Graphics

One thing that is always grand about Anno games is the same thing I love about Settlers; it’s the little attention to details that appears throughout the graphical style. Anno 2070 is a gorgeous looking game on full details and runs in a silky smooth manner. The futuristic leanings of the game’s visuals are perfectly represented within both factions, with the Eco faction looking to curves and aesthetics and the Tycoons having a far more oppressive feel to their architecture.

The graphics themselves are excellent, the use of lighting and shadow, the use of special effects all feeds into the overall aesthetic of the game and creates a really solid set of visuals.

Animation

Once again the little details win out; Anno 2070 is packed with animations from top to bottom. The game brims with life and atmosphere from the smallest bird flying over the islands to the largest building and the people who live in it.

Physics

There’s a decent level of physics going on here, things blow up nicely, and there are some great wave effects on the water and so on.

AI

The diplomatic AI, the aggressive AI and the path-finding AI are all well designed and there don’t seem to be too many problems with them. There are a few issues in the campaign now and then as certain areas are bottlenecks when you have a few more ships than normal. It’s a standard kind of thing in these kinds of games, so we can forgive it.

Sound

The sound design for the game is solid; there are no issues here at all. The various in-game sounds are all played with no errors and there are no glitches in any of the audio.

Music

The music is a great addition to Anno 2070. Each faction has its own thematic set of pieces that really brings them to life. The Ecos are far friendlier than the oppressive musical soundtracks of the Tycoons. This is perfectly created in the game’s music and used to great effect in-game. Each event brings a new tune and there are some excellent pieces that have been created by the game’s composer: Tilman Sillescu.

Voice

The voice work is decent enough, there are a few performances that could have been better, and overall though – it works for us.

Dialogue

The script is a bit clunky in places, but we’ve come to expect this from Anno overall. However again there are no major problems and faux-pas. So it does what it sets out to do.

Multiplayer

Anno 2070 has a robust system, plenty of stats tracking, versus mode, cooperative mode and so on. You can set up the kind of game you want to play then invite some friends to help you manage the world of tomorrow, today (Ed. Futurama!) keeping pesky pirates, greedy corporations and other problems off your collective backs. Or you can play the odds and break agreements and side with AI players and so on. It’s up to you. The multiplayer is fun, lag free for the most part and addictive.

Future Fun

Anno 2070 is a good step forwards for the series, it adds a nice new layer of gameplay to the already tried and tested formula, the new setting is excellent and the environmental side of the game works well and plays directly into the theme. If you love the Anno series or you’re looking to get into it, then start with 2070. It’s a good one.