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"City Skylines 2" has been a highly anticipated sequel in the world of city-building simulation games, developed by Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive. The game builds upon the success of its predecessor with a variety of enhancements and new features. It includes a range of gameplay features from day one, such as a night and day cycle, seasons, broad public transport options, and natural disasters. The base game feels like a complete, well-rounded experience with plenty of room for expansion and refinement.

Significant improvements include a revamped progression system that combines population growth with an experience system tied to citizens' happiness and city infrastructure improvement. This system provides a more nuanced and engaging progression experience for players.

Economic aspects have also been smoothed out, offering a more balanced and realistic experience. Players can now engage more deeply with the broader economy, selling surplus utilities to neighboring cities and specializing their industry to utilize natural resources. This, combined with upgrades and expansions to service buildings, adds depth and customization to the gameplay.

The road-laying options have been overhauled, providing detailed overlay information for precision engineering of roads, tracks, and paths. The game also introduces new road types and upgrade options, adding to the overall realism and player control.

The visual and architectural aspects of the game are particularly noteworthy. "City Skylines 2" offers two sets of building themes – North American and European – with a new addition of combined commercial and residential buildings, which greatly enhances the visual appeal and style of the cities players create.

However, the game has faced some performance issues. Despite being developed for modern hardware, players have reported frequent game crashes and performance problems, even on high-end gaming PCs. Issues include low frame rates, typically around 20-30 frames per second, and subpar graphical quality, with blurry and grainy visuals. These issues persist even after the release of patches meant to address them, causing frustration among the player base.

To address these performance issues, some players have found success by re-enabling their Windows pagefile, which helps manage the game's memory usage. Additionally, adjusting in-game graphics settings to medium or low and turning off resource-intensive settings like Depth of Field, Motion Blur, and Vsync can improve frame rates and graphic clarity.

In conclusion, "City Skylines 2" is an impressive sequel that builds on the strengths of its predecessor with significant improvements in gameplay, economics, and visual aspects. However, the game still requires optimization work, as evidenced by the performance issues experienced by players. Despite these challenges, for those with the right hardware and settings adjustments, "City Skylines 2" can offer a highly engaging and enjoyable city-building experience.

If you've ever wondered what it feels like to soar through the skies, not just as a pilot but as Maverick from "Top Gun," then buckle up, because Microsoft Flight Simulator is your first-class ticket to the skies – with a side of humor!

From the moment you take off, it's clear this isn't your average flight simulator. It's like "Airplane!" meets "Top Gun," with a dash of "Hot Shots! Part Deux." Imagine trying to navigate a storm while Leslie Nielsen's voice echoes in your cockpit with unsolicited advice. You're trying to focus, but you can't help but laugh as your co-pilot, who bears a striking resemblance to Lloyd Bridges, decides it's a bad day to quit sniffing glue.

The graphics are so realistic you'll feel like you're in the cockpit with Tom Cruise, sporting aviator sunglasses, of course. And the attention to detail? Simply stunning. You might even find yourself humming "Danger Zone" as you execute a perfect barrel roll, only to be interrupted by a voiceover asking if anyone on board can fly a plane – a nod to the classic scene from "Airplane!"

The controls are intuitive enough for beginners yet challenging for seasoned pilots. Whether you're dodging birds in a nod to "Sully" or attempting a landing on an aircraft carrier a la "Top Gun," every flight is an adventure.

But it's not all about the thrills. The game has its share of comedic Easter eggs, like a mission where you have to deliver inflatable autopilots or a cameo appearance from a rubber chicken as your flight mascot.

In summary, Microsoft Flight Simulator is the perfect blend of high-flying adventure and side-splitting comedy. It's more than a game; it's an experience that leaves you feeling like a true pilot, albeit with a few more laughs. So, if you're ready to fly, laugh, and maybe quote a few classic movie lines, this is the simulator for you. Just remember, "I am serious... and don't call me Shirley."

As a father, nothing excites me more than a new game. It presents me with an opportunity to take a must needed break from my day-to-day responsibilities. But the things didnt go as planned.
I guess its a norm now days to release an unfinished game and charge $30.
This game is a completely unfinished, repetitive piece of crap...
Highly recommend staying away, unless you like to be bored. 0/10.

Played for 20 min, didn't like it. Seemed very repetitive and not fun. Exited the game to desktop, went to sleep. Next morning, I couldn't return it because I had 10hours of playtime... Game is bugged, don't buy it...

Underdeveloped and Overhyped. This needs to go back in a womb for another 8-12month in order to mature.

watch out for turkeys ....

Counter Strike 2, intended as a polished successor to Counter Strike: Global Offensive, has unfortunately not lived up to expectations, receiving over 900,000 negative reviews on Steam since its launch. Fans are notably disappointed with the game's stability, reporting frequent crashes and bemoaning the abrupt and total removal of CS:GO from Steam. This transition not only changed the game modes and feel but also left players without their previously earned skins and content, representing significant financial and time investments.

Technical issues plague the gameplay experience. Faulty hit detection, a core aspect of any shooter game, has been a significant problem. Players have encountered misaligned hitboxes, leading to missed shots and frustration, even after attempts to address these issues in updates. Moreover, the game has been criticized for removing beloved casual game modes and maps, adding to players' discontent.

The community aspect of Counter Strike 2 is also under fire, with a notable presence of cheaters disrupting the gameplay experience. Although cheating is a common issue in online games, it's particularly detrimental in a competitive shooter like CS2. This problem compounds the other technical and content-related issues, leading to an overall negative reception. Valve's efforts to introduce an AI cheat detection tool have not been successful in alleviating these concerns, further exacerbating players' dissatisfaction.

In conclusion, Counter Strike 2, despite being a highly anticipated game, has been a letdown for many players. Its lack of optimization, technical issues like faulty hit detection, and the removal of popular game modes and content from CS:GO have contributed to its poor reception. The game's community is also marred by the prevalence of cheaters, undermining the integrity of the gameplay experience. The situation is further soured by the unfulfilled promise of an effective AI cheat detection tool, leaving players disillusioned and frustrated.