Cities Cities: Skylines 2 didn't get off to a very good start last year, and this sequel to the best city builder released in October drew a mountain of criticism thanks to its bizarre simulation and serious performance issues. There were a lot of great ideas buried in it, but it definitely didn't do the best. Improvements have been made since then, but the first post-launch DLC, Beach Properties, released this week, has players furious once again.

Beach Properties is a strange DLC. As an asset pack, it does not add any new features, but instead adds a waterfront zone, a new group of buildings that can grow, six distinctive buildings, and four trees. Despite the name, the beach is not actually included, and the assets have been criticized for being mostly a bunch of ordinary houses.

At $10/£8.49, this is by no means a luxury expansion. And for Colossal Order, it is probably better to work on making the game better than to shift to developing brand new features. That said, even with that in mind, players don't really see the value in this DLC. 'There is nothing in this DLC that justifies the price of one-fifth of the base game. This is a disgrace. The assets look good, but for 10 euros this DLC is too little.

At least the modding tools are finally here. This is something players have been waiting for since launch, so expectations were pretty high: modding was a core part of the original game, so much so that modders got early access so that the Steam Workshop would be full of modders at launch. At least they are here now. Sort of.

See, this is just a beta. You can now create and share map and code mods, but you still can't import assets, which was a big part of the mod scene in the first game. Also, Paradox does not use the Steam Workshop, but uses its own mod platform, so you will have to get used to the new system. The advent of these tools is a good thing in the grand scheme of things, but there are still these caveats.

Cities: Cities: Skylines 2 will hopefully grow into the same essential city builder as its predecessor, but nearly six months after its release, it still has the feel of an early access game.