2023 will be a very special year for the venerable Anno series. The first part of the series, Anno 1602, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and Anno 1800 is the first part of the series to be fully featured on consoles. There have been offshoots for the Nintendo DS and Wii before, but they were modified versions designed specifically for them. The decision to bring a big, full-fledged Anno to the consoles for the first time is no coincidence. Since its release almost four years ago, Anno 1800 has enjoyed uninterrupted popularity. With four season passes now, the developers have maintained a steady stream of new content over the years. With more than 2.5 million copies sold, the game has now become the best-selling part. Before Anno 1800 is released for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series on March 16, the developers recently presented the gameplay and features of the console version for the first time in a live presentation. We summarize everything important for you in this article (video).
round menus
The most important aspects of console ports are of course the operation and the user interface. The control must be adapted to the characteristics of controllers and the user interface designed in such a way that everything important is easy to reach and also easy to see when the distance to the television is usually greater. Accordingly, the larger fonts in the important interface elements at the top of the screen, where the resource levels, population, treasury and other key information are displayed, are immediately noticeable. In the lower part of the picture, on the other hand, it is noticeable that the large construction menu from the PC version is completely missing.
Anno 1800: Console Edition gameplay revealed (3)
Source: Ubisoft
Constructing buildings is now done via two radial menus instead. Via the left trigger we reach the so-called tools menu, where we find functions such as moving, upgrading and demolishing buildings, as well as some frequently used buildings. So this menu corresponds to the quick access bar in the PC version. With the right trigger, on the other hand, we call up the normal construction menu. Here we see the buildings of the currently selected population level arranged in a circle, which we can easily switch through with the bumpers. We do not select each building individually, but always a chain of goods. All the buildings required for this are then displayed in a separate menu and can easily be placed one after the other.
Various management options such as the newspaper, the quest journal, diplomacy and the trade route manager can be called up via a third circle menu, which is called up via the Y or triangle button. These menus are also adapted for use with a gamepad. For additional convenience, the developers have also implemented the so-called region map. This overview map makes it easy to jump between different parts of the game world at the touch of a button. Also completely new in the console version is a convenience feature that allows roads to be built directly around a building block with a single input. This eliminates the need to manually drag the road around all four sides of a rectangle.
Anno 1800: Console Edition Gameplay Introduced (2)
Source: Ubisoft
basic version
In terms of content, the console version will initially be roughly at the level in which the game was first released for the PC in 2019. However, the various improvements and feature adjustments that the developers have implemented over the years are carried over. However, the numerous content expansions that have made the game significantly more extensive and complex since its release today are not included. It is not yet known if and when these will be available at a later date. The various cosmetic DLC packages, which bring you more visual variety on your islands, are already on board for the release.
There will also be crossplay for the multiplayer mode, in which we can either play against each other or with up to four players together in co-op mode. That means players can play together on PS5 and Xbox Series. However, the feature is not available for the PC version due to the very different content. The console version of Anno 1800 (buy now €39.95 / €53.99 ) is scheduled for release on March 16, 2023 in a physical and digital standard edition as well as a digital-only deluxe edition. The price for these editions is around 40 or 50 euros. The Deluxe Edition includes three of the cosmetic DLCs in addition to the base game.
Porting a complex PC game like Anno 1800 to console is no easy task. However, what we saw in the first gameplay presentation makes us confident that the developers at Ubisoft Mainz have thought about how to adjust the controls and interface. We will find out whether it will play well and smoothly by March 16 at the latest, when Anno 1800 will be released for PS5 and Xbox Series.
