Just before going on holiday leave, I installed Anno 1404 on my laptop. Because I try to stay far away from computers on my holidays, I installed, but did not have a look. This was a good thing because I could have cancelled my holidays if I knew how addictive it is!
At first the idea of the game did not really appeal to me. I played Age of Empires and a lot of other strategy games, and like it a lot. But this started out as a strategy game without … Violence…? I had the idea I started playing “The Sims – Medieval Style”.
When you start the game and launch campaign mode (which is recommended as it functions as a very complete and thorough tutorial) it takes a while for any military elements to appear. (about 15 hours of playing time). The time flies however as the complexity of your cities, its evolution and the trade with other islands increments fast. The thing I noticed first, and what most impressed me are the graphics. The quality on my (non-gaming) laptop is pretty good, and playing on high quality does not affect game-play too much (as it does with Red Alert 3 for example).
This one will not give you rushes of adrenaline though, the pace is not too fast (sometimes even a bit slow), but that is only annoying at start, when you are still setting up and learning. Once you’re a bit more advanced you are thankful for this as it give you time to react. (even though I wish those ships would sail a bit faster!).
I have now reached the part where some military action is required, but that is actually annoying me now, as I am just starting to understand and to be able to work with the whole trade business. It keeps up the pace of the game though as you are rushed to learning new things as soon as you start understanding.
The only downside I could find is that there is no online multiplayer mode. This is not really a problem for me, as I have the feeling it will take me quite some time to finish the campaign and the rest of the game and I am not really an online gamer anyways.
I started playing strategy games when Dune 2 Came out. Since, I have played Starcraft, and most of the Command and Conquer series, as well as Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, Warcraft, or Civilisation.
This shows I’m quite used to playing strategy, and even though I’m not an exceptionally good player, I enjoy them a lot and this one is definitively earning a spot on my list!
Anno 1404 Official Website
I recieved a nice surprise from microsoft. By Using their Technet and following some of the seminars they offer here in Barcelona, I was recognised as a 
