Anno History Collection

The history collection offers purely technical improvements, 1503 and 1602 proft the most.

The Anno History Collection is as the name implies, a collection of the historical Anno titles. Unlike other re-releases that have come out recently, this isn't a remaster or a remake, with the games coming in their original glory with a few tweaks to enable modern resolutions, allow the games to run smoothly and allow you to play online. Is that enough to justify the high price? That's up for debate, as is the value you'll get out of each of the four titles, with the age of the first two really showing. You can, however, buy the titles separately. So do I recommend it? The games are good and there's a massive amount of content, it's down to you if you're happy playing some (admittedly great) older games with few noticeable advancements.

I cannot help feeling that this collection was not all that necessary and a greater product could have been achieved had say Anno 1503 been solely remastered or remade, where quality of life changes would have made for a truly unique experience amongst the genre of strategy titles. I don’t regret having played any of these games, after all I’ve discovered another strategy title that I do like from a series I had already written off. But will it keep me interested for months hereon or even years? Probably not.

The collection has no real innovations and some parts like 1602 are aged very badly. Apart from that the nostalgia is very strong and brings back the addiction factor immediately. Fans of the series want to have the whole collection while most people should prefer the newer parts.