Anno 1800

The Anno series has been going for many years now and Anno 1800 is looking to the past for its inspiration. This is a series that is all about strategy and that is cool in my book. In recent years this is a series of games that have tried to have a more modern/futuristic kind of setting. With Anno 1800 though, they are taking the series all the way back to 1800 and that actually is great.

Wait There Is A Story?

Let me start by telling you that not only does Anno 1800 have a campaign it actually has a story that is very interesting. The basics of the story are that you move back to what is called the Old World. You do this after your dad has been accused of treason. You have to figure out what is going on and in doing so you will be dealing with murder, secrets, political espionage and much more!

You Are In Charge

Anno 1800 is a very, very in-depth game when it comes to its gameplay. There are a lot of menus and things for you to do in order to make sure your settlement is one that can thrive. It can be very daunting when you first play the game and see all these options before you. I personally feel that the best way to get into the game is just jumping in and doing some trial and error. For me being successful in this game breaks down to making sure that your settlement has three key things working. Having a good town layout, organizing your facilities and dealing with other places are what are going to make or break things for you. Of course, it gets deeper than this, but those are the basics of what will make you thrive.

Just Be Happy

Keeping your people happy and content is key to being successful in Anno 1800. You, of course, need to make sure that the people have a place to live. You also need to make sure they have places to work. These are things like farms and factories. You also need to make sure there are things to keep them entertained and places to eat and so on! Keeping people happy can be quite the delicate balancing act and sometimes.

You can also choose to send people out on expeditions. This is a new addition to the series and it is pretty cool. While you can try and be diplomatic with other players, expeditions see your people head out on the high seas looking for goods!

Of course, you can sometimes get into battles with others. It is up to you if you want your people to stay and fight or flee for safety. I found the expeditions to be a lot of fun, but I do wish you unlocked the ability to do this in the game earlier than you do.

I think that Anno 1800 is one of those games that for the right person, is easily a game that 100 hours can be sunk into. You have to be a fan of strategy games to really get into this as it is rather slow-paced and has quite the learning curve. However, if you stick with it, you will find this to be one of the most addictive games of its genre in many, many years. This right here is a real modern classic as far as strategy style games go.

9/10

Pros:

• It is super in-depth
• Many decisions feel like they are life or death ones!
• You can lead your settlement into the future and glory
• The presentation is great for a game of this style
• The campaign is truly epic and very interesting to play through

Cons:

• It takes a while to get into
• I wish you could do expeditions much earlier in the game