Anno 1404 Review [PC]

20 Jul 2009 at 11:41:11 by Spanner Spencer
Systems used to review this title: (PC)

Oops. I think perhaps I judged this book by its perfectly lacklustre cover, and found myself struggling to conjure up much enthusiasm during the opening half hour. Which is a shame, because this exciting moment of genesis is an entertaining one (assuming you’re paying proper attention. Ahem) as your meagre population is dashed upon the sands of a harsh new world, ripe for the dawning of civilisation.

Up until the real meat of Anno 1404 is flayed from the bleached bones of dreary presentation - when your sea faring expedition is cut savagely short and you’re thrown to the wolves of uninhabited land - you’d be entirely forgiven for not even noticing this new RTS on the game shop shelf.

However, less than an hour into the game and it becomes clear that Ubisoft has fashioned the kind of surprise swashbuckler that will eventually be remembered as a sleeper hit – the kind of cult-forming experience that long-lasting entertainment is made of.

To begin with, Anno 1404 strikes you as something of a historical SimCity, requiring you to first cut a rough hewn survival from untouched, yet fertile land, and then build that fledgling society into a full-blown, utopian civilisation. Therefore, your first task is one of mere survival, but it doesn't take long before that survival expands into new and more refined needs.

A functioning town doesn't take all that long to achieve, though the game is careful not to place unreasonably time-sensitive restrictions on your objectives. Cultivating farmland, building living quarters, providing for the basic social and even religious needs of your growing populace quickly leads to societal and technological advancement.

So it's not long before you and your people realise there is a profit to be made, and harsh survival transforms into cautious trading. Once you’re in position to generate such luxuries as fabrics, textiles, metallurgical supplies, transport and even weaponry, the world of Anno 1404 expands exponentially. You will be given plenty of reasons to take once again to the dangerous seas, expanding your providence as well as trading with nearby settlements and fending off parents, attackers and defending your floating convoys.

The complexities of trade and profit are there to be discovered, rather than offered openly and obviously. True, at times this can leave you feeling as though you’re not sure what target to aim for next, but the gradually unveiled storyline blends seamlessly with your ascension up the experience ladder, which ultimately delivers far greater satisfaction than following a perceptible and preordained path toward civilisation.

Neither does the game place too many demands upon you as your society spreads. Once established, much of the toil and economy can be automated through the simple and intuitive controls, so you needn’t juggle a tedium of mundane tasks while the promise of evolution teases you at fingertip’s length.

It's definitely to the game's credit that there is no real urgency about obtaining your objectives. However, this more sedate pace of play - which benefits the metropolis building gameplay immensely - does no favours to the combat aspects. Fighting, either at sea or using infantry, pretty much boils down to numbers. Clearly there are complex tech trees at work behind the scenes, which aren’t remotely evident during the bulk of the gameplay, but rise to the surface in the crude fighting system. It's worth pointing out that this isn't designed as a fighting game, and so long as the promise of mediaeval warfare wasn't a deciding factor when you bought this game, it really shouldn't hinder your enjoyment.

Of course, war based games are generally far better looking than your typical RTS. Not so in Anno 1404, I’m delighted to report. Indeed, it's almost worth buying the game simply to gawp at the beautiful, flowing water effects that underpinn the tropical, ‘lost civilisation’ theme. The stunning digital recreation of this island paradise doesn't stop at the swirling blue liquid, however. The jungle foliage, crops and general basin of horticultural life is astoundingly lush and vivid; teeming with wildlife that, although not having a direct influence on the gameplay, makes the environment live and breathe.

Considering Anno 1404 recreates the evolutionary lifecycle of early civilisation, there’s a lot to do, and boasts considerable replay value – assuming you’re not looking for an action-packed, battle-torn adventure. Those who like lashings of warfare in their RTS sandwich will find Anno 1404 too sedate to maintain their attention, though anyone looking for a reinvention of SimCity, Civilisation or any such real-world simulator will discover this to be a game that keeps on giving for a long time to come.

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