For the seventh game in the series, Anno 1800 from developers Blue Byte have really kept their games interesting and involved. Compared to their futuristic games like Anno 2205, this release focuses specifically on the Industrial Revolution where players guide the effects of industrialism on inhabitants of the islands. Much like other city-building and real-time strategy games, Anno 1800 has a lot to get in to and a lot of time to give to players.
This year seems to be the year of city-building games, much like the Tropico release, players make decisions to guide the city forward. Unlike Tropico however, Anno 1800 doesn’t have the political decisions like a visual novel game. What it does have, however, is ocean combat mechanics and new features that keep in line with the other progressive features of Blue Bytes past Anno games.
History buffs will really enjoy this game. Now that we’ve seen the future, some people like to see the past. In the 1800s, players guide decisions such as trade by trains, researching new technologies and deal with issues such as pollution strikes from the workers in the environment. Basically, in the 1800s, you’re in control of shaping the world we know now by the decisions made and how many people will come to the city to keep it growing. Cannon manufacturing shows up as well which makes me think of pirates and why this specific situation hasn’t already been brought up somewhere in the story.
Anno 1800 has a story mode that allows players to work together on different aspects of the game. City building and combat will now be happening at the same time now instead of being broken up in previous games. The sandbox is probably one of the best parts so it’s exciting that the developers left this in. Along with the pretty standard parts of the game, there is now a blueprint mode that allows players to create a blueprint of a building they might want to make in the future. This is helpful for when you don’t have enough resources yet to make the building come to life. When things do come together, your city will look amazing.
Visually and mechanically, the game is easy to navigate and create. Of course, there will be a lot of time spent on everything, but the art and the palette looks almost surreal. The colors are great to look at and give a very realistic image to the game as well. There will be many things to navigate in menus like typical city builders but this isn’t too complex and it will take some time to get in to, much like learning any other game.
Overall, Anno 1800 gives an interesting look into the past and some of the mechanics that people from the past dealt with. How you grow your city is up to you, but the challenges faced are intriguing and the end result is fascinating. The blueprint mode makes like easier for futuristic buildings and you don’t have to sacrifice playing with friends to play this game.
8/10
Available on: PC
