There doesn't seem to be a first play thread for this and I've been playing it for a good few days so I thought I'd let y'all know how it is.
I had never heard of it until it was recommended to me by fellow forumites so I'll tell you a bit about it first. Anno 1701 is a management sim/strategy game. It's probably set in 1701ad (hence the name) and you are settling on the new world. You start from scratch with a few fishermen and sheep farms and modest cabins and build from there - cotton farms, cattle farms and so on moving all the way to such luxuries as chocolates and spices. Your people get more civilised and begin to expect certain things - schools, taverns, then churches, bath houses etc.
As this happens, there are other people on islands who you can trade with or even invade and you have to deal with pirates and natural disasters. As slow as the farming parts sound, it can get pretty hectic at times when your people are screaming for chocolates, unaware that you're busy saving their asses from pirates and dealing with a volcano on another island.
So that's the game.
I love these type of games. But Theme Park DS was inferior to 16-bit versions from 12 years previous. SimCity DS was cut to ribbons and the balance was all off. Looking at the shelves, it seemed like the needs had been filled but, really, they were temporary fixes that would ultimately lead to disappointment.
Anno 1701 seems to be the real deal. It has the depth of a real PC sim and, amazingly enough, controls like a dream. The DS controls are perfect. It is all laid out very simply - your settlement on the bottom screen and your advisor and information on the top screen. You don't have to change menus to get basic info - just tap an item and the top screen will let you know what you need to.
Building is easy with the touch screen and navigating the build menus is easy - they all form a nice circle on the screen. Very neat. The only issue I had here was, when it gets very busy, sometimes it's hard to see your roads. The buildings do fade while you build roads but it would have been nice to have alternative views.
There are other screens, like supplies and trading and every single one of them works well.
The play area is fantastic. It never slows up and is silky smooth, laughing in the face of both Theme Park and SimCity. The best feature is that you can point to the screen, drag your stylus and let go, throwing the map - the momentum bringing you much further than a simple drag could. It works so well every game should have it.
There is a Story mode, which serves first as a tutorial and then starts to get a bit meaty. My only criticism of the story mode is that it sometimes moves you along quicker than I'd like and has you leaving islands or wrecking islands you have grown to love. That would only be a problem, however, if they hadn't included the Continuous sandbox mode.
But they did.
The Continuous mode is probably the best place to play once you have the basics. A bunch of islands and off you go - what you do with them is entirely up to you. It's free play and it really lets you explore the balance of the game. Where will you build your settlement? What if the land isn't good enough to grow tea? Are there enough trees for wood? Will you find a space big enough to ultimately build that palace you've always wanted?
Anno 1701 comes highly recommended. I never would have noticed it had it not been for the recommendations here. It could easily get lost on a shelf and doesn't come from a big developer. But it's great. It really is.
So far, my only major criticism of the game has been that the fire station is labelled 'Fire Sation'. I have to say that bugs me. But that's it. That's the sum total of negatives I can find.
If you have any interest in this type of game, you won't find much better than this.
I had never heard of it until it was recommended to me by fellow forumites so I'll tell you a bit about it first. Anno 1701 is a management sim/strategy game. It's probably set in 1701ad (hence the name) and you are settling on the new world. You start from scratch with a few fishermen and sheep farms and modest cabins and build from there - cotton farms, cattle farms and so on moving all the way to such luxuries as chocolates and spices. Your people get more civilised and begin to expect certain things - schools, taverns, then churches, bath houses etc.
As this happens, there are other people on islands who you can trade with or even invade and you have to deal with pirates and natural disasters. As slow as the farming parts sound, it can get pretty hectic at times when your people are screaming for chocolates, unaware that you're busy saving their asses from pirates and dealing with a volcano on another island.
So that's the game.
I love these type of games. But Theme Park DS was inferior to 16-bit versions from 12 years previous. SimCity DS was cut to ribbons and the balance was all off. Looking at the shelves, it seemed like the needs had been filled but, really, they were temporary fixes that would ultimately lead to disappointment.
Anno 1701 seems to be the real deal. It has the depth of a real PC sim and, amazingly enough, controls like a dream. The DS controls are perfect. It is all laid out very simply - your settlement on the bottom screen and your advisor and information on the top screen. You don't have to change menus to get basic info - just tap an item and the top screen will let you know what you need to.
Building is easy with the touch screen and navigating the build menus is easy - they all form a nice circle on the screen. Very neat. The only issue I had here was, when it gets very busy, sometimes it's hard to see your roads. The buildings do fade while you build roads but it would have been nice to have alternative views.
There are other screens, like supplies and trading and every single one of them works well.
The play area is fantastic. It never slows up and is silky smooth, laughing in the face of both Theme Park and SimCity. The best feature is that you can point to the screen, drag your stylus and let go, throwing the map - the momentum bringing you much further than a simple drag could. It works so well every game should have it.
There is a Story mode, which serves first as a tutorial and then starts to get a bit meaty. My only criticism of the story mode is that it sometimes moves you along quicker than I'd like and has you leaving islands or wrecking islands you have grown to love. That would only be a problem, however, if they hadn't included the Continuous sandbox mode.
But they did.
The Continuous mode is probably the best place to play once you have the basics. A bunch of islands and off you go - what you do with them is entirely up to you. It's free play and it really lets you explore the balance of the game. Where will you build your settlement? What if the land isn't good enough to grow tea? Are there enough trees for wood? Will you find a space big enough to ultimately build that palace you've always wanted?
Anno 1701 comes highly recommended. I never would have noticed it had it not been for the recommendations here. It could easily get lost on a shelf and doesn't come from a big developer. But it's great. It really is.
So far, my only major criticism of the game has been that the fire station is labelled 'Fire Sation'. I have to say that bugs me. But that's it. That's the sum total of negatives I can find.
If you have any interest in this type of game, you won't find much better than this.
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