Anno 2070
| Anno 2070 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio |
Related Designs Blue Byte |
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| Publisher | Ubisoft | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
  November 17, 2011 |
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| platform | Microsoft Windows | ||
| genre | Building strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | DVD , digital distribution | ||
| language | German , English | ||
| Current version | 2.00.7792 | ||
| copy protection | Tagès , product activation, account binding, permanent internet connection for complete game content. | ||
| Age rating |
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Anno 2070 is the fifth part of the Anno game series and the successor to Anno 1404 . The game was developed by the German studios Related Designs and Blue Byte and published by the French company Ubisoft .
In Anno 2070 , as in the previous series, players try to explore and colonize previously undeveloped areas. The player's goal is to build a metropolis. To supply these, it is necessary to build up a stable cycle of goods. Unlike its predecessors, Anno 2070 is set in the near future. This brings with it some new play elements such as building an energy supply or environmental disasters.
Background story
Anno 2070 is set in the near future. A continuously rising sea level and ruthless exploitation of the planet brought mankind to global change. Countless coastlines were flooded, cities sank into the sea and social and state structures lost their importance. The last remaining resources are fought over in hard conflicts. But thanks to new technologies, the future offers new opportunities. Previously barren tracts of land are now fertile, there are new methods of developing raw material deposits, and abandoned sectors are waiting to be repopulated.
Gameplay
The actual gameplay is similar to that of its predecessors: As a player, you are still exploring and settling foreign islands, building complex economic cycles, maintaining diplomatic relations and looking after your people. This is divided into different layers; if the needs of an ethnic group are fully met, it advances to the next level. In this there are more needs, so the game becomes more complex the higher the population level increases.
Once you have reached the highest population level, you can start building the monument. These are large, multi-phase construction projects that bring various advantages to the player when they are completed. For the tycoons this is the corporate headquarters, for the ecos the parliament and for the techs (only with the add-on “Die Tiefsee”) the science forum.
Raw materials that are needed to produce the goods the people need cannot necessarily be mined on one island at a time. In places the island does not have the required fertility, so that you either have to look for another island or acquire special seeds from fellow players that guarantee certain fertility on islands.
If you have a certain product in excess, you can sell it to other players for the currency of the game, credits. This increases the sphere of influence with other players, which affects the diplomatic part of the game. The diplomacy in the game has changed little compared to Anno 1404 ; so you can request missions from fellow players, which give up the player as a goal, for example, to fish a certain amount of floating debris from the sea. Once such an order has been completed, you receive influence points from the relevant NPC , which guarantee special bonuses. You can also ask for monetary donations or, in the event of a war against a tribute, for a ceasefire. All of these actions have a cooldown, so you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can start a certain action again.
The war against other players is not a central element of the game in Anno 2070 ; rather, the game focuses on trading goods. Nevertheless, the combat system has been changed significantly compared to its predecessors. Fighting now takes place mainly at sea, only a few diverse flight units can penetrate into the interior of the islands. However, weapons such as bombers or long-range missiles that are able to damage or destroy several buildings or units at the same time were added for the first time. However, these weapons are only available in the advanced game and require a lot of resources.
Ark element
For the first time, the game includes an in- game depot known as the Ark . This enables the storage of resources and the use and storage of artifacts. When activated ( sockets ), these so-called items provide building, construction and ecosystem modifications that are extensive in the game world.
In addition, online synchronization of the ark with the player's Ubisoft account enables these goods and items to be exchanged between different games and saved games.
One of the main points of criticism is therefore also directed towards the unavailability of the Ark in offline mode, which means that essential game content and modifications are omitted.
Game content
At the beginning there are two playable factions, between which you have to decide at the beginning of the game: the "Ecos" (Eden Initiative) and the "Tycoons" (Global Trust). While the "Ecos" use regenerative natural forces, the "Tycoons" rely on energy generation through heavy industry. For the first time, industry and pollution will affect the appearance of the islands as well as the population and agricultural production facilities. Later in the game it is also possible to colonize the seabed on special underwater plateaus with a third faction, the "Techs" (SAAT), and to mine new resources there. Another novel, complex branch of Anno 2070 is research. For the first time, items can be artificially created in academies and research laboratories. Sometimes artifacts are also found in sunken buildings, which can then be used to develop higher-quality technologies. Depending on the previously set game modes, it is possible in the earlier or later course of the game to unlock the buildings of a different faction. This makes it possible at an advanced stage to compensate for the pollution caused by the tycoons by building the eco-balance that improves the ecological balance. Conversely, the environmentally friendly, but often uneconomical buildings of the Ecos can be replaced by the more efficient and cost-effective factories of the tycoons.
In Anno 2070, the computer-generated players were also simplified. Instead of developing an artificial intelligence for other comrades-in-arms that builds up according to the same rules of the game as the real player, simple scripts are now used that completely ignore the rules of the game.
Fractions in detail
- Global Trust (Tycoons)
- Head: Skylar Banes. Chairman of the Board: Rufus Thorne. The Global Trust is an industrial consortium geared more towards profit than conservation. Global Trust is the world's largest energy supplier and employer. The workers or the “population” of this company are by and large looking for a comfortable and luxurious life, which is expressed in a demand for goods such as convenience food , champagne and jewelry . The population is to a certain extent immune to environmental pollution, but also to environmental improvements and less cooperative in the area of taxes. Since the economy of the factories of the tycoons results from environmentally harmful production methods, environmental pollution with this fraction is inevitable. On the other hand, tycoons have fewer energy problems than ecos due to coal-fired power plants. With the help of certain buildings, tycoons can offset the environmental impact, but not improve the environmental conditions. Special building materials for this group are concrete slabs and steel .
- Eden Initiative (Ecos)
- Head: Seamus Green. Chief Executive Officer: Yana Rodriguez. The Eden Initiative emerged from an alliance of various environmental organizations. Unlike the Global Trust, it is primarily designed to protect nature. The workers or the "population" are looking for a natural and environmentally friendly life, which manifests itself in the need for organic food, fruit drinks and communicators (a type of cell phone). The Ecos are very sensitive to environmental pollution, but they also have a higher tax reward if the environmental conditions are good. Since the Ecos factories are less economical than those of the tycoons, they have little or no negative impact on the environment. However, at the start of the game, the Ecos do not have very effective power plants available, which can lead to energy bottlenecks. With the help of certain buildings, ecos can offset the environmental impact and even improve the environmental conditions. Special building materials for this group are wood and glass .
There is a constant dispute between the Eden Initiative and the Global Trust, which is often fought at gunpoint. While the Eden Initiative denounces the Global Trust for its lack of environmental awareness, the Global Trust mainly reacts to the occupation and settlement of fertile and resource-rich areas. There is a world event specifically on this topic, the Nordamark Border Conflict, in which the player acts as an arbitrating medium.
- SAAT (Techs)
- Head: FATHER (A supercomputer). CEO: Dr. Salman Devi. The SAAT (Abbreviation for Scientific Academy for Advanced Technologies - Scientific Academy for Advanced Technologies) is a separate faction, as it has exclusively turned to science. The SAAT is the only one of the three parliamentary groups that cannot be elected at the beginning. But it is the first faction that can be acquired through credits. The population is made up of laboratory assistants, researchers and - with the expansion - geniuses and demands “student food” such as functional drinks (caffeine drink). The techs do not react as strongly to environmental influences as the ecos, but more strongly than the tycoons. The buildings of the techs influence the environment, but this behaves like the sensitivity of the techs to environmental pollution. The techs do not have any buildings to compensate for environmental pollution. The techs enable research into upgrades and the manufacture of aircraft and submarines. The latter are required to develop underwater plateaus. A special building material of this group is carbon .
Elections and world affairs
In a special online feature, players are able to take part in worldwide Senate and World Council elections. The player chooses from the respective representatives of the three parliamentary groups who try to convince the player with various election promises. At the end of the election, the faction with the most votes will begin implementing its promises, which will have a positive effect on the gaming experience. After a few days, elections will take place again and new election promises will be made. Participation in the elections is voluntary.
Senate elections
You can choose from Rufus Throne for Global Trust, Yana Rodriguez for the Eden Initiative and Prof. Dr. Salman Devi for the SAAT
Every player is entitled to vote. By voting, the candidate with the most votes wins. In addition, the player receives 50 career points with the respective, elected faction directly when voting.
World council elections
Each player can vote for either Skylar Banes (Global Trust), Seamus Green (Eden Initiative) or FATHER (SAAT). At the ark you can acquire the actions of the won faction in exchange for licenses, which you gain through orders and trade.
Skylar Banes
| action | Use | costs | Duration of action | Cool down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market power | Arrange for a delivery service to be sent to your office immediately. Set the desired merchandise in your office beforehand. | 50 licenses | - | 25:00 |
| Fleet maneuvers | Upgrades all ships in this sector.
Speed: + 25% Attack Strength: + 50% |
100 licenses | 45:00 | 01:00:00 |
| Industrial power | Upgrades all food and beverage manufacturing operations in this sector.
Productivity: + 50% |
200 licenses | 45:00 | 01:15:00 |
| Emissions trading | Improves the ecological balance on all islands in this sector.
Island-wide ecological balance: +300 |
400 licenses | 45:00 | 01:30:00 |
Seamus Green
| action | Use | costs | Duration of action | Cool down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigilance Week | Improves defense guns in this sector
Attack Strength: + 250% Attack Range: + 30% |
50 licenses | 05:00 | 30:00 |
| negotiation skills | Reduces the leverage needed to carry out diplomatic agreements. Required influence: −30 | 100 licenses | 20:00 | 50:00 |
| Intelligent power grids | Upgrades all production buildings in this sector
Energy consumption: −50% |
200 licenses | 45:00 | 1:30:00 |
| Creative power | Improves all construction material manufacturing operations in this sector
Productivity: + 50% |
400 licenses | 25:00 | 50:00 |
FATHER
| action | Use | costs | Duration of action | Cool down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License sale | Generates credits over a period of time
Credits generated: 5,000 |
50 licenses | 05:00 | - |
| Robotic workers | Upgrades all production buildings, all energy generating buildings in this sector
Maintenance costs: −25% |
100 licenses | 15:00 | 50:00 |
| Improved construction methods | Upgrades all planes, all submarines in this sector
Attack Strength: + 50% |
200 licenses | 10:00 | 50:00 |
| Research grant | Improves academy, research laboratory in this sector
Construction time: −50% |
400 licenses | 30:00 | 50:00 |
World events
Another online feature is world events. A total of 5 world events were published that alternate every few months and are only available for play during this time. Players can complete further missions and unlock bonuses. The more players play the world events, the more career points each individual player gets.
Extensions
In total, one major expansion and 3 smaller DLCs were released. The latter partly consist of free and paid content such as new decorative elements or missions.
The deep sea
The expansion with the name Anno 2070 - The Deep Sea was published as announced on October 4th, 2012. New features and enhancements include deep-sea trade, a new submarine and an aircraft carrier, a new disaster ( tsunami ), the defense platform to ward off enemy attacks on underwater plateaus with aircraft or ships and a new level of civilization for the techs (geniuses) . At this stage of civilization, it is also possible to build a new monument (science forum). Using a special device, the so-called energy transmitter, it has recently been possible to transfer excess energy from one island or an underwater plateau to another selected island or an underwater plateau.
DLCs
- The Eden Project
- Global Distrust - The Great Stock Market Crash
- The Nordamark - border conflict
reception
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Awards
- German Developer Award 2012: Best Strategy Game, Best Game Design
criticism
Due to the one-time product activation and the associated account connection to a Ubisoft account, the title was already criticized in advance. The additional permanent internet connection ( always-on ) required for unrestricted game content also significantly increased buyers' displeasure with regard to the game mechanics - not least because Ubisoft emphasized in the periods immediately before the release that there would only be “a temporary internet connection for the one-time product registration first start of the game ", which only reflected part of the restrictive product policy.
After activation via the Internet, it is possible to play without constant Internet access - in what is known as 'offline mode', but this only allows games to be played with limited game content. A permanent internet connection for complete game content is therefore essential.
copy protection
Another point of criticism is the copy protection used by the game, a combination of Tagès and Solidshield v2 from the same manufacturer. When activated, this creates a checksum key for the hardware used, with reactivation being required after the computer system has been modified by changing the components - for example by replacing the graphics card. The game is thus - in addition to being linked to a Ubisoft account - directly linked to the hardware used. The number of (re-) activations is limited to a maximum of three activations in the version of the copy protection used in Anno 2070 .
Prominent public found out about the use of copy protection shortly after the title was published. Thus failed the testers of the Dutch hardware portal Guru3D to the copy of the game, as they 2070 Anno a review would undergo regarding the gaming performance. In the case of a component change that is common in reviews - to test the game performance on different systems, here the graphics card - the copy protection subsequently refused to use the game with a note of a renewed activation - a renewed reactivation due to hardware changes was not known to date, only one Activation on a maximum of three systems. Since the game can only be activated three times per serial number, the game refused to use it and could no longer be activated due to the three previous activations.
The Ubisoft support that was subsequently contacted could not help, so the developer Blue Byte was contacted immediately , who manually removed the graphics card from the copy protection assessment and tried to provide assistance. The editors were so angry about this problem that they immediately deleted all future Ubisoft titles from their review portfolio and immediately refused to review the publisher's PC titles. It was therefore revealed that a change to the components already consumes one of the maximum three activations, since the copy protection evaluates a component replacement as a new installation on another system.
The publisher Ubisoft and the developer Blue Byte responded and changed the copy protection so that in the future, at least when changing the graphics card, no reactivation is required. Furthermore, the number of new registrations has been increased to four, and activations that have been made three times and that are no longer used expire after 30 days. Furthermore, if the limit is exceeded, Ubisoft can request a reset, providing proof of possession of a legal copy.
Key dealer
In addition, Ubisoft has massive problems with unauthorized sellers who offer heavily discounted CD keys, but have acquired their keys illegally. These are regularly blocked by the publisher and the cheated customer is not offered any compensation. It is only pointed out that eBay dealers who also offer game currency for various MMORPGs or who can be paid for with it, indicate a foreign company headquarters and sell the digital copy as an ISO file via BitTorrent or unofficial FTP servers as not are to be classified as trustworthy.
The Ark is unavailable in offline mode
One of the main criticisms of the game is the unavailability of the Ark in offline mode. The use of the ark - an in-game depot that enables the storage of resources, the use and storage of items and also allows these goods and items to be exchanged between different games and game states through online synchronization with the player's Ubisoft account - is excluded, which means that essential game content and modifiers are omitted. This has a particularly disadvantageous effect here, since a large number of the artifacts named items can only be activated within the ark in order to provide their global effect within the game.
Furthermore, after the publication there were problems in which players were partially or completely missing their artifacts, which were centrally collected in the ark - the development of which in the game can be considerably time-consuming and costly.
successor
On June 16, 2015, Ubisoft announced Anno 2205, the successor to Anno 2070 . This was published on November 3, 2015.
Web links
- Anno 2070 at MobyGames (English)
- Anno 2070 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Ubisoft.com: Post in the official Ubisoft forum: System requirements for ANNO 2070 ( Memento from July 16, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). As of September 30, 2011.
- ↑ All items from the Ark gone ( memento from July 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in the Ubisoft forum
- ^ Daniel Raumer: Anno 2070 Preview (PC). In: GameStar . Webedia , April 13, 2011, accessed June 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Chris Schmitz about Anno 2070 Interview by ZDFkultur with Executive Producer Christopher Schmitz
- ↑ ANNO 2070 DLC overview . Ubisoft. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
- ↑ Peter Bathge: Anno 2070: The deep sea in the test - New long-term fun but hardly any fresh missions. In: PC Games . Computec Media Group , October 3, 2012, accessed June 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Test "Anno 2070". 4players.de, November 21, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
- ↑ Kevin VanOrd: Test "Anno 2070". In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , December 16, 2011, accessed April 14, 2014 .
- ↑ Test "Anno 2070". In: GameStar . IDG Entertainment Media GmbH , November 16, 2011, accessed on November 22, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Test, Review Anno 2070 (PC). Computer Bild Spiele, November 2011, accessed November 22, 2011 .
- ^ Nathan Meunier: Test "Anno 2070". ign.com, December 2, 2011, accessed April 14, 2014 .
- ^ Meta evaluation "Anno 2070". In: GameRankings . CBS Corporation , accessed April 14, 2014 .
- ^ Meta evaluation "Anno 2070". In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed April 14, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Why Guru3D probably never will review Ubisoft titles anymore - Anno 2070. Guru3D.com, January 14, 2012, accessed October 6, 2012 .
- ↑ Ubisoft: Does copy protection bind games to specific hardware? ( Memento from January 26, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Ubisoft changes Anno 2070 drm after Guru3D critique. Guru3D.com, January 21, 2012, accessed October 6, 2012 .
- ↑ Anno 2070: Ubisoft disarms copy protection. PC Games, January 22, 2012, accessed October 6, 2012 .
- ↑ ERROR (2002): THE ACTIVATION LIMIT FOR THIS SERIAL NUMBER HAS BEEN EXCEEDED. In: support.ubi.com. Retrieved August 15, 2018 .
- ↑ General activation questions. (No longer available online.) In: Ubisoft Support. May 24, 2012, archived from the original on January 21, 2013 ; accessed on August 30, 2018 .
- ↑ ATTENTION! Illegal keys! Error message enter product key - key binding failed! This key is no longer valid. Ubisoft forums. November 15, 2011.
- ^ Matthias Dammes: Anno 2205: Sixth part of the series announced. In: PC Games . Computec Media Group , June 16, 2015, accessed June 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Boris Borda: Anno 2205: balloon with Anno logo at a height of over 34 kilometers - with video. In: PC Games . Computec Media Group , November 2, 2015, accessed June 8, 2016 .