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[Caesar III]

Reviews so far:

Gamestar - German magazine: 91%
PC Games - German magazine: 91%


Campaign contains 8 missions. Gamestar states the endless mode is great, he played like 100hours so far overall and 20 hours endless and he is not done with all the buildings and stuff yet.


After playing the demo I don't like the game even more. This is not more complex than the previous games There are more ressources and buildings, yes, but complexity is not only more but the connection between all of those.

The game is, again, so much more easier than the already too easy 1701

 

[Zinthar]

Reviews so far:

Gamestar - German magazine: 91%
PC Games - German magazine: 91%


Campaign contains 8 missions. Gamestar states the endless mode is great, he played like 100hours so far overall and 20 hours endless and he is not done with all the buildings and stuff yet.


After playing the demo I don't like the game even more. This is not more complex than the previous games There are more ressources and buildings, yes, but complexity is not only more but the connection between all of those.

The game is, again, so much more easier than the already too easy 1701

So do you prefer Anno 1701 still over Anno 1404 from what you've played of the demo?

I bought Anno 1701 on Steam for $26 a few weeks ago and haven't really put much time into it, but have been looking for a great city building sim/economic strategy game. SimCity 4 could fill the former (except it relies too strongly on having a bunch of mods), but its strategy elements are weak, at best.

 

[Zzoram]

Would you say Anno 1404 works well for newcomers to the series then, since it's easier than the previous games?

What if I have some experience with Sim City and Civilization 4, will this game be appropriate for me?

 

[Wollan]

I completed the Wii version earlier today.
Play time (story mode) was 13hours 40min on Easy.

Earlier impressions:

+ Interface and controls are *perfect*.
There's a lot of visual feedback in the HUD elements, animating icons, logical button art..etc.
Dragging some bars is a bit too sensitive with the pointer (we're talking one pixel affecting a ton +/- in wares) but you can use the - and + buttons for fine adjustment.
You speedily shift between different islands, pop down buildings, sell stuff, explore without giving a thought about the controls. It's a lot of fun.
+ Graphics is definitely in the upper echelon Wii wise.
Never a dip in the framerate, everything is colorful and animates comparably to any Maxis (Sims/Spore) game.
+ Most surprising quality is probably the voicework and sound. The 'story' itself so far is basic (disguised tutorial if you will. Though I have only finished 2 of 9 or so chapters) but the characters themselves are well acted and there is some witty commentary. The art is well done, everyone in realistic proportions but with cartoony appearances (they animate and talk in small windows most of the time). Between chapters and sub goals within chapters there's fmw cutscenes in still-drawn images.
- I actually encountered a game breaking bug on chapter 2. You are supposed to pick up a treasure and I did this really quickly and delivered it but at the same time some other sub objective happened. After dealing with that, it went back to asking me to find the treasure again but having already collected it there was nothing I could do. Reverted back to a older save within the same chapter (you can save at any time).

My expectations were definitely met after having read all the reviews and whatched a good amount of videos. It's very polished design.

Can add that the quality was upheld throughout the game (that one bug was also the only bug).
I wish the beach head attack mode was slightly refined (you will have to move units from your boats to the beach head and then further outwards to the attack points, I wish the nearby boats automatically moved the units to the beach head as this would keep the flow of attack a bit better. Nitpick though).
There's definitely room for expansion in future console offerings (which shouldn't hamper controls). Advancement within trade deals, more complex tech three and Online Multiplayer which is the obvious one.
I think they hit the bullseye with what they have here, great execution. Everything flows beautifully. More fun than I've had with any other console management/strategy game in recent years. Two thumbs up.

 

[Deku]

I completed the Wii version earlier today.
Play time (story mode) was 13hours 40min on Easy.

Earlier impressions:

Can add that the quality was upheld throughout the game (that one bug was also the only bug).
I wish the beach head attack mode was slightly refined (you will have to move units from your boats to the beach head and then further outwards to the attack points, I wish the nearby boats automatically moved the units to the beach head as this would keep the flow of attack a bit better. Nitpick though).
There's definitely room for expansion in future console offerings (which shouldn't hamper controls). Advancement within trade deals, more complex tech three and Online Multiplayer which is the obvious one.
I think they hit the bullseye with what they have here, great execution. Everything flows beautifully. More fun than I've had with any other console management/strategy game in recent years. Two thumbs up.

Good to hear. Getting this next week, along with the DS version.

 

[Caesar III]

So do you prefer Anno 1701 still over Anno 1404 from what you've played of the demo?

I bought Anno 1701 on Steam for $26 a few weeks ago and haven't really put much time into it, but have been looking for a great city building sim/economic strategy game. SimCity 4 could fill the former (except it relies too strongly on having a bunch of mods), but its strategy elements are weak, at best.

I prefer 1701 over 1404 yes. But I even prefer 1602 and 1503 over 1701 1701 is not a bad game but I think they made too many things too easy. You cannot adjust the selling and buying prices for example. You cannot place corn fields and so on.
Nearly every possibility to build up a great looking town is gone.

But I don't want to judge this for you, you have to play it for yourself to decide if this game is good for you. The old Anno's were too much for non-Germans like its stated all the time and so this could be the perfect fit now.

If you bought 1701 recently you can play a really long while till there is a weekend deal on 1404 in a few months


Anno Wii is the better game this time imho. It's easier as well but it's on your TV and playable from your confy couch so I don't mind it there. It perfectly fits here as well. The story is great, the depth is great. It feels great. Such a lovely game.

 

[Zzoram]

I prefer 1701 over 1404 yes. But I even prefer 1602 and 1503 over 1701 1701 is not a bad game but I think they made too many things too easy. You cannot adjust the selling and buying prices for example. You cannot place corn fields and so on.
Nearly every possibility to build up a great looking town is gone.

But I don't want to judge this for you, you have to play it for yourself to decide if this game is good for you. The old Anno's were too much for non-Germans like its stated all the time and so this could be the perfect fit now.

If you bought 1701 recently you can play a really long while till there is a weekend deal on 1404 in a few months


Anno Wii is the better game this time imho. It's easier as well but it's on your TV and playable from your confy couch so I don't mind it there. It perfectly fits here as well. The story is great, the depth is great. It feels great. Such a lovely game.

Are the stories different?

 

[Caesar III]

I think so. I haven't played 1404 Full so far. In the demo you can only play the first two missions tutorial out of eight.

But the setting is the same. In both games you have to befriend with the orient and the ressources are similar as well. You don't have that much of them in the Wii version though. There are like 60 ressources in the PC version and like 20 in the Wii version.

But there is not that big connection between the western world and the orient on the Wii.

On Wii I'm on mission 6 out of 9 atm and it really gets complicated. In a positive way!

 

[Zzoram]

I think so. I haven't played 1404 Full so far. In the demo you can only play the first two missions tutorial out of eight.

But the setting is the same. In both games you have to befriend with the orient and the ressources are similar as well. You don't have that much of them in the Wii version though. There are like 60 ressources in the PC version and like 20 in the Wii version.

But there is not that big connection between the western world and the orient on the Wii.

On Wii I'm on mission 6 out of 9 atm and it really gets complicated. In a positive way!

How does multiplayer work on Wii?

 

[Caesar III]

There is none. It's not really a multiplayer mode but a help me out mode. A second player can place little trees, make your ship go faster, cure illnesses, fight fire and rats and point you interesting things.

But there is no multiplayer on PC as well.

 

[Zzoram]

There is none. It's not really a multiplayer mode but a help me out mode. A second player can place little trees, make your ship go faster, cure illnesses, fight fire and rats and point you interesting things.

But there is no multiplayer on PC as well.

I don't mind that, I never played Civilization 4 online (although I did LAN a few times).

How long does a level take on PC? How long can Endless mode go and still be fun? Is it fun to just play Endless every now and then as a standalone experience?

 

[onipex]

Have spent 2 hours now with the Wii game.
My impressions so far:

+ Interface and controls are *perfect*.
There's a lot of visual feedback in the HUD elements, animating icons, logical button art..etc.
Dragging some bars is a bit too sensitive with the pointer (we're talking one pixel affecting a ton +/- in wares) but you can use the - and + buttons for fine adjustment.
You speedily shift between different islands, pop down buildings, sell stuff, explore without giving a thought about the controls. It's a lot of fun.
+ Graphics is definitely in the upper echelon Wii wise.
Never a dip in the framerate, everything is colorful and animates comparably to any Maxis (Sims/Spore) game.
+ Most surprising quality is probably the voicework and sound. The 'story' itself so far is basic (disguised tutorial if you will. Though I have only finished 2 of 9 or so chapters) but the characters themselves are well acted and there is some witty commentary. The art is well done, everyone in realistic proportions but with cartoony appearances (they animate and talk in small windows most of the time). Between chapters and sub goals within chapters there's fmw cutscenes in still-drawn images.
- I actually encountered a game breaking bug on chapter 2. You are supposed to pick up a treasure and I did this really quickly and delivered it but at the same time some other sub objective happened. After dealing with that, it went back to asking me to find the treasure again but having already collected it there was nothing I could do. Reverted back to a older save within the same chapter (you can save at any time).

My expectations were definitely met after having read all the reviews and whatched a good amount of videos. It's very polished design.

Thanks. Sounds good.

 

[Zinthar]

So the Wii version is as deep as the PC version? If so, I might have to grab a copy of that version...

 

[Spire]

Would you say Anno 1404 works well for newcomers to the series then, since it's easier than the previous games?

What if I have some experience with Sim City and Civilization 4, will this game be appropriate for me?

Yeah, it has a pretty small learning curve. It's basically the beautiful love child of Sim City and Civ, it's real-time city and empire building with the historical atmosphere of the Civ games.

 

[~Kinggi~]

Well this sucks, i was hoping for something deeper than 1701. What exactly have they dumbed down from that game? If its the same exact gameplay mechanics with just more resources and buildings than thats a good thing i think.

 

[Caesar III]

So the Wii version is as deep as the PC version? If so, I might have to grab a copy of that version...

Depends on your definition of depth.
The production trees are short in both games.
On Wii you only have like 16 ressources and some of them are only one building. This is improved in the PC version but not as much as in the older games. Around 60 ressources here.
Corn is only one building on Wii and generates food directly. Therefore you need a mill and a bakery on pc as well.

Biggest difference between the two games is that you don't need trading routes on Wii because all your storage on all islands counts together. So if you produce spice on island 1 it's instantly avaiable on island 2 without a need for shipping it there.

And on PC you have to manage the western world and the oriental world. So you have to create an oriental city as well and this city needs western stuff and the western stuff needs oriental stuff. There is some kind of cross dependency if you want to call it like that.

How long does a level take on PC? How long can Endless mode go and still be fun? Is it fun to just play Endless every now and then as a standalone experience?

dunno, like I said I can only speak based on the Demo you can check out as well and all I know from being an Anno fan
Gamestar says after 20 hours endless mode you've not achieved all possible things. So this depends on your own goal and what's fun to you.

You can do a lot of sidequest all the time. Produce ressource xy, collect this and that, trade with someone, reach a specific location with a ship or on land. This was in 1701 as well but now it's much more improved. There is near to no "I don't know what to do" moment throughout the game. But all of those are optional.

Like I said I'm mission 6 out of 9 on Wii and I'm 15hours in the game. I think the PC game can top this by a factor of 2, so if you are an average player you can leave around 30 hours on those 8 missions. The first 2 are only some kind of tutorial. (A sucking one because you have to do that and do that and this ...) But play the demo, first 2 missions are included here

Well this sucks, i was hoping for something deeper than 1701.

It is deeper on the one hand and not deeper on the other hand. I cannot explain exactly, let me try to.

- more ressources
- more buildings
- a lot more to do between building something
- monumental buildings - those need a lot of time and ressources to build them
- really great habour system where you can build up your own custom habour
- bigger islands
- more islands
- orient and western world dependend on each other
- you can place the fields again now
- you can set buy and sell prices again
- improved upgrade system for your villagers - it's not possible to upgrade all of them now

What exactly have they dumbed down from that game?

- you can only build one stone cutter per stone mine.
- there are no endless mines - if they get empty you can pay to fill them again
- the moment you are near an island you know all of its ressources AND the amount of them
- its the same old raster layout of the buildings even after showing it is possible to rotate them in trailers and screenshots. Even some native folks have rotated buildings
- the self placed fields (see above) are bound to the building you placed them (you can place 4 of them per farm but there is room for like 7, so if you build those 7, another farm next to this one cannot use those 3 because they do not belong to them. So there is no field sharing any more)
- You gain A LOT too much money - 18 buildings are enough to have a self running village which creates overage and has a balance of +100 :lol (with chapel and fisher

That's all I can think of at the moment and which are real downers to me!

If its the same exact gameplay mechanics with just more resources and buildings than thats a good thing i think.

decide by yourself by reading through my points or ask specifically or play the demo yourself

In my opinion the game is a lot more easier (from what I've seen) - They say it will be a lot more challenging in the end but I don't think it's that huge.

I think it is compareable to the settlers series. If you liked the step from settlers 3 and settlers 4 to settlers 6, then this could be a game for you.
I don't like settlers 6 as well because it's some kind of a playable screensaver

A lot of text again, sorry, but I'm really sad and want to help you to decide. But I don't want to prevent you from buying this game, especially because they made it like they did to attract more of the not so hardcore eco guys

Any more questions, ask

 

[Doytch]

Good writeup. I like the demo, but I'll probably wait for a sale, and that's assuming no 3rd-party DRM on the Steam version. Got enough stuff on my plate for a while and no need to spend full price.

- its the same old raster layout of the buildings even after showing it is possible to rotate them in trailers and screenshots. Even some native folks have rotated buildings

I don't understand what you mean by this. I could rotate my buildings in the demo...

- the self placed fields (see above) are bound to the building you placed them (you can place 4 of them per farm but there is room for like 7, so if you build those 7, another farm next to this one cannot use those 3 because they do not belong to them. So there is no field sharing any more)

This was a bummer. You can't completely tile a section of land with useful fields, it's basically a money dump to make it look nice.

 

[Sykra]

the self placed fields (see above) are bound to the building you placed them (you can place 4 of them per farm but there is room for like 7, so if you build those 7, another farm next to this one cannot use those 3 because they do not belong to them. So there is no field sharing any more)

Can you maybe make the farms closer to each other? If you select the other farm to build the other fields.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

the ANNO 1404 (DAWN OF DISCOVERY) official thread

i thought this was about japanese game developers when they are giving interviews:

"anooooooooo...."

 

[~Kinggi~]

It is deeper on the one hand and not deeper on the other hand. I cannot explain exactly, let me try to.

- more ressources
- more buildings
- a lot more to do between building something
- monumental buildings - those need a lot of time and ressources to build them
- really great habour system where you can build up your own custom habour
- bigger islands
- more islands
- orient and western world dependend on each other
- you can place the fields again now
- you can set buy and sell prices again
- improved upgrade system for your villagers - it's not possible to upgrade all of them now


- you can only build one stone cutter per stone mine.
- there are no endless mines - if they get empty you can pay to fill them again
- the moment you are near an island you know all of its ressources AND the amount of them
- its the same old raster layout of the buildings even after showing it is possible to rotate them in trailers and screenshots. Even some native folks have rotated buildings
- the self placed fields (see above) are bound to the building you placed them (you can place 4 of them per farm but there is room for like 7, so if you build those 7, another farm next to this one cannot use those 3 because they do not belong to them. So there is no field sharing any more)
- You gain A LOT too much money - 18 buildings are enough to have a self running village which creates overage and has a balance of +100 :lol (with chapel and fisher

That's all I can think of at the moment and which are real downers to me!

Well that doesnt sound to bad to me. Im gonna get it now. Thanks a lot for your detailed response.

 

[Zzoram]

How deep is the trading and diplomacy system? Are there different difficulty levels for Endless mode? I'm a bit concerned about your comment that it's really easy to earn money.

 

[Caesar III]

I don't understand what you mean by this. I could rotate my buildings in the demo...

yeah, but only in 90 degrees steps. If you look closely they use free rotating on those preset islands and they used it in trailers and screenshots earlier as well. This would be soo great.
click and click

This was a bummer. You can't completely tile a section of land with useful fields, it's basically a money dump to make it look nice.

Yeah. I liked how you could place single tiles of fields in the first 2 games. All the possibilites are gone I sometimes placed a single house at the shore with a few single fields just to look really nice. This wasn't possible in 1701 and it is not in this one as well.

The missing field sharing is a real big downer to me as well, because it makes no sense to bind them to only one building. Why not place fields separately? This would be cool as well and it was possible

Can you maybe make the farms closer to each other? If you select the other farm to build the other fields.

yeah, that's possible, but that's just not logical. And it sucks to place 4 fields and have to think about how and where you have to place the others with the other building. A global field placing would make so much sense.

How deep is the trading and diplomacy system?

I'ts kinda similar to 1701 with some improvements. I cannot go into detail here because I haven't used it so far. Have to check how much of this is in the demo

What I know is that you can set the sell and buy prices again now. So you can buy tools at 150$ per piece if you really need them badly or you can sell wood for 3$ each if you want to get rid of them No auto pricing here

Are there different difficulty levels for Endless mode?

Yep, you can adjust the endless mode like you could before. Namely
- increase/decrease taxes
- increase number of islands
- increase size of islands
- add AI
- and so on

on the bottom there is a status bar which shows how hard your game seems to be with all your settings like they are at that very moment.

I'm a bit concerned about your comment that it's really easy to earn money.

That is the biggest downer for me to be honest.
In the old games you always struggled between making money and get your guys happy. This was an alltime up and down and for me it was a lot of fun to adjust and optimize this and that.

Now you can build up an island with chapel, market, fisher, 2 wood cutters and 18 houses to have a +100 balance. You do this on 5 islands right after starting the game and you get a +500 balance after about 10 minutes :lol You can then even sell stuff because you have some overage.
To get such a good balance in 1701 you need around 60 houses. They need more food and all.

I cannot say if this changes later in the game that much because the demo only allows to go up to tier 3 and it wasn't that challenging here.


After all I would state that the game is more complex than 1701 but in another way.

For me complexity can be divided in horizontal and vertical complexity. Horizontal means "number of things to think about" and vertical means "connection and dependency of things to each other including long production chains with several ressources for example"

The old Anno games had some kind of a cubed complexity imho. 1701 was more rectangular and 1404 is really near to a horizontal line here. Lets try

old Anno games:
#######
#######
#######
#######
#######
#######
#######

1701:
###########
###########
###########
###########

1404:
#################################
#################################

I hope you get my point :lol


Like I said before the game sure is great for the American audience because its all crystal clear and stuff but for the old German strategy gamers this is a real downgrade again.
Anno and Settlers were so great some time ago

 

[Zzoram]

The perils of mass marketing.

Still seems like a good game.

 

[Ikuu]

Maybe things get more complex and involved later on? Anyway, never played an Anno game before and enjoyed the demo, prob wait for it to go on sale (Fight Night 4 is out this week, and SF4 the next).

 

[Zinthar]

Perhaps, like many PC strategy games, this one is going to need a few patches to get the balance right. If so, hopefully they'll come quickly after feedback from their core audience.

An economic sim where you don't have to make any difficult choices is, well, not much of an economic sim. I wasn't expecting Railroad Tycoon III level complexity here, but it sounds easy enough that I could jump in without knowing anything and instantly be successful.

For now, I think I'll continue with my current backlog of games and maybe continue playing Anno 1701.

 

[Doytch]

ALL VERSIONS OF THE GAME WILL HAVE THE DRM

I emailed Ubi/Related Designs/Valve, asking if they knew about the DRM in the Steam version.

Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Jason) - 06/22/2009 01:06 PM
Mark,

All versions of this game will include the Tages copy protection system.

Customer (Mark) - 06/19/2009 09:00 PM
Hi, I was really excited for Dawn of Discovery, but the horrible DRM in the retail package means I'll be skipping out on that version. Will the Steam version announced today be using TAGES copy protection, or only Steam's built-in DRM?

Skipping it. Unbelievably stupid.

Seriously this really bums me out. I did enjoy the demo, even though I understand why series vets might not (believe you me, I've been there). But I really can't support this kind of bullshit DRM. I'll probably end up just getting 1701 when I'm jonesing for a fix. The DS version of 1701 is what turned me onto the series.

 

[Zzoram]

Ugh, skipping it as well. I'll just rent the Wii version.

 

[Won]

Just stupid. Demo looked sooo great too. :/

 

[Ikuu]

Meh, don't care to be honest, bigger things in life to worry about than some DRM. Surely you can just bypass it with a cracked exe anyway.

 

[Morbid Angel]

So much fail. Oh well, I'll just wait for Tropico.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

people dont support a good game because of one bullshit feature? i still dont get the complaints anyways.. go and give a 1-star amazon rating to a great game because you cant install it more than twice? ugh.

im picking up the wii and pc version regardless.

 

[jett]

This DRM bullshit is so fucking stupid. All games get pirated eventually, the only people getting fucked over are the legit customers

 

[Deacan]

people dont support a good game because of one bullshit feature? i still dont get the complaints anyways.. go and give a 1-star amazon rating to a great game because you cant install it more than twice? ugh.

im picking up the wii and pc version regardless.

Because us legit customers dont like being treated like thieves, the people that pirate the game wont have to worry about the DRM, yet us ligit buyers get stuck with a 3 activation limit on installs or hardware changes, and the only way to get our installs back is to phone them up, its complete bs.

The DRM will cost them more sales than it will earn them.

 

[Doytch]

people dont support a good game because of one bullshit feature? i still dont get the complaints anyways.. go and give a 1-star amazon rating to a great game because you cant install it more than twice? ugh.

im picking up the wii and pc version regardless.

I've got a laptop and I'm building a new box to replace my current one in the winter. And I upgrade "critical hardware" often enough that I don't want to call up some rep so I can play my game. While I am a supporter of free software, I don't mind DRM if it stays out of my way (disc checks) or benefits me in some way (Steam). I just don't want to support a publisher who thinks this is the best way to do business, especially when they're still feeling things out themselves (see Prince of Persia's lack of DRM) and could still be taking the temperature of the situation.

I'm not gonna go on Amazon or on their forums and bitch and moan and swear at the devs, but I don't see why I should support something I don't agree with. Besides, it's not like there's some dearth of games coming out or something.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Because us legit customers dont like being treated like thieves, the people that pirate the game wont have to worry about the DRM, yet us ligit buyers get stuck with a 3 activation limit on installs or hardware changes, and the only way to get our installs back is to phone them up, its complete bs.

The DRM will cost them more sales than it will earn them.

im just saying.. a lot of people bitch and moan about DRM yet would have pirated the game anyways. big whoop. yes, DRM is stupid as fuck. but is it really the difference maker between a guaranteed buy of a great game and a guaranteed forget?

how is it that DRM games get completely shit on even though they are great games yet downloadable content or games (the way of the future) can be taken away from you at a moment's notice yet no complaints there.

 

[Zzoram]

im just saying.. a lot of people bitch and moan about DRM yet would have pirated the game anyways. big whoop. yes, DRM is stupid as fuck. but is it really the difference maker between a guaranteed buy of a great game and a guaranteed forget?

how is it that DRM games get completely shit on even though they are great games yet downloadable content or games (the way of the future) can be taken away from you at a moment's notice yet no complaints there.

In this game, where my interest isn't exactly solid, something like Tages can sway me towards a "wait until they remove it". It's not like I must have this game right now. I've got plenty of other games to play.

 

[Doytch]

im just saying.. a lot of people bitch and moan about DRM yet would have pirated the game anyways. big whoop. yes, DRM is stupid as fuck. but is it really the difference maker between a guaranteed buy of a great game and a guaranteed forget?

how is it that DRM games get completely shit on even though they are great games yet downloadable content or games (the way of the future) can be taken away from you at a moment's notice yet no complaints there.

Well, I wouldn't have pirated it...sooo.

On the second point, I don't really buy much DLC to begin with. I got Lost and Damned, which was a $20, 10 hr experience that I don't plan on going back to. Beyond that, I have some XBLA games but I haven't gotten one in a while.

But I do get DD PC games, from Steam mostly. Steam isn't going anywhere, and the promise of an unlock code in escrow for a doomsday scenario is enough for me. And like I said, I like not having the disc in the tray, and being able to download/install/play on any system without making sure I have my disc at that point. Simplifies things for me. So I sort of disagree with you when you say that it can be taken away at a moment's notice. I suppose technically it could, if I started doing chargebacks on Valve, but for all intents and purposes, I think I'm fairly safe.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Well, I wouldn't have pirated it...sooo.

On the second point, I don't really buy much DLC to begin with. I got Lost and Damned, which was a $20, 10 hr experience that I don't plan on going back to. Beyond that, I have some XBLA games but I haven't gotten one in a while.

But I do get DD PC games, from Steam mostly. Steam isn't going anywhere, and the promise of an unlock code in escrow for a doomsday scenario is enough for me. And like I said, I like not having the disc in the tray, and being able to download/install/play on any system without making sure I have my disc at that point. Simplifies things for me. So I sort of disagree with you when you say that it can be taken away at a moment's notice. I suppose technically it could, if I started doing chargebacks on Valve, but for all intents and purposes, I think I'm fairly safe.

i dont think any of you complaining would pirate but i know a lot of people who do, would.
i agree that if its on steam there really is no need whatsoever for drm.

 

[Zzoram]

i dont think any of you complaining would pirate but i know a lot of people who do, would.
i agree that if its on steam there really is no need whatsoever for drm.

That's the crux of the issue. I don't understand why publishers feel they need to tack on extra layers of unnecessary DRM, at greater cost to themselves.

 

[Wollan]

I had (and continue to have) a great time with the Wii version. Definitely in the top three on the platform for me and easily the most pleasing console strategy game I've had for a long while.
While the PC drm fiasco stinks I suggest maybe trying the more focused console outing. It has my recommendation.

 

[Xater]

I had (and continue to have) a great time with the Wii version. Definitely in the top three on the platform for me and easily the most pleasing console strategy game I've had for a long while.
While the PC drm fiasco stinks I suggest maybe trying the more focused console outing. It has my recommendation.

Same recommendation again for the DS version if you don't have a Wii.

 

[CabbageRed]

Ubisoft's choices for Anon's DRM are incredibly disappointing. I'm still no used to this stange new world where EA is the good guy but I wish Ubisoft start following their example and quit swatting away my money.

 

[Citizen K]

playing this demo now, where the hell is this drunken master tradesman or whatever, an early objective in campaign level 1.

 

[furrygiblets]

Sigh...

3rd-party DRM: TAGES™
3 machine activation limit

I'm also confused on the PC multiplayer situation. Some sources are saying it doesn't have it, some are saying it does. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Zachack]

im just saying.. a lot of people bitch and moan about DRM yet would have pirated the game anyways. big whoop. yes, DRM is stupid as fuck. but is it really the difference maker between a guaranteed buy of a great game and a guaranteed forget?

For me, yes because:

how is it that DRM games get completely shit on even though they are great games

the main issue is when they start installing stuff on my system that likely won't uninstall without some ridiculous workaround.

yet downloadable content or games (the way of the future) can be taken away from you at a moment's notice yet no complaints there.

Because this hasn't happened yet outside of Xbox XBLA games not transferring to X360 XBLA. You can dream up nightmare scenarios regarding DD (none of which seem to have happened yet although I'm curious about that Sierra Gametap thing) but until that happens it's a worthless attempt to brush aside criticism of "bad" DRM.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

picked up the Wii version here in Toronto
- box art isnt as obnoxiously vaporware looking as whats online.
will post impressions later tonight.

 

[Luthair]

God the DRM makes me freaken all bent outta shape >.< But I really want the freaken game.

 

[Caesar III]

I'm also confused on the PC multiplayer situation. Some sources are saying it doesn't have it, some are saying it does. Can anyone confirm this?

There is no Multiplayer included! They promised it is #1 to do for the (first?) addon but it's not in the Main Game and it will not be patched in later on.

I'll wait for a Gold Edition with Addon respectivly Multiplayer Mode included for like 40€.

I'm not going to trust them again this time. I did with Anno 1503 and there never was a Multiplayer patch or addon

 

[CabbageRed]

God the DRM makes me freaken all bent outta shape >.< But I really want the freaken game.

I'm still a bit amazed that they included it with the Steam release. It sucks to see it right there just begging to be played, only to have "3rd-party DRM: TAGES 3 machine activation limit " slapped next to it.

 

[maniac-kun]

how come they put this stupid drm shit on highly anticipated games and scare off A LOT of customers who love the game but dont want such bullshit... people who just download the game illegaly get the supperiour product. (like they fucked up spore with it)