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 Digg.com Facebook Google Bookmarks N4G Gamerblips del.icio.us Reddit Slashdot.org StumbleUpon Thanks for this, nice review also -- Shall be getting this soon. Sorry but what a short sighted review, I only see some paragraphs with disgruntled mumbling, espesscially because you dont understand some things about Anno 1404.
Not objective at all, and no valid reason to just say that Anno 1404 is an unspectacular city building game.
You have hardly covered any aspect of the game (UI and Gameplay has been more fine tuned, and is more newbie and generally user friendly, trade is a big part of this game and a great aspect of the Anno games, espescially when the Orient Civ opens up).
Just to name a few. and you just convict it with your foundings by playing the game for 10 minutes and saying, ok its enough this is how it is screw the rest of the gameplay elements, which have been bluntly ignored by you.
How in the world is anyone to get a clear picture of Anno or any game in general when you review like this?! You've made this impossible.
Dissapointing to see that you get paid to write this, have any job openings? Will be getting soon, but am I not seeing a next page link or anything? :? Hmm, this really isn't the best choice of a recent PCG UK review to put online. Anno 1404 is pretty much the PC game of the moment, new or not, poor manual or not, accessible or not, awful DRM or not, doesn't matter apparently. :)
Of course, you have to respect Chris' opinion about it but I am very curious whether PCG UK will have the balls to slam dunk StarCraft II as well because it also has a "constant stream of fussy little tasks to juggle" and is stuck in a way too old mindset. Looking forward to it actually. :) What a rubbish review, I thought PC Gamer was more professional than this, very shallow and dismissive. Regardless of what score you gave the game you have gone into no detail at all about the game and the various options and degrees of difficulty, the opening up of the Orient etc. If you're going to give this game such a low score then at least have the decency to explain why with examples, not just a few off the cuff frustrations you experienced in the first 10 minutes of the game. I bought this on release day and find it a very deep and rewarding game but then I've put the time in to learn how to play it! Im glad I am not the only one with that opinion, you just cant call this a review. And like I said, writing this, and getting paid for it, is absolutely hilarious. They should really fire him if most of his reviews are like this, this only cost him about 10 minutes writing this shallow nonsense. I aint much of a comment poster, but I did have to go out of my way of posting something.
I fail to comprehend that such a short(sighted) is posted on a great site like this. The journalism of this review surely needs to think over his career.
Back on track, if you have any form of intelligence and you READ what the tutorial tells you to do (ingame popup) you can't go wrong, really.
Have a nice life Chris! As an Anno veteran, I can't really offer any opinion on how intuitive Anno's city building is to city building virgins - but it all made sense to me.
I vehemently disagree about small 'chorey' type tasks somehow detracting from your chosen grand strategy. Much of the sense of achievement I get from Anno is from building a trade and public services network capable of automating these tasks. I get the impression that this reviewer was simply not willing to invest the time in investigating the game as deeply as was necessary after being put off by its apparent initial shortcomings. this is an absurdly bad review. the tutorial clearly explains everything you seem to have been confused with, and the minor annoyances that bothered you, such as manually planting hemp fields, are actually quite important for setting up efficient chains. and since your appraisal clocks in at an embarrassing 360 words, it seems the majority of what to had to say was demonstrably false, while the rest just bad opinion. Horrible and shallow review, as others have already explained. I dont often make comments on reviews but this one really is a disgrace. The reviewer has not even bothered to learn the basics of the game...and has the shamlessness to admit it.
This kind of juvenile trash is exactly why I have given up buying the mag.
A minimal professional approach requires first that each game be given to a reviewer who is familiar with the genre it represents; and that the reviewer actually learn and play the game for more than 10 minutes.
The reviewer must be laughing...the handiest few bob he ever made...but the magazine will suffer from this kind of shoddiness. I'd like to see Chris Buxton post a reply on here and maybe put some extra detail into his review so I can understand where he's coming from as I can't comprehend how he formed an opinion on this game. Come on Mr Buxton, you've had plenty of reviews of your review and we're all saying it's appaling! Why not have a review of our review of your review and explain why we are wrong in thinking your review is crapola? I'd like to see Chris Buxton post a reply on here and maybe put some extra detail into his review so I can understand where he's coming from as I can't comprehend how he formed an opinion on this game.
Come on Mr Buxton, you've had plenty of reviews of your review and we're all saying it's appaling! Why not have a review of our review of your review and explain why we are wrong in thinking your review is crapola? We all know that's not going to happen. Anyone who criticised the quality of this review is just going to be disregarded as an angry fan-boy yuppie and the sub-standard journalism will just be allowed to continue.
Yay, real professional. This review summarises how I felt after about an hour of fiddling around with it. Frustrated.
However, I pushed through due to all the other reviews I read (all 80% and higher), saying it'll pay off in the end. And it did. This game is excellent once you get to grips with its intricacies, although whomever was in charge of the manual should get a serious workover.
So tell me Chris, honestly, how long did you play the game? If you really played it for 10 hours or more and think it sucks as bad as you say this is obviously not your type of game and you're the wrong person to review it. Just like I would be the wrong person to review an RPG, or Sports game. I just don't like them. But there are millions who do. Can we get a second opinion here? No one seems happy with this review. I agree completely with what has been written here by the posters.
I was looking forward to the game and also the PC Gamer review before I bought it. I read the review and thought it was a game that I should avoid because I am a subscriber to PC Gamer and always trust the opinion by the reviewers however I thought it was strange that the reviewer only gave it 10 minutes of his time (which for this sort of game you need a good few hours) and all the other review sites gave this game a great write up. I visited Gamespot, read the Anno 1404 review and could see that the reviewer was actually interested in the genre and gave it a thorough investigating.
On their opinion I went and bought the game and have subsequently lost my weekends. Fantastic, go out and buy it if you love games like, Age of Empires, The Settlers or in fact just micro management games that are solid and bug free (Which is rare to find nowadays).
It's so satisfying building and relying on a settlement that doesn't severely punish you for neglecting it a little but also can be built up with the right forethought to being almost completely autonomous.
Very rewarding game. Don't be put off by the review! It's simply wrong. | 
