Anno 1701 review

My most played game over the Christmas break was Rainbow Six Vegas, a game that really gets the adrenaline fire up and the pulse racing. Yet there was another game I often returned to when I was in a more meditative mood. Gaming doesn't always have to be about excitement, sometimes you want to while the hours away with something relaxing yet completely compelling.

Games such as Civilization haven't been able to capture the imagination of users and transport them through the night without any knowledge of time passing. Yes there are moments of excitement, but it's being caught in the nuances and beauty of these worlds that makes time such an abstract and far off concept.

Anno 1701 is another such game, one that sucks you in and doesn't let go until the sound of the dawn chorus reminds you of the diurnal cycle taking place out of the window. The world you create feels vibrantly alive and much in need of your attention, the hours slip buy as a simple island village grows into an 18th century metropolis.

Settling In

The game will be very familiar to those of you who have played the previous games in the series or anyone who has ever tackled the Settlers series for that matter. The goals are simple, but how you achieve them is where the complexity lies. The point of Anno 1701 is very simple, you create and manage island communities from first landings to become large cities. Along the way you'll attempt to complete tasks the game may set for you and also try to create a more successful civilization than your rival AI or human opponents.

Building such a strong civilization is relatively straight forward. Each location has various resources and also needs. You create the buildings that bridge the gap between the two. So for example should you want to provide cloth for your people you'll first need a logging cabin to provide wood, then a sheep farm and finally a weaver. Along the way a warehouse is need to store the raw materials and completed goods and a road is required to link them.

Whether you are producing weapons, tools, meat etc. the process is pretty much the same - trying to ensure a smooth and steady stream of goods and commodities to enable the lives of your citizens to improve and for their overall wealth to allow for expansion.

If I Had a Hammer

That's easier said than done though. With so many different commodities and ways to develop your settlement you're spoilt for choice on how you wish to proceed. And as in many games of this type you can't rest on your laurels and assume your strategies for a small village will scale up to a successful major city.

And you're not alone in these worlds. There are rival factions competing for resources. Unfortunately this often makes the game dissolve into something of a land grab. You'll feel compelled to start new colonies on other islands before you feel it is the right time to do so - just to make sure you get first crack at its resources.

Also Anno 1701 is not the game for you if warfare is your bag, Creative Assembly has just the game for you, begone. The combat is simplistic and on the whole something you want to avoid. Getting into military conflict is something you will have no choice on at some points, but is no good at all for your economy. Successful trading and diplomacy reap dividends. Setting up trade routes for your ships though can be a little clunky, but most of the controls are easy to get to grips with.

Charming

One of the most pleasing aspects of Anno 1701 is the visual splendour on offer. However the game does chug somewhat on lower-end systems once the settlements have expanded to city level. The reason that Anno 1701 is so relaxing to play is because you can spend ages just watching your people go about their business. There's always something going on, something that will delight as it catches your eye.

Sure this isn't an obvious graphical masterpiece in the vein of Crysis, but the artwork is so lovingly created it is a genuine joy to behold. Combined with attractive sound effects the presentation overall is superb. It's especially entertaining to watch the period events such as a party occurring in the village centre, an umpah band playing or the visit of some other itinerant such as a tool maker.

The lack of construction animation does disappoint though. In games such as this you'd expect to see little characters hammering away at new constructions. In Anno 1701 buildings appear ready built, which does jar the immersion level somewhat and is a much less attractive approach.

Sweet & Beautiful

A few niggling problems aside Anno 1701 is a genuine joy to play. You can spend hour upon hour in the free game mode building up your settlements, tweaking the layout, watching your happy people go about their business. The whimsical artistic style and pleasant sound effects transport you to an idealised version of colonization that is both entertaining and relaxing. Hours slip by as your delve deeper in the complexities of the game.

If you've a love for games such as Civilization and Settlers then this is one PC game you can't do without. While not as high-profile as those titles it should not be missed.