Aside from the sea battles, Anno 2205 is, without a doubt, the best entry in the series yet. The combination of finely tuned city-building and economy-management gameplay make for an addictive experience that is impossible to put down.
There is a lot to like about Anno 2205. I love the new global economy which, combined with the overall goal of colonizing the moon and achieving endless cheap energy to renew the planet, really drives things forward. The streamlining of the interface has paid off but the same cannot be said about the simplification of trade and the lack of competition on local maps.
This is the game i have been looking for for long time. Ofc it isn't the same like the Anno 1***, but still cool :)
Perfect theme(future, technology, colonization of the Moon), design, sounds and music. Yeah it is a bit simple, (especially after Skylines :D).
For everyone, disappointed: Guys, if it was the same, you would be angry as well. Its not that bad to try something new ;) I think, this on is also loveable,
Anno 2205 is a remarkable city building game with plenty of options to create your own economic empire. We miss more content or custom scenarios to increase its replayability. However, Anno 2205 is a great strategy game for the fans of the series.
Anno is still a great IP which ventures into lunar lands. While the concept is good and the changes are welcome, we would have gladly traded Uplay and DLC's for a multiplayer mode and more maps.
Too simple building strategy is full of useless, boring or nonfunctional new elements. In its favor speaks only an excellent audiovisual presentation and functional basic mechanics. What a disappointment. [Issue #259]
I totally understand the mixed reviews for this game. When I played it for the first time in the past, I felt the same way: I liked some things quite well, while others were very disappointing. But yes, I would then call the game not even reversing, but degrading the series. Now, after the appearance of DLCs, there are also some mixed feelings, but the experience has become more pleasant and complete... First, what I liked about this game: (1) Space colony. Like the underwater part in "2070" game, the Lunar part in this one provides some variety in resources, residents, and buildings. You can’t build a big city, but it fulfills its ideological function completely (rare ore, powerful power plant, manipulation of gravity). It’s the same in the Arctic, you can’t build a profitable city, but that’s not necessary, since this is a place for the production of powerful computers, rare pills, eye implants... For ordinary cities with a huge population and income from taxes, the temperate latitudes are just right. (2) The appearance of a space station... something like a small zone in which you need to assemble a puzzle from laboratories, modules and sticks between them in order to receive certain bonuses. It seems like +% to energy, or in addition to one resource, the building produces two different ones. A puzzle, because the structure of the station forces you to think about how to build it, so that the temperature is optimal, and the necessary modules fulfill the requirements of the laboratories, which gives more points for choosing bonuses than without them. Something like a legal in-game cheat, fits into the context and environment of the game. (3) The emergence of shares and the stock market. Quite an interesting mechanic, suitable for gameplay in the modern/future World. It’s not just stock trading, but also influence such as hacking or lowering the prices of competitors’ shares... not exactly a masterpiece, but quite interesting and profitable if managed correctly. (4) The graphics and detail of the models and textures are simply awesome. Optimization is a little lame in one location, where there are a lot of islands, but otherwise there were no complaints in this regard. (5) Modules (for example in the juice production building to reduce the fee and/or labor force and/or energy) and a convenient consumption system (in the warehouse of goods you can see whether you are producing enough or whether consumption is higher than production, as well as with trade routes, are you sending enough goods or not)... Now about what was just normal or what I didn’t like: (1) It feels like it’s very difficult to lose money or go into the red zone of taxes. Only at the very beginning, when I had not yet learned the new system, I sank for a short time with "minus income". The second time I deliberately did this because of a task (to build very expensive buildings and keep it like that for 15 minutes). There is such a chance after you enter into stock trading, but with a small budget (level 30) I managed to gradually buy everyone out in 3-4 days. (2) Additional islands + Tundra. It seems like an interesting innovation that gives even more land for construction and development, especially since Tundra is a new type of inhabitants... but you can’t really do anything cool there. Do some most necessary things and that’s it, you can forget about Tundra. It's a pity, of course. (3) I’m a fan of building rather than fighting, but even it seemed to me that making combat like this was not the smartest decision. (4) The plot... it seems to be there... but it’s not. Let me explain: the point is that the Lunar colony has rebelled, periodically sends enemies to Earth, threatens to turn everyone on Earth into a radioactive ash... but so what? These pseudo-rebels don’t influence anything at all, the story doesn’t play out in any way, and the ultimate goal of the whole game is to build a powerful generator on the Moon and send energy to Earth (well, and what do the rebels have to do with it?). Oh yes, and they also send water ships... MOON rebels WATER ships, Karl! In short, the swing is for gold, and the blow is for copper. (5) Well, and the cherry on top of all the criticism of this game... trading and paths. What can I say: yes, they have greatly simplified it and I understand everyone who doesn’t like it. Digging in the tracks was Anno's "highlight". But we have the entire planet here now, so global paths are quite suitable for this game. It's not as authentic, but you get used to it. In general, the game is still not without problems and, in many ways, is not for everyone, but I surely can recommend it. I finished it and deleted it, but did not forget it. I had my share of pleasure for sure.
Its so hard to find a game these days that's not a disappointment and Anno 2205 is not exception. The key problem for this newcomer was an inadequate tutorial. How do you build a sky bridge? No idea and no help either. Worse still the game feels very linear. There's very little room to do your own thing, just fulfill a series of pre defined tasks. I simply could not warm to this game gave up early on. I doubt I'll be back either.
I'm trying hard to find another game in this genre that is similarly bad in terms of simulation in this day and age. Most of the time you'll find yourself watching the needs bar, applying the formula supply >= demand. A few more twists when it comes to the coverage of a few buildings, but I'm not talking about industry here. With the exception of the arctic region, you can place the industry wherever you want. Stick a building on the other side of the map and in an instant, your citizens will be happy and the demand will be met. There are no fluctuations, no time in transit for the goods to reach their destinations, no traffic worries, nothing about how the workers will reach their factories, no shops for the population to purchase the goods.
The stupid side missions and the passable but completely unwanted mini combat games which take place in a separate isolated environment, together with the nice graphics, have all helped me progress in the game. But the problem still remains. This game is not pulling me in, and the cities seem lifeless from high up there where I'm watching the income and the needs bar. Playing in multiple regions having slightly different rules is a nice refreshing twist, but Ubisoft Blue Byte has unfortunately missed the ball with the dumbed down simulation.
SummaryIn Anno 2205, enlist with humankind‘s next step into the future with the promise to build a better tomorrow. You'll conquer Earth, establishing rich, bustling cities and grand industrial complexes, but to secure the prosperity of your people, you must travel into space.