Gaming Anno 1404: Dawn of Discovery Review

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/06/12/anno-1404-dawn-of-discovery-review/1

Colourful, pleasant and surprisingly good-looking - are we talking about ourselves or Ubisoft's Anno 1404? There's only one way to find out, so read our full review and see if we think if Anno 1404 is worth picking up or whether it's a case of Error 1404: Enjoyment not found for this game.

 

I've always personally prefered the single player side of Strategy Games, All the Civ's i enjoyed, I never really took to playing any of the C&C's or AoE online, just stayed offline. So i think this may be worth a little dabble.

 

I might pick this up, looks like a similar sort of thing to Pharaoh, which is one of my all time favourite games.

 

Too bad, it doesnt have:
-War
-bandits
-criminals
-weather disaster
A strategy game w/o "bloody" motivation = a sim game

 

It does have those elements, with bandits roaming the seas as corsairs, and tornados and such striking suddenly - but they are massively played down from what we saw and you spend a lot more time worrying about the chance that your citizens are going to riot than that a corsair will nab your latest shipment of linen.

 

"We said at the beginning of all this that it’s hard to get really excited about a strategy game that doesn’t have big robots and ‘splosions."

I think I'm being a tad moody here... but isn't that betraying a massive personal bias in your review?
I'm probably reading too much into a closing paragraph, still it seems as if your running the game down for the very reasons it exist. I just think some credit should be given for a game that defiantly swims against the mainstream, especially when more 'modern' strategy games become increasingly simplistic and similar.

 

I may pick it up, have still got the original (anno 1602) lying around somewhere, quite liked that.

 

I think you're reading too much into that, as we definitely do like games without all that stuff - like The Sims, for instance, or Civ or Sim City or Sim Ant even. That line speaks to the majority of people who probably do hold that view and also reinforces the fact that these elements are not present in this game. The game wasn't marked down for this reason, though it was something that the Average Gamer would want to know about.

 

yet another unimpressive game this year... Looks like we will have a bad gamming year (aside mwen of war)...

 

I think video game developers shud make some intensive research when picking a title for their game -_-

Im from Colombia, this game is called anno 1404, and anno translates to anus in spanish.

Quite embarrasing when i get to the store asking the guy if they have "anus 1404"

 

lmao the dawn of discovery.. oh man has to be a joke

 

As a long time fan of The Settlers series (since I played it on the Amiga 500), this all sounds very familiar.

It is a truism that there is nothing new under the sun.

 

Noooo... no more anal jokes please!

I used to love the first one [Anno 1602] and it might actually be a German thing. We love our slow simulation games like this one or Settlers [the old ones before it turned into a generic 3D game].

 

I like these type of games too. I can only play FPS so long before my brain begins to decay.

Settlers games did go downhill after game 4.

 

Really? It was 2 for me.

 

I think it's sort of odd that the sequel lacks multiplayer when 1602 had it. Bit of a shame to miss it out.

 

A day later I have to agree.. Sorry about that.

 

Good review. What is the music like in the game? I've found that the soundtrack to the entire Anno series has been absolutely superb, and really helps to set the atmosphere. Anno 1701 had a full orchestra composing the music; all of which evoked a brilliant sense of the early modern New World.

 

I've heard stories of this Professor Bongaminge Qub, did you know he apparently tunnelled under Everest?

 

Greetings!

Additional info:
The game has three activations (courtesy of Tages DRM).
All versions, including the Steam one, include Tages DRM with a three install activation limit.