Anno 2205™ Review Summary

Enjoyable and relaxing gameplay experience: The game is consistently praised for being enjoyable, fun, and relaxing. Reviewers appreciate its accessibility, solid gameplay, and the developers' responsiveness to feedback. Many find it addictive and easy to lose track of time while playing.

Impressive and appealing graphics: The game boasts impressive and visually appealing graphics, a beautiful art style, and detailed environments. Reviewers highlight the futuristic setting and well-designed buildings, contributing to an immersive experience.

Deep sector system, high replayability: The sector system and multi-region gameplay add depth and replayability, encouraging players to manage resources and build colonies across different environments, including the Moon. This global scope provides more to do compared to previous games.

DLCs add depth and content: DLCs and patches have significantly improved the game, adding new features like space zones, orbital bases, and modules for upgrading production facilities. These additions increase the game's complexity, depth, and overall playtime.

Challenging industry planning: The game offers a challenge in planning and arranging industries to grow a company across the world. The game makes you feel like a high-powered CEO overseeing a vast and interconnected empire.

Simplified, less complex than predecessors: Many reviewers express disappointment with the game's simplified mechanics compared to previous Anno titles. This includes combat, resource management, trade routes, map generation, and overall complexity, leading to a less engaging and replayable experience. The game is seen as catering to a more casual audience, sacrificing depth for accessibility.

Online functionality broken/unreliable: Several reviewers report issues with online functionality, including server disconnections, broken multiplayer, and problems with Ubisoft Connect. These issues can render the game unplayable or prevent access to certain features, significantly impacting the player experience. These issues appear to be long-standing and unresolved.

Lacks map variety/random generation: The game lacks map variety, with pre-made maps used for each playthrough. This limits replayability and creative expression, as players encounter the same scenarios and building locations repeatedly. The absence of random map generation is a significant drawback for many reviewers.

Limited game modes/no multiplayer: The game is criticized for its limited game modes, primarily offering only a campaign. The absence of multiplayer, skirmish modes, and sandbox options reduces replayability and player engagement. This lack of variety is a significant disappointment for fans of the series.

Awkward controls, poor UI: Some reviewers mention awkward controls, a poorly designed user interface, and unplayable camera/scroll speeds. These issues detract from the overall gameplay experience and make the game less enjoyable to play.

City-building, resource management, expansion: The core gameplay loop revolves around city building, resource management, and expanding across multiple sectors (Temperate, Arctic, Lunar) to increase income and sustain operations. Players manage production chains, trade routes, and population needs across these diverse environments, each with unique challenges and resource requirements. The focus is on macro-level management and achieving self-sufficiency across regions.

Module-based building upgrades: The game emphasizes upgrading existing buildings with modules and extensions to optimize production, workforce, and power consumption. Building placement is less critical, with public service buildings covering the entire map and bonuses being constant rather than radius-based. This system replaces optimizing layouts within limited building radiuses.

Sector-specific challenges and requirements: Each sector type presents unique challenges and requirements. Arctic regions require heating from production buildings for citizens, while Lunar regions need energy shields to protect against meteor strikes. Temperate regions primarily generate income to support operations in other sectors.

Special resources from repetitive missions: Special resources, needed for building upgrades and orbital stations, are obtained through repetitive combat missions and a mobile game add-on. Missions instantly provide required goods, eliminating the need for overcapacity.

Orbit DLC: space station, tech tree: The Orbit DLC adds a space station and a tech tree that significantly impacts production, offering a research tree to further enhance gameplay.

Inconsistent, demanding performance: The game's optimization is inconsistent. While some players report smooth performance even on high settings, others experience significant lag and FPS drops, especially in later stages or when building large cities. A decent PC is generally required, and performance may degrade over time.

Long loading times between regions: Loading times, especially when switching between regions, can be long and become tedious, particularly for players with slower computers or without SSDs. This issue becomes more pronounced as the player progresses and manages multiple sectors.

Soundtrack not to everyone's taste: The game features good and immersive sound effects. However, the soundtrack is described as lullaby-like, which has led some players to prefer listening to their own music instead.

Improved visual details: The game's visual details are considered fine, with sharpness exceeding that of Anno 2070. This suggests an improvement in visual fidelity compared to the previous installment.

Low FPS affects responsiveness: At lower frame rates (around 25 FPS), players may experience missed clicks and difficulty with zooming. This suggests that the game's responsiveness can be affected by performance issues.

Wait for sale/discount advised: Many reviewers suggest waiting for a sale or discount before purchasing Anno 2205, citing concerns about its price-to-content ratio. Some feel the game isn't worth its full price due to limited replay value or missing features. A few even recommend alternative methods of playing, such as cracked versions, highlighting dissatisfaction with the game's value proposition.

Good entry point for newcomers: Anno 2205 is often recommended as a good entry point for newcomers to the Anno series or city-building genre. Its accessibility, beautiful graphics, and relaxing gameplay make it suitable for casual players. However, some reviewers caution that it may not fully represent the depth and complexity of the franchise.

Anno 1800 is better alternative: Anno 1800 is frequently mentioned as a superior alternative to Anno 2205, offering more content and a better overall experience. Some reviewers explicitly recommend skipping Anno 2205 and purchasing Anno 1800 instead. This comparison highlights the perceived shortcomings of Anno 2205 relative to its successor.

Hopes for future improvements: Some reviewers express hope for future improvements through updates, DLCs, or sequels. They believe that addressing issues like the combat system, ship building, and multiplayer could enhance the game's value. However, others are less optimistic, suggesting that future content may not be enough to redeem the game's shortcomings.

Game is a failure: Several reviewers express strong dissatisfaction with Anno 2205, citing broken features, lack of replay value, and a general lack of polish. Some consider the game a failure and advise against purchasing it, even at a discount. This negative sentiment appears to stem from unmet expectations and perceived shortcomings in gameplay and design.

Shift to time/money management: The game shifts focus towards time and money management, diverging from traditional strategy elements. Some assets are recycled, and the game's changes may initially face resistance but could find success as players adapt.

Requires custom language patches: Players are using custom language patches, requiring specific installation steps. This indicates the game may not natively support certain languages or that players prefer alternative translations.

Lacks multiplayer, NPC competition: The game notably lacks a multiplayer mode and any competing NPCs for island control. This absence may affect the strategic depth and player interaction compared to previous Anno titles, potentially impacting long-term engagement.

Long completion time: The game is expected to take around 100 hours to complete. This suggests a significant time investment for players aiming for full completion.

World market functioning properly: The reviewer specifically notes that the world market functioned properly during their playthrough, contradicting negative claims from other reviews. This suggests that issues with the world market may be inconsistent or resolved.