Windows: To celebrate the fact that it has been more than 20 years since the launch of Anno 1602—the very first game in the celebrated “Anno” strategy series--publisher Ubisoft is giving away the classic game for free.
Sep 9, 2017 - Anno 1602 A.D DRM-Free - PC Game - Full Download - Gog Games Title: Anno 1602 A.D Genre: Simulation - Real-time - Fantasy Works on:. Download full ANNO 1602: Creation of a new world. If you've got the patience to play Anno 1602 (it can take weeks for the game to reveal all of its subtle.
The catch? It’s a Windows-only download, which Ubisoft even teases in its description of the promotion: “If you remember what Windows 95 looked like or if you were born in the 21st century take the time to discover or replay this classic for free.”
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You also only have until tomorrow—Saturday, December 22—to grab the game. Otherwise, you’ll have to throw down $10 to relive the nostalgia of building pixilated colonies and fighting off rivals in the 17th century.
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If this sounds like fun, but you hate the idea of having to learn the intricacies of a new, complicated strategy game, don’t worry. Since Anno 1602 has been out for more than two decades, plenty of players have already created some excellent walkthrough videos you can watch to ensure your first few attempts at building a new world don’t self-destruct:
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Anno 1602—or 1602 AD, as it was known in North America—was originally released in 1998, which in the context of videogames might as well be 1602. But it's an RTS/management game, which generally hold up to the years better than other genres, and even graphically it's not too bad: Dated but far from ugly. All of which is relevant right now, 20 years down the road, because from now until December 22, it's free for everyone.
To get it, you'll need to log in with your Ubisoft account—you do have a Ubisoft account, right?—at which point it will automatically be added to your Uplay library. You'll be given the option to either launch Uplay or download it if you don't already have it installed, or you can just go off and do something else at this point, confident in the knowledge that if you ever do have the urge to play Anno 1602, it will be waiting for you.
Anno 1602 was a multi-million-selling hit in Germany, where it was first released (it was developed in Austria) but reaction to it elsewhere was somewhat more mixed: PC Gamer UK scored it 81/100 in its review, for instance, while PC Gamer US gave it a less enthusiastic 57/100. (Interestingly, the actual reviews aren't terribly dissimilar: The US said it's 'tough to call,' the UK described it as 'depending on your disposition,' which really emphasizes the importance of reading reviews rather than just diving at the scores.)
But it was successful enough to kick off a long-running series of games that's still active: Anno 1800, a return to the series' historical roots, is set to come out on February 26, 2019.