Great game that takes a while to master but is worth it.
by Related Designs
What I paid: $8.95 after shipping (Amazon.com)
http://www.aspyr.com/product/info/57
My score: 9.5/10
-Things that make me smile:Very addicting- a true portal to the PC time warp. More emphasis on economy than on war (I never thought I'd think that this is a plus, but it is, I'll explain later). Interesting graphics and music. Interesting AI characters. Great UI. Pirates!
-Things that put a frown on my face: Not easy to just jump in the game for a few minutes. AI quits too easy. Fairly steep learning curve.
1701 A.D. has sucked a lot of time out of me. It's a definite portal to the PC time warp- the kind of warp where all of the sudden you realize it has been 4 hours. Time flies in this game. The developers knew this when they made the game, and amusingly enough, tried to show some gaming responsibility by giving you nice little reminders after 2 and 4 hours of continuous game play. At two hours you get something like "how about a a cup of coffee?" And at 4 hours you are treated with "how's your family doing?" These and other similar phrases are of course done with a British accent. Lol. It's a nice gesture, but it didn't convince me at all to give it a rest (again demonstrated by the Raptr widget to the right). Here's a brief summary of what the game is about.
Before I start on the summary, I should clarify what aspect of the game I played. I have only played the continuous mode of the game. I haven't played the single player campaigns or any online modes at all. The following only applies to the single player continuous game mode.
You are a colonizer just arriving on the scene of a newly discovered group of islands at an unspecified historical time (jk...game title). You start with a ship and your first decision is where to start your first colony. This is a huge decision. You can just sail around looking for a large island to settle on, which is what I did the first couple of games I started, or you can purchase maps from the Free Trader located on a small island at the center of the map, near where you start. I highly recommend buying a map of a large island and getting a good start on the colonizing, for you see, there are at least 3 (customizable) other AI colonizers out there doing the same thing.
The crux of the game is that each island only can produce certain goods, and your higher class citizens demand more than just what your island can supply. In order for your cities to develop and attract more higher class citizens you must provide your people with more complex goods. You have a couple of options as to how to supply those goods. The best way is to trade between multiple island colonies that you own. You can also trade with the other AI players, island natives in the region, or with the neutral Free Trader. The more high class citizens that you have the more income tax you gain and therefore the more structures you can buy/upgrade and the more ships you can have to transport the goods.
Although this overly simplified summary may not sound very compelling, you'll have to believe me that it most definitely is. The focus on economy is actually a plus of the game. With most games, it seems that the economy is just there to keep the war machine churning. Collect a single resource, process that resource, make tanks out of that resource... sound familiar? In this game, the economy is the game and the warfare is secondary to it. Balancing all of the many needs of your colonists and keeping your empire running smoothly is fun enough. There is warfare, and it is fun, it is just not very complex fighting like in a dedicated RTS game, and definitely not a major focus of the game. In fact, my first battle didn't occur until many hours into the game. This game is all about the economy, and it works.
The graphics in 1701 A.D. are good and more importantly, interesting. There's really only so much you can do with an over-head view of islands, water, and cities but what the game does is impressive. When you zoom in on your cities there are a lot of interesting details to see. Another interesting thing about zooming in on cities is that you can listen to your citizens converse with each other about how well you're doing as their leader. "It's so much better here" is an example of a good comment. "We need alcohol" is something you might hear when you're not doing so well. Along with the interesting sounds, the music is good too. It rides that fine line of not being annoying or dull, but is not distracting.
You're not alone in the region. A typical continuous game consists of the Free Trader, three AI players, the Queen, and several native colonies. When setting up a game, there are several different AI characters to choose from on each difficulty setting. Each of the AI players has their own personalities and colonizing traits. Some are aggressive and quickly colonize whatever they can (including parts of islands that you have already partially colonized) while others will do anything to not step on your toes. The Queen funds your expedition and is quick to lend aid early in the game to keep your colony growing. Later in the game she starts demanding ever increasing tributes. At this point you may be strong enough to rebel against her and declare your Independence. Several small islands are scattered around the region with natives from different cultures on them. A strong trade partnership with them can give you access to rarer trade goods.
Another player in the game that I can't leave out are the pirates. Their general purpose is to make things a bit more interesting, and that's really all they do. They do like it though when you start destroying the Queen's ship during your revolt, and they tell you so. I believe there is a way to befriend them, but I do not know that way.
The UI is well done in 1701 A.D. The majority of the screen is occupied by your view, with little space being taken for the mini-map and the various control panes. Any messages that come through appear as little icons off to the side of the screen and are unobtrusive.
Some gripes I have with the game mostly revolve around the time committment needed for a good play session. If I only have 15 minutes or so to play something on my PC, I don't feel like I can play this game. You have to have a good chunk of time to get into the groove of the game. I tended to play something like Torchlight when a little free time came my way.
Another negative of the game is its learning curve. There were several things that I learned mid game that I wish that I'd known when I started. In fact, I started over several hours into a game or two after learning something crucial. Some examples of things that I wish I knew about early in the game were proper road and town layout, how to keep the AI players from colonizing on your islands, and the ability to upgrade your towns manually. All of these things make a huge difference in the game and all I learned the hard way.
Lastly, this is more of an annoyance than a negative, when things get tough, the AI gets going. When it does come time to go to war, if you're well prepared, it's not too hard to crush the enemy. This is probably related to the fact that the game is more about the economy than it is about war. When you do conquer an enemy, be ready to colonize their lands fast, as the remaining AI players will be trying to do the same.
In conclusion, this is a great game. The developers did an amazing job of balancing the economy and moving the game along. The drive to continuously improve your islands is tough to overcome. 1701 A.D. is very deep. I've played more than 31 hours of the game as of the time of this posting and I just barely feel comfortable enough with the game to write a review about it, and I haven't even played the multiplayer modes or the campaigns. I'm not sure I'll be able to get in another 31 hours of 1701 A.D., but I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if I did.
I give 1701 A.D. a 9.5/10.