2023 appears to be the year that not only are so many games arriving, but the real-time strategy genre is booming on consoles. I’ve found it is a genre that has had a light sprinkling over the years but now all the big guns are coming out to play. We started the year strong with Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition for Xbox and the promise of Age Of Empires 4 later in the year. But for now, Ubisoft has dropped the PC classic Anno 1800 onto Xbox Series and Playstation 5 consoles with The Settlers following in straight after. The great news is that you can try the entire game for free during its launch week. How well has this timeless banger been converted to the plastic box under the TV?

Introduction

I was ecstatic when I saw that Anno 1800 was coming to consoles as the franchise always fares well on PC and I have many friends who sing the game’s praises. The Anno games have spanned over the last 25 years and have always been exclusively tied down to PC through a range of different development and publishing teams over the year. Through the variance of ages throughout those games though, they have always stuck to a similar formula and have always had fairly positive receptions. Anno 1800 has been available on Windows PC for almost four years now, so I have to say I was surprised for it to come to the next generation consoles this far down the line. I also don’t blame Ubisoft and Blue Byte for giving it a go though, since the steam reviews across the board are very positive.

What Is Anno 1800?

Anno 1800 is a city-building strategy game set in the 19th Century during the beginning of the Industrial Age. The game centres around resource production, management and growth in order to build your very own metropolis. Alongside this, you can establish trade routes but have to be mindful of the profit margins and build a strong and stable community. You’ll need your farmers, workers and everyone to knit together to do their best for the land and their happiness, you in turn are responsible for making the choices to keep their morale high. Ensure they have nice homes, clothes on their back and somewhere to kick back and relax in their downtime.

It isn’t all plain sailing though, stocks and funds can plummet, riots can occur, and wars can kick off. You may choose to raise taxes to bring extra funds in at risk of angering your residents. The beauty of this game though is that decisions are entirely up to you and before you know it, you have been playing the game for hours and hours.

Gameplay

Those from the outside looking in may perhaps not know what Anno 1800 entails. If you’re looking for something like Command and Conquer or Age Of Empires, then this isn’t that kind of game. If you think of the Tropico or Cities Skylines titles then you’re more on the right lines, it nestles comfortably amongst those. It doesn’t have the overwhelming complexity of government and politics that Tropico does or the simplistic plonk-and-build nature of Cities Skylines. It is a deep, rich and forgiving city and community-building adventure that runs with its own approach and ideas. 

A Fairly Steep But Steady Learning Curve

The game doesn’t have a branched-off tutorial, but it does do a little hand-holding in the early stages of the campaign tasks if you want it to. I highly recommend this on console since it will get you used to navigating the land, building placement and the logistics of running your community from the controller. There are some aspects that aren’t explained in detail and you’ll be left to figure out some bits yourself or refer to the guides within the menus.

These easy-to-read pages will give in-depth information on pretty much every aspect of the game and I ended up using it a lot. It does a fine job of not feeding you everything and letting you make some mistakes to learn from them. One thing that did frustrate me was the fact that the game didn’t do the best job of explaining that some buildings need a sufficient amount of free space surrounding them, but this is something you’ll pick up as you go.

Campaign

I won’t ruin the plot of any of the campaigns, but there are plenty of hours of fun to be had here with DLC from the Windows PC version added in to bring the best experience possible on console. The storylines are broken up into several chapters and there will be various tasks that need to be successfully completed to move on to the next. Throughout these chapters, you’ll learn plenty about building, trading, conflict and more. Whilst there is a set direction of tasks to finish, I loved that there is still the spontaneous nature of the game world plodding along day by day.

Sandbox

Sandbox mode gives you the flexibility to construct your own ideas when it comes to the game. You can set up the game to accommodate up to four players and set the victory conditions and which characters alongside difficulty you use. Whilst I didn’t spend as much time on this as I did with the campaign, I could see the scope for endless gameplay with procedurally generated worlds so no two ever felt exactly the same.

Online Multiplayer

Unfortunately, I didn’t get an opportunity to try and test the online multiplayer aspect of the game as I started my review a few days before the official console launch. The online function caters for 2-16 players both in co-op and competitively which is fantastic for those who have ticked everything else off the list. Playing co-op is likely to bring even more strategies since you’ll be working together to achieve the same goals whereas the player vs player element will have you playing alone or forming a faction with friends in an effort to become the most thriving land of all.

Graphics & Audio

Anno 1800 looks absolutely stunning on Xbox Series X. Now we always know that to make the most of video games, the best place is a high-end PC rig. Here though it honestly couldn’t look any better. I’ve seen the game running on a decent machine in the past and this presents as nearly identical when it comes to visual fidelity across the board. In the 24+ hours of gameplay I’ve experienced, I’ve not come across any bugs, glitches or graphical issues whatsoever. 

The backdrop looks instantly beautiful the first time you dive in. The tranquil water reflection is prominent as it glistens back at you in all its 4k glory with empty land surrounding you. It won’t be long until it’s a crafted bustling community full of life and the attention to detail is actually outstanding. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that even though you can put several of the same building down, it wasn’t always an exact carbon copy of the other especially when it comes to dwellings. As you upgrade your farmers’ shacks to proper houses everything starts to feel rewarding as it blossoms into something you have done from scratch. 

Zooming in and out is great when it comes to performance on Series X and I only noticed an odd frame drop here and there when things got really busy. Seeing the people on the ground going about their work and daily lives just brings the entire game alive. Sound is brilliant with voice-acted narrative that brings that 19th century atmosphere with some greatly blended sound effects and ambient music.

In Conclusion

Ubisoft and Blue Byte have done an incredible job with the transition from PC to console. The key area of the game has been nailed and that is the adaptation from the mouse and keyboard to the Xbox controller. If you’re going in blind for the first time, it is a deep experience that demands some attention to learning its complexities. I found the learning experience incredibly moreish though and beyond the campaign, there is the longevity and replayability in the online multiplayer aspect. 

Anno 1800 is not a watered-down port and has been lovingly tailored to accommodate the gamer who likes to kick back with a pad in hand. After close to 30 hours of playtime, I feel like I’m going to absorb this for years to come with hundreds of hours lovingly poured into this exceptional game. For those who are thinking of investing £34.99 is an absolute steal for the base game but I wholeheartedly recommend the deluxe edition which will grant you some of the extra goodies on offer. RTS fans, this is a must-buy!