It has truly been a long time since I played an Anno game. I am talking early 2000’s long time. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this, but it was free and I will always check out a free game or beta when I have the time.
The beta starts off with you needing some money to get home to your sister so you use dynamite to blow up some fish. This will teach you how to use items and move the ship around, and it made me chuckle so that was fun. After this, it is a quick sail home to shock your friend and servant whose life you saved at some point with the fact that you are rich which will admittedly annoy him since you were just blowing up fish for cash and sleeping in barns while you and your family own an island and hundreds if not thousands of buildings.
Turns out dear old dad died in prison after being accused of treason and your sister needs your help to not only clear his name, but build a new empire and deal with your jackass uncle. I won’t go further into the story they shared because it does go along with the game they will be releasing but you will be attempting to unravel a pretty in-depth conspiracy it seems, and it did have me quite interested and I was a little disappointed to see it end.
As for the gameplay and graphics, both were smooth and offered me no problems even on my laptop even on medium settings. Building your town feels fluid and offered no problems and I never really felt like I didn’t know what was going on. Each building is explained pretty well and I didn’t really have to ask how they worked which I appreciated. The full release is looking like it will be worth buying. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
