multiplied by 10. This is like traffic giant for kids, a nice looking sandbox but nothing of substance. Also, they managed to make the game even worse than the beta. Save yourselves some bucks and go buy traffic giant or transport tycoon.
  10. mippzon
    Feb 23, 2011
    10
    It's the first traffic simulation game in years. The details are amazing and the graphics just really cool! The game runs smoothly, even if lots of vehicles and people are moving around the cities. Some minor issues found during the first day of playing, but nothing that worries me and the developers seems to be aware of it and works closely together with community to make the game better.It's the first traffic simulation game in years. The details are amazing and the graphics just really cool! The game runs smoothly, even if lots of vehicles and people are moving around the cities. Some minor issues found during the first day of playing, but nothing that worries me and the developers seems to be aware of it and works closely together with community to make the game better. I'm looking forward to see Cities in Motion grow and will probably spend hours playing this game!… Expand
  11. ForceMagic
    Aug 17, 2011
    8
    Not exactly what I was expected when I bought it, actually I thought it was a whole new SIm City. However, for the purpose and the goal of the game, I found it pretty interesting. Not so much my type of game, but still I had some fun playing it and thinking how to build stuff.
  12. dbigb
    Feb 24, 2011
    10
    The best thing in gaming since Transport Tycoon. That is if you love public transportation of people. I believe the developers did just the right thing by focusing on people transport here. It's something relatable to 'most everyone. There is a good variety of transport systems (metro, tram, .. helicopters) and the game does provide a challenge. At least I didn't find it too easy to makeThe best thing in gaming since Transport Tycoon. That is if you love public transportation of people. I believe the developers did just the right thing by focusing on people transport here. It's something relatable to 'most everyone. There is a good variety of transport systems (metro, tram, .. helicopters) and the game does provide a challenge. At least I didn't find it too easy to make money.
    Also the graphics are sleek. Better than I personally would've even demanded from this type of a game.

    Best people public transport game to date.    … Expand
  13. Viljanen
    Jun 24, 2012
    10
    I can't really say how Cities in Motion was at release but as of now, June 2012 with all the patches and some DLCs it is stable and very playable. Sure the performance could be better and the campaign quests are quite silly but nevertheless it is addictingly fun to play. Definetly recommended for gamers who like simulation style games.
  14. twilightrocks
    Mar 30, 2013
    2
    The game is ok at first but it gets boring and feels much more like a job than a video game. The optimization is also bad on my PC considering I have a HD 7870.
  15. michael007800
    Dec 28, 2012
    10
    I enjoyed playing the game. Played many hours on it. Hopefully gonna get some DLC soon. I would reccomend this game to people. I would recommend starting with a bus line first. Then jump straight to the train line. Be careful though. For every 2 bus stops in a line. I would add 1 bus. Passengers can be a little bit caotic with reviews and stuff like that.
  16. Broyax
    Apr 16, 2017
    4
    Un Simcity sur les transports, une excellente idée... séduisante au premier abord mais ici victime d'une interface qui devient rapidement dépassée par les évènements au fur et à mesure que les lignes de bus, tramways et métros s'accumulent.

    Ainsi, cliquer sur une ligne sur la carte ne la sélectionne pas, il faut passer par la petite fenêtre dédiée. On a des rapports sur chaque arrêt    Un Simcity sur les transports, une excellente idée... séduisante au premier abord mais ici victime d'une interface qui devient rapidement dépassée par les évènements au fur et à mesure que les lignes de bus, tramways et métros s'accumulent.

    Ainsi, cliquer sur une ligne sur la carte ne la sélectionne pas, il faut passer par la petite fenêtre dédiée. On a des rapports sur chaque arrêt mais aucun par ligne : comment savoir si telle ligne est rentable ? démerdez-vous avec les arrêts, répondent les développeurs. On constate d'ailleurs qu'ils n'ont pas trouvé grande utilité au bouton droit de la souris qui ne sert juste qu'à faire pivoter les stations : pourquoi ne pas lui avoir attribué d'autres fonctions selon le contexte, comme le bulldozer par exemple ?

    La lisibilité de tout ce foutoir de lignes est sujette à caution et ça devient vite un fouillis inextricable avec le temps. Le placement de ces lignes est également inutilement compliqué et c'est une vraie misère quand on constate que supprimer une ligne ne supprime pas les arrêts qui la composent et qu'il faut virer tout ce qu'il reste à la main.

    Tout cela n'empêche pas le jeu d'être réussi graphiquement avec une touche dessin animé très sympathique. La musique est aussi très bien, il faut le reconnaître ! Bref, c'est très intéressant les premières heures mais une horreur par la suite.    … Expand
  17. mongoosedog
    Aug 5, 2011
    10
    Cities in Motion is very addicting and I thought the scenarios were a lot of fun. This is definitely a game for people who love SimCity, Railroad Tycoon, or other strategy/puzzle games. I can see a lot of reviews comment on problems with traffic, but that's just part of the game. Your job is to overcome traffic issues (as well as other obstacles) by building useful and efficient transitCities in Motion is very addicting and I thought the scenarios were a lot of fun. This is definitely a game for people who love SimCity, Railroad Tycoon, or other strategy/puzzle games. I can see a lot of reviews comment on problems with traffic, but that's just part of the game. Your job is to overcome traffic issues (as well as other obstacles) by building useful and efficient transit lines. The game gives you plenty of options (bus, tram, metro [underground, ground-level, and elevated], water-bus, and helicopter), so you're definitely not limited to using the crowded streets. This definitely isn't a game that everyone is going to enjoy as much as I do, but it's pretty rare I get sucked into video games as much as I have with CiM. Steam tells me I've played about 100 hours so far! On a final note, I really think this is a great game, and any transit enthusiast will love it. There's a bit of a learning curve at first, because the game is much more complex than the tutorial makes you believe, but with a little practice, I'm sure anyone can get the hang of it.… Expand
  18. bpe
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    This does a pretty good job of being a real-time simulation of a complex problem. Of course it isn't going to match real life exactly, but it works well for what it is trying to do: be a decent simulation of transportation (think somewhere between Railroad Tycoon and Sim City). Graphics and interface are good, and I am impressed with the overall rendering. The accuracy is a bit simplified,This does a pretty good job of being a real-time simulation of a complex problem. Of course it isn't going to match real life exactly, but it works well for what it is trying to do: be a decent simulation of transportation (think somewhere between Railroad Tycoon and Sim City). Graphics and interface are good, and I am impressed with the overall rendering. The accuracy is a bit simplified, but is still good.… Expand
  19. eagleFMJ
    Mar 16, 2011
    10
    CiM or Cities in motion is a great game, but by no means is it perfect. The development team is very active within the community pushing out 3 patches thus far, now that says something about this company.

    The game play is quite challenging and will keep you very busy for hours and hours. The game is highly modifiable, and easily modifiable. The game code is not very hard to to decipher so    CiM or Cities in motion is a great game, but by no means is it perfect. The development team is very active within the community pushing out 3 patches thus far, now that says something about this company.

    The game play is quite challenging and will keep you very busy for hours and hours. The game is highly modifiable, and easily modifiable. The game code is not very hard to to decipher so if you want to change something its very easy.

    It has been awhile since a traffic simulator was released into the PC world, so if this genre of game interest you, you must give it a try, moreover the game is quit cheap.    … Expand
  20. Capitals123
    Jun 7, 2012
    8
    I thought that the game was amazing even though it was really difficult when you started out playing it. The graphics were standard and the game was well programmed in my opinion the game was fun and a challenge to play.
  21. Contingencee
    Mar 25, 2013
    10
    One of the very best simulation games of the last 10 years. It never gets boring due to the large variety of maps (most of which were user created) and transport options. However, the low capacity of vehicles makes mods a must-have, otherwise the game could be very annoying.
  22. truckersanon
    Mar 14, 2013
    8
    I look forward to the sequel. While a great game, it has its quirks as other reviews will tell you.
    It is a fairly simple game, only 400 MB or so, not too many missions. Its a bit clunky still, like placing metro stations can be a pain, and I cant find an undo button when it is really needed, but all in all a few nights playing and def worth 10 bucks. Oh, but I hate DLC, so I should    I look forward to the sequel. While a great game, it has its quirks as other reviews will tell you.
    It is a fairly simple game, only 400 MB or so, not too many missions. Its a bit clunky still, like placing metro stations can be a pain, and I cant find an undo button when it is really needed, but all in all a few nights playing and def worth 10 bucks. Oh, but I hate DLC, so I should have given it only a 7 instead of an 8. If Paradox want a following, go the great game and free add-ons model!    … Expand
  23. malocite
    Mar 14, 2013
    8
    This is surprisingly fun. I bought it during a steam sale hoping for a more modern Simcity type experience. While you don't get to build and design the cities, you do get to lay out and design your cities like you do in simcity but you get huge control in the design of the transit system (which is the point of the game) Subways, buses, streetcars, helicopters and water-taxis are allThis is surprisingly fun. I bought it during a steam sale hoping for a more modern Simcity type experience. While you don't get to build and design the cities, you do get to lay out and design your cities like you do in simcity but you get huge control in the design of the transit system (which is the point of the game) Subways, buses, streetcars, helicopters and water-taxis are all used in this game which I have personally spent way too much time in.

    The core game only gives you two cities and they offer other cities as DLC which I can understand since this is a pretty esoteric game, they have to make money some how. The DLC is often on sale on steam during their sale periods and I picked up most of the other cities for a dollar or two each. All in all this is pretty fun.    … Expand
  24. a9249
    Mar 24, 2013
    10
    Great game, and with simcity like game-play. I can only hope success gives them the funding to up the graphics engine and give us more stuff and cities [larger cities too] for the next edition.
  25. fireskull98
    Apr 4, 2013
    8
    This game is good, but there are a few problems I have with it. Mainly the inconvenience of having to plot routes, which involves a lot of clicking. Over all, this game is really good though.
  26. IdleMuse
    Jun 24, 2013
    9
    Cities in Motion is a unique strategy game. On the surface it seems like a pretty standard business management sim, where for many in the genre, the business you are managing is rather simple, strategically: choose which animals for your zoo, which rollercoasters to buy, which employees to hire or fire, these choices don't make much of a difference overall. Not so for Cities in Motion: theCities in Motion is a unique strategy game. On the surface it seems like a pretty standard business management sim, where for many in the genre, the business you are managing is rather simple, strategically: choose which animals for your zoo, which rollercoasters to buy, which employees to hire or fire, these choices don't make much of a difference overall. Not so for Cities in Motion: the route management section of the game is deep and involving; combining bus and tram routes to minimise traffic in trouble areas is an example of the meat and vegetables of a game which delivers challenges outside the economic norm for the genre.

    It also helps that the graphics are gorgeous, the interface is, for the most part, slick and easy to use, and the play experience is restful and calm, without being boring in pacing. The city layouts are challenging and diverse.

    On the downside, it could use some balance tweaks (particularly in the DLC), but these are easily obtainable online.    … Expand
  27. Izoeros
    Apr 26, 2022
    5
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  28. keefbaker
    Oct 27, 2013
    7
    If all you've ever wanted is to run bus routes... well, I guess first check yourself and second get a job for First or something but anyway.. If it is, then this is the perfect game for you. My cynical mind was really not sure if I wanted to spend any of my ill gotten time on this but it actually ends up being quite a fun old school management sim.
  29. Lukfi
    May 17, 2012
    9
    The game has lots of bugs and performance issues (mostly not fixed a year from release), bad campaign quests, is very difficult to play in the 1920's... but is nevertheless so fun that I spent hundreds of hours with it, especially in sandbox mode.
  30. stern
    Mar 8, 2017
    8
    This is a very good underrated game when compared with CiM2 or C:Skyline.
    The first thing you feel with CiM 1 is cozyness, how the game evokes some kind of 60's central european vibe that instantly pulls you in, and you see yourself checking the news about the cold war, checking the price of fuel and gauging your city economy.
    Yes, CiM1 have many problems, from vehicles appearing in the    This is a very good underrated game when compared with CiM2 or C:Skyline.
    The first thing you feel with CiM 1 is cozyness, how the game evokes some kind of 60's central european vibe that instantly pulls you in, and you see yourself checking the news about the cold war, checking the price of fuel and gauging your city economy.
    Yes, CiM1 have many problems, from vehicles appearing in the wrong year to a shallow economy system, to a lack of re-playability and complexity. But two of these issues can be fixed with mods- such as line statistics- and in spite of the last one, CiM1 still holds an undeniable charm.
    If a cities in motion game maintained the historical progression and aesthetic beauty of CiM1, with the complexity and detail of CiM2, plus some interesting metropolitan areas in the developing world like Curitiba, Jerusalem and Johannesburg, with real transport issues for the player to solve, we would have the perfect transport simulation ever made.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 18, 2011
    70
    Difficult, nerdy, tedious but satisfying. What more could you want in a lover? [May 2011, p.70]
  2. PC Games (Russia)
    Apr 8, 2011
    80
    Cities in Motion isn't as polished as it could be, but it's still very deep and engaging. And – at times – quite meditative. [May 2011, p.107]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 6, 2011
    40
    Cities in Motion is a good example of what a young Finnish game studio is capable of: 3D graphics and programming. Good games remain beyond their reach so far. [Mar 2011]
See all critic reviews »