In Ubisoft They have been mastering the technique of keeping their games alive for years. Unlike other companies, launching a video game does not mean the end of a life cycle for them, but rather the beginning of a path that should be lengthened, logically and naturally, as long as possible.
While it’s true that they’ve had more trouble capturing the public’s attention lately in some games and we’ve seen them abandon them prematurely, it’s not like they can be blamed too much for making a decision that many of us would have made before we even started. In fact, to many of us they always seemed like projects that they were already dead before they were born.
That, after all, is the exception that proves the rule. That they have not thrown their arms down with titles of anecdotal success, such as Steep or Riders Republic, is a good account of this.
With its pluses and minuses, the catalog of the French brand seems to have benefited from that fighting spirit that has managed to revive projects already in decline as soon as they were launched, such as Rainbow Six Siege or The Crew.
But we are not here today to talk about Ubisoftat least not from the company itself, but from what is probably the greatest success that that same formula and the many studios under its umbrella have given us.
The true masterpiece of Ubisoft
Among all the games mentioned, and all those that may come to mind, there is one that not only perfectly understood how it should be launched to arrive in the best possible shape, but has also taken advantage of that continuous struggle to continue growing and improving. to become what it clearly is today the great masterpiece of Ubisoft: Anno 1800.
Be careful, here there is no opinion or a matter of taste, it is a fact that the sum of the base game, plus all the expansions that have been released since it hit the market three years ago, have shaped -without the help of the community and its mods- to the biggest, most ambitious, polished and recommendable game that has given a genre with many years and good examples behind it.
Those of you who already know me know that the Anno 1800 as an example of growth and perfection is not a thought that often leaves my head. If I have the opportunity to make a recommendation, I always go to him despite not being my favorite game in history or the one that has marked my life as a player the most.
But every time one new expansion reaches my hands, making that snowball grow even bigger, already big enough to keep you trapped for an entire winter glued to your computer screen, I can only surrender at its feet and applaud what is being done with the.
I’m far from the biggest fan of Ubisoftand I know to what extent it is a company that should change many of its policies and actions to make me happy, but the Anno 1800 it is an oasis of genius in a desert of laziness. An idyllic redoubt destined to pamper and do everything possible to please their fans without fear of risking their somersaults, but with an insulting ease to always land on their feet.
Anno 1800: an endless game
Waiting for what promises to be its next great evolution -this year seems to be the last, but I wouldn’t put my hands in the fire for it- its latest expansion invites us to manage a airship network and a system of mail capable of improving the conditions of our cities in terms of inhabitants and income.
Offering us another alternative when it comes to managing resources between islands and countries, along with new attack and defense strategies that range from bombing from the air, to using the cargo of said airships as if it were a seaplane capable of extinguishing a fire in question. seconds, this DLC is far from what we consider a great expansion, but it is no less useful and surprising for those of us who remain faithful to the game.
It is not a new and brand new area in which to squeeze resources and discover great news, that will come in the next one as a farewell, but it is one of its additions capable of making you change the chip to play in a way you haven’t experienced before.
It seems remarkable to me considering that we are facing a game in which, two years ago and after having launched several large expansions, we already believed that it was impossible for it to excite us again with a novelty.
Neither Assassin’s Creed, nor Far Cry, nor The Division. If there is a living game for which Ubisoft deserves a round of applause loud enough to make our hands red, that is it, without a doubt. Anno 1800. A nice management game that, from its humble niche, has managed to put its hand on the face of the rest of the studios and franchises of Ubisoft. Hat, joder. Hat.
