So I got to play the closed beta for a day. It only let you play 1 hour, and some of the stuff was locked out. The interface and UI was really nice. I liked the new zoning instead of placing individual houses. When you redo roads, they automatically move the houses. You can upgrade roads also, instead of dozing everything and doing it manually. I think its going to be closer to the other Sim Cities than Societies was...
I like Anno 1404 just for the building aspect, planning out cities etc but a bit too limited. Have you ever played Cities in Motion, it's good ?!