Project Highrise: Brilliant Berlin

I may only be 30 minutes into the new DLC content, but I have to say, this may just be the best content pack yet. On the surface there isn't a whole lot added to the game in Brilliant Berlin, but it's amazing how well it all works together. A weakness of the game since the start has been the seeming gulf between retail/restaurants and apartments/offices, but with a few small moves SomaSim has brought the two disparate categories closer than ever before. [b]The Good[/b] * I didn't know I wanted parking structures until just now, but I'm glad they exist. Much like the HVAC added by Las Vegas, they add an interesting challenge in placement. Since (obviously) cars can only enter the building at ground level and space nearest the ground tends to be some of the most valuable, it makes infrastructure something a player really needs to think about in the early game. It's also, I think, an example of how SomaSim should have handled the satellite links and radio towers in London Life. * This is a small thing, I like actually knowing exactly how many restaurants and shops tenants need. It might seem less creative, but really it just removes the maddening guesswork; the infamous "You need a greater variety of small restaurants" requirement of a large two bedroom apartment springs to mind, where it was never made entirely clear that you needed [i]every[/i] kind of small food court vendor, and just covering breakfast and lunch wasn't enough. * I think this is literally the first time the game has ever rewarded players for decorating their towers. Some apartment dwellers will now demand the decorative, free-to-place light fixtures and chairs that are often neglected. * I really dig the midcentury art deco style of the new assets. For me it's always been the core of "the look" of Project Highrise (even with its weird anachronistic world of 1950s hats and dresses, 1980s computers, and 2010s satellite uplinks...), but aside from the vanilla assets and the Las Vegas expansion most of the content packs to this point have definitely marched to the beat of their own drum. * A small thing, but if you liked Miami Malls, this is the content pack that probably works best with the content added by that pack. [b]The Bad[/b] * Is it me, or is SomaSim doing less testing as this game is getting older...? Nothing here is massively broken or a show-stopping bug, but it's the little things; in the first scenario added with this pack, the daycare centre in the basement will quickly start complaining it couldn't dispose of its trash and recycling, because the devs forgot to place the bins. A few minutes of playtesting should have shown this. * Only two scenarios? You're breaking my heart here. :( Honestly, there's a lot to recommend here, especially when it only costs $2. To be perfectly honest if this content had been released together with the content of London Life as a Las Vegas-style $10 expansion pack, I would have been quite happy to pay that price. It's very rare that you see a small indie team release enough new stuff to breathe fresh life into an aging game, but they've managed to do it here. Good job!

Brilliant Berlin DLC is another small content pack very similar to [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/ArchiPL/recommended/636502]London Life[/url][/b], Tokyo Towers and Miami Malls. In a very small price we're getting 2 more scenarios and several new buildings. Once again I'm very happy with the price considering the extra content - it's decent enough to consider buying at the release, and addition of parking space to our skyscraper is a very nice touch. I keep up my initial promise and greatly enjoy the extra content - it's a very good DLC in appropriate price if you've enjoyed the base game and still looking for more. There is not a lot more to say about this one, personally I hope that there are still more DLCs to come in the future, I love all of them! --- If you liked my review, you can find more of them on [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/ArchiPL/recommended/]my profile[/url][/b] and on my [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/10639590/]curator page[/url][/b].

Not Brilliant at all Things I actually noticed getting: Two new scenarios* Car Parks *A bit mean, and nothing special about the contract chains that I noticed. OK probably wouldn't mind that. I love the base game so I'm fairly inclined to chuck em a buck in a sale anyway. So what could they have done to earn a bad review? It's simple Car Parks suuuuck - They are boring and they make the gameplay boring. Let e explain: They're required for lot of tenants and worst of all: cost you a fortune upfront and in maintenance. How much maintenance could a concrete void cost? 150 a day per ramp (750 up front) 50 a day per spot (250 up front) 100 a day per entrance (1500 up front) - nearly forgot this one To put that in perspective normal bins cost 50 to maintain (50 to place) but you only need one per floor, and not for offices. The bin depot is 100 a day (250 to place) and you probably need 1 for the early game. There is no scale version like you get for electricity or other utilities. A single spot for almost every Office or residential unit. Also no Carpark stuff can be moved by movers (to be fair neither can bins, but if you've screwed up the layout you may as well restart) Well maybe they've adjusted rents to reflect this cover the extra cost. I think they have, it's still profitable. But it all makes the early game so much slower and more painful. Where previously you might need to sit on a couple of days in a tight scenario - to build up funds to expand. Now you need to lose a week or more to build up the funds to expand. That's if you've got a healthy income. Repair cycles cant't be so easily ignored in this length of time either. Start building in parts (just to be doing something) now that income has been gutted in maintenance. So the only new thing of note - Slows the early/mid game ruinously. Kills you for space in the mid game. Late game, congratulations for getting this far but by this point do you care? While we're about it: How about new main menu screens for all DLC currently I can choose between boring base game or Garish Vegas. A real pity for such an iconic art style.

This DLC is game changing. You will finally be able to make a small luxury tower. The standard dynamic of the game, you need a huge tower with a lot of cheap apartments, stores and office in order to have enough money to finally bring the more rich customers. Even that the Berlin customers require a lot of services and arts, they pay real premium prices. The price you see while renting (even after having all the requirements) is not the maximum amount. It increases even more as your building is better. While an insurance broker small office pays around 70, a small office from Berlin DLC will pay from 100 to 400. You can get 4000 for a single duplex apartment. So small, only luxurious tower, is now possible.

My recommendation for this DLC matches a lot of the same reasons I enjoyed [i]London Life[/i]: additional office space. If you want to increase the corporate empire of your tower, this is a must have pack. On top of which, it comes with other fun assets that add diversity to your building and impact the way you generate prestige points. And c'mon...you can't beat the price.

Easily recommended for fans of the base game. Good amount of content added for a very fair price.

-> Content's Value: - Good Conclusion: 8.75

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