• Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Nov 17, 2011
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 545 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 89 out of 545

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  1. Nov 27, 2016
    4
    They must have paid a lot of SEO marketing companies in poor economies to swamp review sites. This game was tedious with little content. I was genuinely surprise when I saw the review here after some years. This game makes a mockery of Meta Critic and shows that it is still cost effect to swamp a review site. The game is, at best, mediocre. It has no depth and you soon realise you sawThey must have paid a lot of SEO marketing companies in poor economies to swamp review sites. This game was tedious with little content. I was genuinely surprise when I saw the review here after some years. This game makes a mockery of Meta Critic and shows that it is still cost effect to swamp a review site. The game is, at best, mediocre. It has no depth and you soon realise you saw it all after a single day (2 if your not a power player). Expand
  2. Jan 19, 2013
    4
    Ubisoft's wicked DRM strikes again. I can't be arsed to rant about it. But I'm sure if you dig through the zeros you'll find something similar.

    To people giving 10s to offset zeros, if the game is broken to the point of unplayability that's a zero; don't try and drag the score back up again.
  3. Nov 25, 2011
    4
    This sort of thing (ie. a build-'em-up with a bit of combat) usually floats my boat. They're a good, relatively relaxing way to spend an evening with a drink or two. Anno 2070, alas, just doesn't do it for me at all. Simply put, it feels a lot more like work than entertainment. The tech tree, such that it is, contains a staggering amount of deeply naff padding (unless, of course, you get aThis sort of thing (ie. a build-'em-up with a bit of combat) usually floats my boat. They're a good, relatively relaxing way to spend an evening with a drink or two. Anno 2070, alas, just doesn't do it for me at all. Simply put, it feels a lot more like work than entertainment. The tech tree, such that it is, contains a staggering amount of deeply naff padding (unless, of course, you get a kick of knowing your dudes have access to vegetable sushi...), and is structured in such a way as to mean you are obliged to work through all the naff stuff in order to get to anything even remotely interesting. The whole thing feels totally contrived and arbitrary, devoid of imagination and soul. There's nothing interesting or complex about the gameplay at all. Yes, sure, there's a lot that needs to be done, but it's all a case of doing lots of simple, obvious, boolean tasks in order, then setting up some simple systems - complexity, yes, but only in the sense that doing three dead easy, boring things at once is more complex than doing one dead easy, boring thing on its own.

    Graphically, it's rather pretty. That said, the lack of obvious distinction between building types doesn't exactly add to the fun. Playing "hunt the sushi factory" gets real old, real fast, especially given that the restrictions on building placement (building is restricted to a radius of certain other buildings) and the apparent disregard the population have with regards to what they live next to leads to a somewhat less than logical approach to planning.

    Oh, I forgot the campaign. It's got one. It's not exactly what I'd call one of gaming's great memorable experiences. Do some linear stuff, follow the built-in advice, win. Yeah, cool.

    So, to sum it up, if your idea of great night's entertainment is working as a taxi controller whilst filling in your tax returns, get Anno 2070. Actually, on second thoughts, why not just get a job as a taxi controller and take some accountancy classes.
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  4. Nov 22, 2011
    4
    Graphics are beautiful, but the interface is not at all intuitive or convenient. Coupled with the soft-focus light filters, this literally equals a headache. At some point, the number of things you have to pay attention to and incrementally adjust becomes so overwhelming that the game becomes a chore; how long that takes is dependent upon how much patience you have withGraphics are beautiful, but the interface is not at all intuitive or convenient. Coupled with the soft-focus light filters, this literally equals a headache. At some point, the number of things you have to pay attention to and incrementally adjust becomes so overwhelming that the game becomes a chore; how long that takes is dependent upon how much patience you have with civilization-building games.

    The only difference between the two main factions is aesthetic; the buildings look different, and you get yelled at by different talking heads. "Eco-balance" is just another percentage you have to manage, like power supply; the ecological management and green technologies hinted at in the trailers simply don't exist in any measurable amount.

    It's not a bad game, it just doesn't beat the Civilization series, Sim City 4, or even Fate of the World. In fact, Blue Byte/Ubisoft's other game in this genre, Settlers 7, is vastly superior in every aspect.

    Wait 'til you can get Anno for under 20 bucks.
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  5. Feb 3, 2012
    4
    The Anno series games are deep and satisfying if you enjoy open world city/economic/civilization simulators. Anno 2070 is no exception. I would give this game a 9 if I were able to play it with any consistency. This really would be an excellent game, but technical issues render it a complete waste of $50. I will not buy another Ubi game, which makes me sad because they have several goodThe Anno series games are deep and satisfying if you enjoy open world city/economic/civilization simulators. Anno 2070 is no exception. I would give this game a 9 if I were able to play it with any consistency. This really would be an excellent game, but technical issues render it a complete waste of $50. I will not buy another Ubi game, which makes me sad because they have several good titles. That sums things up, but if you want more detail, please read on... I would not be upset with this game or its developers if I had a single issue, but this game has been a constant struggle since purchase. When I first bought the game, I had a great deal of trouble installing it. It turns out AVG antivirus and the game don't get along. Fair enough, I was using the free version of AVG anyway. I simply switched to MSE antivirus, problem solved. Once the game was installed, I experienced a crash-to-desktop that occurred somewhere between every 30 seconds and every 30 minutes, a C++ runtime error. I tried many things to resolve this, which I won't bore you with. Suffice it to say, I am quite familiar with computer hardware and software, and it was not a simple video driver issue (nor anything else you commonly see with game crashes). I contacted Ubi support (this is where things really got annoying). Even though I included a great deal of information, including a DxDiag file, I got back a very generic response telling me to update my drivers and enable graphics settings like Direct3D (if you read the DxDiag, you would see that those things are already done, as I stated in my e-mail). After a game patch, the game is a little more stable. I can typically play for 30 mins to 1 hour, but even when I can the Ubi servers are constantly down. Last night I finally had some time to play, but the servers went down mid-game. Thankfully, the game simply switches the offline mode, which does hamper your gameplay but not too terribly much. I played a little while longer and exited. Now I cannot log back into the game (which means I can't play at all) because "that user is already logged in." It turns out that if the servers go down while you're logged in, you can't log out and will therefore not be able to get back in later. Judging by forum discussions, this has happened several times and I'm sure it will be fixed in a day or 2. But that's exactly the issue with this game...it will work...in a day or 2. I solve one problem, and another pops up. The DRM is a nightmare, UPlay is garbage, the programming unstable, the servers a constant mess. I could forgive any one of the issues, but there are an infinite amount. If companies like Blizzard and Valve can release rock-solid titles with very few technical issues, why can't Ubi? For my $50 in the future, they have to do better. Goodbye Ubi and Anno, it's been fun. Expand
  6. Apr 3, 2012
    4
    I've enjoyed a few of the Anno series, and if you want more of the same, this game might give it to you. Unfortunately, it also has annoying DRM and requires an Ubisoft login, doesn't offer much of any flexibility in how you complete missions, and it's also buggy enough that I couldn't finish it. The beginning of the campaign was too easy, while simultaneously taking a long time becauseI've enjoyed a few of the Anno series, and if you want more of the same, this game might give it to you. Unfortunately, it also has annoying DRM and requires an Ubisoft login, doesn't offer much of any flexibility in how you complete missions, and it's also buggy enough that I couldn't finish it. The beginning of the campaign was too easy, while simultaneously taking a long time because there were poorly-explained requirements to finishing quests---sometimes, just because I had finished them before they were offered, and I had to reload to try again. If it's like the other Anno games, it will get much harder by the end, but I don't expect it can make up for the poor experience I've had playing so far. Expand
  7. Jul 15, 2012
    4
    Great graphics, nice game, you will not play for so long anyway. cons: horribly managed by Ubisoft Uplay, server down, problems with connection, user login not recognized and non existing support you cannot play ubisoft games in this way, thumb down never ever a Ubisoft game again.
  8. Apr 2, 2013
    4
    I feel very let down by this game. I expected high-end economic simulation, with some military elements here and there. What I got was simplistic game, with economic elements dumbed down and dialogs and missions on the mental level of a 12 years old kid.
    The campaign is pain to go through, mainly because of childish plot and annoying dialogues. The free play, supposedly a most important
    I feel very let down by this game. I expected high-end economic simulation, with some military elements here and there. What I got was simplistic game, with economic elements dumbed down and dialogs and missions on the mental level of a 12 years old kid.
    The campaign is pain to go through, mainly because of childish plot and annoying dialogues. The free play, supposedly a most important mode of the game, is only a bit better. The most important problem is, that there is no mechanic that would make you want develop your city. Your citizens always seem to be happy with the level of goods you provide them and only by your initiative you might want to push them forward. There is no needs chain like in old Caesar games, where satisfying one requirement creates another. On top of that, your citizens serve absolutely no purpose (apart from maybe production of money that you don't seem to need that much). The factories/farms/etc don't seem to require any kind of workforce, which dumbs it down even more. On top of that, UI takes time to get used to, and tutorial doesn't seem to cover it well. There is also no way to check the rate at which your resources are used/produced so organizing of your industry takes a lot of boring observation and counting.
    It might seem that economic elements have been simplified in order to make room for more of a military game, but the amount (4?) and usability of battle units doesn't seem to support that at all.
    The MMO aspect of this game is not as fun as it might seem occasional vote over certain matters only seem to provide small bonuses in the game, or lack of them. Interesting idea, but it doesn't really have any real impact on the game.
    As a merit I should probably mention beautiful graphics and seemingly large amount of elements. The game might be entertaining for the first game, and seeing through possible buildings for construction might be fun, just for exploration of possibilities. It is not a bad game in general, it just doesn't seem to have any strategic thought in it other than "how should I put my building around in order them to fit in on my island(s). If you're a big genre fan sure, give it a try, if its on sale. If not look for other game, it's not worth your money or time.
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  9. Jul 17, 2013
    3
    One of the worst strategy games I've ever played.
    Graphics are ok. but the game play suffers tremendously, and the interface seems still in beta testing.
  10. Jun 3, 2017
    3
    Leaving aside the usual issues the series always had (like over and over and over again building up new city sectors from the ground, cluttering everything with unwieldy utility buildings) which they've alleviated through research to a minimal extent, I will just address the single player campaign the base game delivered.

    Before that, I'll have to add that even when installing
    Leaving aside the usual issues the series always had (like over and over and over again building up new city sectors from the ground, cluttering everything with unwieldy utility buildings) which they've alleviated through research to a minimal extent, I will just address the single player campaign the base game delivered.

    Before that, I'll have to add that even when installing exclusively through uplay, their third rate steam ripoff, the game has a very real chance of destroying itself by running into a DLC activation loop which can only be alleviated by downloading a massive patcher application, ignoring warnings, console windows popping up etc etc and Ubisoft have no intention of fixing this even years later so no, AC: Unity wasn't the first time they delivered an entirely faulty product and took no action to alleviate it in any proper way.

    Now for the campaign, it serves as a tutorial and does that somewhat well, however, later missions leave exactly as much freedom as any tutorial would: you simply cannot deviate from the path they had in mind. The game has hard checks for everything so even if there is a way to achieve a goal in other ways than suggested by side quests (side!!!! quests), don't try. The next quest will simply assume you did it their way and will require that.

    It is also very lengthy (like: "get 300 people" "get 600 people" "get 1200 people" and so on, just stacking up numbers which are increasingly tedious to achieve, making you sit through the slog that is building just more and more and more of the same lame crap) with really zero excitement over anything. It's just playing fetch on a grand scale, time-wise.
    The mission timers are also off, wouldn't be surprised if they're tied to the frame rate.

    As for bugs, it's a ubisoft game. They never bothered and never will bother to deliver any quality that justifies the price tag. 75% discount is the basic price for any Ubi game.
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  11. Jul 10, 2012
    2
    Wasted so many hours in this game hoping to get something in return for my 10$ but received nothing. Everything in this game except graphics is terrible. Interface is an unintuitive mess. There is no tutorial. Campaign is buggy and boring. Quests are simplier then in any free MMORPG. I had to repeat two missions because of bugs. Gameplay is repetive, linear and overcomplicated(resourcesWasted so many hours in this game hoping to get something in return for my 10$ but received nothing. Everything in this game except graphics is terrible. Interface is an unintuitive mess. There is no tutorial. Campaign is buggy and boring. Quests are simplier then in any free MMORPG. I had to repeat two missions because of bugs. Gameplay is repetive, linear and overcomplicated(resources and trade routes!) without a reason. I I do not recommend this game to anyone because there are far better games out there like civilization or total war. Expand
  12. Oct 29, 2012
    2
    I love strategy games, unfortunately I bought this thinking that it was one. Anno 2070 is dogs balls boring, dont waste your cash, the pretty graphics and eco sound track are nice but there is no game here to be had hence the score of 2. Despite being patched to the very latest version of the game there are still bugs like a strange warning about running out of memory when I can alt tabI love strategy games, unfortunately I bought this thinking that it was one. Anno 2070 is dogs balls boring, dont waste your cash, the pretty graphics and eco sound track are nice but there is no game here to be had hence the score of 2. Despite being patched to the very latest version of the game there are still bugs like a strange warning about running out of memory when I can alt tab and see there is easily 1.5GB left on my machine. You cant even buy a unit to defend yourself until you have ascended to level 3 which takes about 3 hours! The original civilisation or starcraft games kick this game for six and they came out like 10 years ago.. ok rant over with ... YOU WERE WARNED. Expand
  13. May 10, 2014
    2
    So my wife and I share computers and both thought we would enjoy Anno 2070 - the graphics looked nice and we both enjoyed 1404. How foolishly naive we were.

    Firstly, you get 3 installations. After that you get to buy the whole game again. The very concept of which is so bad it's worth reading again. You get 3 installations of the game. Hardware update, hard drive crash and reinstall,
    So my wife and I share computers and both thought we would enjoy Anno 2070 - the graphics looked nice and we both enjoyed 1404. How foolishly naive we were.

    Firstly, you get 3 installations. After that you get to buy the whole game again. The very concept of which is so bad it's worth reading again.

    You get 3 installations of the game. Hardware update, hard drive crash and reinstall, having multiple computers in the home... tough luck. You get 3, over the total time you own/play the game.

    Second, you get 1 profile. Ever. So if my wife and I both want to play we share one profile, one progression, one set of upgrades, one set of choices. The best we could do is have one of us play then the other load and replay missions the other already played.

    I have never dealt with any company selling any product or service that treated me, as a consumer of their goods, with such utter contempt. I get DRM. I don't complain about it - they deserve paid for the things they create and sell. Yet the way it's handled on this game is over the top. It's gratuitous - it's just so Ubisoft. To take a great game with some great ideas and just stuff a raised middle finger in your face for buying it. Like they're saying 'HA! See if you can still enjoy it NOW, sucker!' We got 4 hours out of it. There won't be any more and I've managed to talk 3 people out of buying it, hopefully this review saves anyone else from making the same mistake.

    At least I've still got 1404. As someone who's given Ubisoft hundreds of dollars for games this was the last one. The game gets a 2 because of the potential but you can't rate a game highly when it is brimming with so much contempt for its would-be consumers.
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  14. Mar 10, 2014
    1
    My experience with this product is rather poor, the installation through Steam was, as usual, seamless but everything went awkward as soon as the product was started. Installation of Uplay, updating Uplay, obtaining an account, logon, updating the product once, twice, then the serial numbers. More updating again to be able to log on the game servers and be heavily distracted with what isMy experience with this product is rather poor, the installation through Steam was, as usual, seamless but everything went awkward as soon as the product was started. Installation of Uplay, updating Uplay, obtaining an account, logon, updating the product once, twice, then the serial numbers. More updating again to be able to log on the game servers and be heavily distracted with what is currently regarded as the holy grail of the industry: online gaming ad nauseam. And for what ? All in all, an update with a clumsy interface. Many people like it, I do not and will probably avoid being tempted by products using Uplay and other sorts of server-centered gameplay. Expand
  15. Nov 29, 2014
    1
    Gonna pirate it because uPlay it's a pain in the.... play. So if you havent buy it you should consider that after many updates uPlay still being a problem. If you can deal with all the issues you will find a good game
  16. Apr 4, 2012
    1
    I registered with Ubisoft using my email address and by mistake, used the same password that I use for my Gmail address. After about 2 hours, I receive a notice from Gmail that my account had been accessed from an IP address overseas and they recommended that I change my password immediately. In my 7 years of owning that Gmail account, that has never happened to me. USE CAUTION whenI registered with Ubisoft using my email address and by mistake, used the same password that I use for my Gmail address. After about 2 hours, I receive a notice from Gmail that my account had been accessed from an IP address overseas and they recommended that I change my password immediately. In my 7 years of owning that Gmail account, that has never happened to me. USE CAUTION when registering with Ubisoft, as your information is obviously not safe. As for the game, it was a total waste of 50.00. Calling this game a RTS is a crime. If you want to plant tea and rice fields for hours, this game is for you. The tiny amount of combat in this game is laughable. If you are looking for a RTS, move on, nothing to see here.... Expand
  17. Dec 23, 2012
    1
    While the visuals are pretty good this game was a sore let down. a "story driven campaign" that is painfully buggy, massively hand-hold-y, and frustratingly dumb downed.... kings quest had the courtesy of killing me when I didn't do things the way the game designers wanted me to. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out why my town would not feed itself despite 4 roads to a overflowingWhile the visuals are pretty good this game was a sore let down. a "story driven campaign" that is painfully buggy, massively hand-hold-y, and frustratingly dumb downed.... kings quest had the courtesy of killing me when I didn't do things the way the game designers wanted me to. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out why my town would not feed itself despite 4 roads to a overflowing warehouse of the correct food- when restarting the game and minimally building allowed me to build the farm people would actually use... . If I could get a refund on my steam account, I would. play sim city instead. Expand
  18. Apr 20, 2014
    1
    I love the Anno games, but uplay makes it so incredibly difficult to actually do so, 10 mins to download and install... about 20 minutes and counting to try and get past Uplay, which is a thing that exists for some reason
  19. Mar 14, 2015
    1
    The game crashes repeatedly, which makes it a very frustrating experience. Uplay does not work and I would avoid purchasing another game that requires Uplay.
  20. Nov 2, 2019
    1
    A disgusting scam. You can only this crap with 4 players online. You have to meddle around for hours with a **** "patcher" file from ubisoft to even get it to run. They're still selling this crap on their store. Boycott this cam
  21. Jan 21, 2012
    0
    The game may be good, anyway the draconian ubisoft DRM makes it no buy for me and many other players. **** you **** you won't get my money. I own 500 games on steam, yet i still prefer to pirate your games instead of buying them!
  22. Dec 23, 2012
    0
    Disappointed to discover this game features an overly restrictive DRM system that means (1) you have to have an internet connection to play and (2) if your hardware changes more than three times your game is permanently disabled and cannot be reactivated. My review score reflects the fact that Ubisoft don't care about making the game unplayable for some of their own paying customers.
  23. Jul 15, 2012
    0
    I'm not usually one to do this, but I've got to throw my 0 in for good measure. This game has a 3 activation limit, which had me entirely skeptical of their DRM from the get-go. Against my better judgment, I purchased this game on 7/14/12. It wasn't a fresh release where the servers are new, or even an extremely popular title in which the servers are expected to have much of a load.I'm not usually one to do this, but I've got to throw my 0 in for good measure. This game has a 3 activation limit, which had me entirely skeptical of their DRM from the get-go. Against my better judgment, I purchased this game on 7/14/12. It wasn't a fresh release where the servers are new, or even an extremely popular title in which the servers are expected to have much of a load. Regardless, and most unfortunately, no one is able to log on to Uplay (Ubisoft's mandatory DRM gateway) today on 7/15/12, and therefore are unable to play this game. The forums for Steam and Ubisoft are filled with people unable to even launch the game they paid for. If this were a newly released title, I wouldn't be bothered. Sometimes the developer/publisher just needs time to adjust to the demand. This, on the other hand, is just unacceptable. Get a torrent or something if you want to be able to play reliably. It's an incredible shame that purchasing a title legitimately results in such a headache. Expand
  24. Jan 26, 2012
    0
    I buy games to play them and have fun. As long as I am not hacking your game and playing legit, what I do with my computer after purchase is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

    If you dont know what I am talking about read "http://www.guru3d.com/news/why-guru3d-probably-never-will-review-ubisoft-titles-anymore/"

    If they gave negative scores, this would get it for that reason.
  25. Mar 23, 2012
    0
    Sadly buying this game, results in so harsgh DRM/Copyright protection meassures that those people who actually illegally download the game profit from it. Don't get my wrong, i'm absolutely against downloading games illegaly since i want good games which need money to be produced but i don't want to be forced to play online and probably send along data about my gaming behaviour. I respectSadly buying this game, results in so harsgh DRM/Copyright protection meassures that those people who actually illegally download the game profit from it. Don't get my wrong, i'm absolutely against downloading games illegaly since i want good games which need money to be produced but i don't want to be forced to play online and probably send along data about my gaming behaviour. I respect every developer for his/her creativity and effort put in the developement of a game. Seeing that a publisher like ubisoft destroys all the efforts made by this stupid DRM really gets me to rage. This was the last ubisoft game i bought! Thanks! Just typed some insults but deleted them afterwards. Expand
  26. Jan 3, 2014
    0
    Doesn't matter how good or bad this game is. It is unplayable due to the DRM. Don't buy stuff from companies that treat their loyal customers as criminals.

    The only thing that sets this game apart from the other versions released in the past is its money grab DLC scheme, and its anti customer DRM. You will be much happier if you just get an older edition of this game. They are all
    Doesn't matter how good or bad this game is. It is unplayable due to the DRM. Don't buy stuff from companies that treat their loyal customers as criminals.

    The only thing that sets this game apart from the other versions released in the past is its money grab DLC scheme, and its anti customer DRM.

    You will be much happier if you just get an older edition of this game. They are all really good.
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  27. Jan 20, 2012
    0
    BS Tage DRM. Change your graphics card? That just used up an activation, and you only get three, so don't go upgrading your machine very often! Seriously, the fact that this type of crap is somehow okay with so many game buyers is really quite baffling. JUST SAY NO TO HORRIBLE DRM HELL!
  28. Feb 26, 2012
    0
    It's too bad cause I'd REALLY like to play this game but the DRM coupled with the 3 install max will assure I'll never get to. I also won't pirate it as I really enjoy supporting good developers to ensure great games, I've bought over 200 games from Steam but this one will never see one installation because I refuse to support bad business practices that screws good people from gamesIt's too bad cause I'd REALLY like to play this game but the DRM coupled with the 3 install max will assure I'll never get to. I also won't pirate it as I really enjoy supporting good developers to ensure great games, I've bought over 200 games from Steam but this one will never see one installation because I refuse to support bad business practices that screws good people from games they've legally purchased.

    :(
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  29. Apr 7, 2012
    0
    Reviewed at 0 until future plans are announced to remove the DRM at some point in the future. Thank you for ruining this game Ubisoft. Only able to install on three computers, so it is stuck on my laptop that can't run it, and my current PC. One more install or reformat and I won't be able to play it anymore, this is stupid. I can understand leaving this in for a year, but this really doesReviewed at 0 until future plans are announced to remove the DRM at some point in the future. Thank you for ruining this game Ubisoft. Only able to install on three computers, so it is stuck on my laptop that can't run it, and my current PC. One more install or reformat and I won't be able to play it anymore, this is stupid. I can understand leaving this in for a year, but this really does ruin the game because the audience is a long term one, at least those are the pre-tenses under which I bought the game. Expand
  30. Mar 19, 2012
    0
    I understand one time online activation DRM, but being forced to create Ubisoft account to be able to play game in offline mode is just big scam for me. And i thought that all those Ubisoft DRM stories were exaggerated, stupid me. I feel so bad for buying game that i will not play single time.
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 33
  2. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Mar 1, 2012
    84
    Putting aside minor hindrances, the game is a pleasant revival of the legendary franchise, displaying high replayability, relative to recent games. [February 2012]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Feb 29, 2012
    90
    A significantly more accessible setting makes this latest Anno a must play for all city management fans. [March 2012, p.52]
  3. 70
    The leap into the future was a good move by Ubisoft, enabling the combination of the formula already established with elements of science fiction.