Anno: Create a New World

The Anno series is fairly well known to PC gamers, where the games have a reputation for being tough and realistic strategy titles with a heavy focus on economics. Not the most obvious candidate for a Wii conversion, then, but what the developers have done is taken Anno’s complex gameplay and streamlined it.

In Anno you discover and colonise islands, placing buildings and harvesting resources with the ultimate goal of claiming lots taxes from your citizens. The game is heavily focused on economics and so you end up with a pyramid of supply and demand. Certain resources are needed to create items which the citizens need, and so you have to carefully balance all the components of your economy to ensure a steady flow of goods and money.

Unlike the PC version though, Anno doesn’t worry as much about the details so you’re not so concerned with the placement of certain types of building. It also encourages you to unlock and explore the map, with treasure and new islands to be found.

The story gradually explains the mechanics of the game while you work your way through, and eventually you’ll get to engage in some simple combat.

The simplicity of the game is important as it makes it more accessible without removing the core economy management side of things, even though we wish there was some more detail in certain areas to help you monitor the stock and supply levels. It also suffers from some oddities in the control system that make placing buildings and combat far more fiddly than it should be.

Verdict: 82%

Enjoyable strategy-lite game that is a little different to most Wii games. It does a good job of making a complex game accessible.