DLC Review: Snowfall Adds a Dusting of Content to Cities: Skylines

The festive season is here, and with it comes Snowfall, the first of seven DLCs for Cities: Skylines’ PlayStation 4 port. Colossal Order’s city sim was chock-full of content at launch, but Snowfall leaves a lot to be desired in terms of value, and gets the game’s Season Pass off to a slippery start.

Chief among the new additions is – you guessed it – snow, which is mainly another obstacle for you and your city to overcome. Mainly it causes traffic delays, meaning that you’ll have to put the newly-added snowplows and road maintenance units to use, but the cold temperature also means that your citizens will require heating, which you’ll have to provide using pipes. It’s another thing to keep track of, but the fun of Cities: Skylines is that it’s an endless balancing act.

However, this new snow system only applies to the three new maps that Snowfall adds, which is pretty disappointing. The UI’s temperature gauge is still present in all maps, but never really affects anything, meaning that the majority of the DLC’s content only affects three maps. Still, the majority of the new buildings added – including saunas – are available in the entire game.

The most impactful addition that Snowfall brings to the game, then, is the new tram system, allowing you to create tram stations and tram tracks in order to improve public transport efficiency in your city. It’s definitely the best new feature as it’s yet another way to keep your metropolis running smoothly, although the fact that you can’t add tram tracks on top of already-existing roads – meaning that you’ll have to demolish them and build new ones – a minor frustration that hopefully can be patched.

And that’s really about it. While the price for Snowfall has yet to be revealed, if its £9.99 Steam price is anything to go by then the DLC simply doesn’t do enough to justify its price – not to mention that, in publisher Paradox Interactive’s words, the content pack is supposed to be a “full expansion” compared to other upcoming Cities: Skylines DLCs.

While trams are an excellent addition to an already great game, Snowfall’s lack of value and the limited nature of its new weather system make it hard to recommend. Here’s hoping that the upcoming Natural Disasters and Mass Transit packs have more bang for their buck.

Does Snowfall's new content appeal to you, or will you hold back and wait for a price drop? Don't eat the yellow snow in the comments below.