The game works in a similar way to most city building games, and features three modes of play.
The story mode functions as a sandbox but with guidance and a narrative to follow when you begin.
Once you’ve played through the narrative, anything you have built will function as a sandbox game.
via ubisoft.com
you’ve got the option to then select up to three NPCs and customize their hostility levels.
Finally you might adjust the world size and a few other aspects, such as frequency of city incidents.
Multiplayer functions exactly as sandbox mode does but pits you against other players, rather than AI opponents.
via ubisoft.com
Anno 1800is a city builder at heart and it manages to be an incredibly engaging one.
The main source of confusion was the different levels of workers and types of buildings.
Each level of housing has differing requirements, and the people in them work in different industries.
via ubisoft.com
Figuring out which industries required which kind of worker was a challenge at first.
However, it took me a while to figure out what was where and why.
My only other gripe about story mode is with some of the pop ups.
via ubisoft.com
While most of them move the story along, some of them are just plain pointless.
They can become frequent, repetitive and just plain irritating.
I wish there was a way to turn them off.
via ubisoft.com
Graphically the game really surpassed my expectations.
Each building has incredible attention to detail and they combine to make a beautiful city.
Even the heavy industry buildings are complex and fascinating to watch.
In terms of the gameplayAnno 1800can very easily make hours of your time vanish.
There is a great deal to explore and the game ramps up in complexity as you play.
As well as simply building a settlement with thriving industries, it offers other avenues to peruse.
This engaging city builder is a great way to spend your time.
Once I got used to the interface, I found it reasonably intuitive.
A copy of Anno 1800 was purchased by TheGamer for review purposes.
It is available now for PC.
Score 4 out of 5
