1503 A.D. The New World

by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00007LVJB
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: March 24, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,900 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Developer

Return to the dawn of the New World in an epic saga of adventure and discovery. Explore stunningly-detailed environments to establish colonies as you seek out wealth and power. Watch those colonies grow while you create trade and diplomatic ties with neighboring cultures. Engage in combat on land and at sea to protect your colonies. The depth and fast pace of this real-time strategy masterpiece keep you challenged and at the center of the action. A new world awaits you.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an engaging game well worth its modest price... great first simulation game to try..., July 28, 2005

By 

James Neville (Katy (Houston), TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1503 A.D. The New World (CD-ROM)

1503 A.D. is a wonderful simulation game for several reasons. It is an engaging game, well worth its modest price. If you are NOT a "gamer", 1503 A.D. is a great first simulation game to try and see if you like this genre.

First, it's important to note that 1503 A.D. is not about slash and burn like Age of Empire. Nothing wrong with Age of Empire, but in that game your sole purpose in building an economy is to build a military to defeat the other guy. And when the other guy's defeated, the game stops. And if you don't attack him, he'll attack you, so it's a tense play.

In 1503 A.D. your goal is to build an economy and explore the new world. It is a simulation of that time when Spain, France, England, Holland etc. first sent ships to the Americas and the Caribbean Islands and discovered the fantastic lands and resources available there. You play at your own pace without time pressure.

I find it engaging on three levels: first, creating a working economy (it's literally a little MODEL of a world, with miniature ships, buildings, roads, trees, animals, crops, and people); second, extending that economy over multiple lands, using ships as the means of communication and trade (for example, you need a tropical island to grow dye plants for luxury clothing); third, the basics and luxuries correspond to the actual economy of that time (food crops, clothing crops, tobacco, dies, spices, whale oil, etc.)

As several reviewers state, 1503 A.D. is quite engaging to play over many hours. You can stop and resume anytime. There are indigenous tribes to discover and trade with. There are prebuilt tutorials and campaigns to try. And there is a "sandbox" mode where you just pick a map and build on your own, with nobody telling you what you have to do.

There are other computer players to trade with. And yes, if you wish, to fight with. You can build troops and warships and send them off to do battle with other settled cities or with the bad guys everyone loves to hate, pirates. The point is, you don't HAVE to do this if you don't want to. Or you can do it LATER, after you've gotten the other features under your belt.

At $9.99 the price is hard to beat, plus, the game plays on normal computers and does not need super graphics cards. I think this is an engaging game well worth its modest price. And it's a GREAT way to explore playing simulation games and see if you like them.

One other tip, in addition to the printed manual that comes with the game, there are many free ONLINE web sites and forums with lots of help, tips and walkthrus etc. from other players. So you can play on your own, or follow a detailed walkthru, or just look up stuff somewhere in between.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my mind: I LOVE IT, May 15, 2003

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1503 A.D. The New World (CD-ROM)

The initial version of this software AD 1602 was fun to play, a kind of post-Renaissance Sim City. After a long wait, the 1503 version was released.

At first I hated 1503, thinking it was overly complicated. Well, switched to ENGLISH version (yuh! not smart, I was playing a version in German, the original language of this game) and I broke down and played the tutorials. Wow! There's a lot here. Not only are the graphics stunning, but the economic play is complex and interesting to the end. The formula to success (many aristocrats) is not as it was in 1602. In this case, trade balance is all; if you dare an agressive and too early expansion, your economy can take an irreversible downward spiral, and the cathedral starts softly playing the Miserere from Mozart's Requiem (haha, an anachronism but damn funny, you guys!)

Lots to love here, a great computer game, indeed.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delayed 3 times over 3 years. Now out and ADDICTING!, April 1, 2003

By 

Erronious (ROY, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1503 A.D. The New World (CD-ROM)

The first few nights I spent 10 hours solid playing. This is not good for school. Incrediblly addicting. I like economic simulations that don't focus on war. This is a one of a kind game that gives you a choice to war or not because the AI follows your actions. It has a new twist on the economic scheme in that it is a less comunistic form of government. The funds you acquire are from the sale of items at the market square (Capitalistic). The game takes long in progressing from level to level moving from pioneer, setteler, citizen, merchant, aristocrat. The education system is expanded from the last game of the series (1602) to include research for warfare units as well as larger ships, wells, larger textile manufacturers etc...
You will like this if you like CaesarIII, 1602ad, Tropico.
But you will not like it if you like to just war and avoid the whole economic thing as in: Starcraft, AOE, C&C Generals.
Allthough if you like both CaesarIII and AOE then you'll love 1503a.d.