1602 A.D. (Jewel Case)

by Atari

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005Y4QK
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: January 30, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,115 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The year is 1602 and your future is uncertain. Cities are overcrowded. Poverty and starvation are rampant. You and a small band of fellow voyagers set sail for a new life and New World: welcome to the ranks of explorers and pioneers, with real-time strategy brought into a whole New World. This game combines strategy, colony building, diplomacy, production, trade, and real-time land and sea battles into one gaming experience. Five tutorials guarantee easy entry into gameplay. There are both single-player and multiplayer modes for up to four players per network or two via modem. A scenario editor lets you build your own missions for a completely unique, user-controlled gaming experience. Nearly 700 randomly generated islands with distinct terrain, resources, and growing conditions, and more than 90 different buildings and 30 unique occupations mean almost infinite replayability.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adventurer or Colonial King?, September 25, 2002

By 

Mark-David McCool (costa mesa, ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1602 A.D. (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

This game takes one to an imaginary chain of islands some where in the new world.
Once in this new island chain you take on the responsibility of making sure your small group of adventurers does not waste away into history.

The AI and graphics on this game are as good or better then such games as 'Age of Empires', and 'Railroad tycoon II'.

You can work your way up the development stages of advanced colonial production, and all the while fending off the greedy pirates lurking in the cove on the other side of the Island.

This game is more economy based and less military based then many of the games in its category, however, the proper arming of ships as they ply the seas is very important.

Draw backs are that most military activity will come late in the game after much development and the mixing of tropical islands with 'northern' islands.

The cause and effect AI and map editor are above par for most of these games which put it in as an almmost after thought.

And no matter how much non-computer comtrolled players you include in the game you still have the Natives and the pirates which may attack, trade, or harass you as you attempt to build your empire in the New world.

Recommended for all those you are into strategy, realtime action, cause and effect AI, and great graphics.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SimCity with Supply Lines!, February 5, 2004

By 

Blake Watson "===Blake===" (Winnetka, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1602 A.D. (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

Has anyone else ever noticed that Germans seem obsessed with supply lines? This series, "Settlers", "Stronghold", etc. (I think "Stronghold" is British, but there seems to be a strong influence from German games.) You plant the wheat to take to the mill to grind into flour to send to the baker to bake the bread.... So it goes. One link in the chain goes out and, suddenly, you're breadless. (Well, it's not really sudden, but it seems that way.)

So, is it fun? Well, as they say, if this is the sort of game you like, you'll find you like this sort of game. It's not really a combat-heavy game. In fact, there is a points in one of the tutorials where you have to run from pirates--you have no way to defend. That results in some annoying micromanagement.

I tend to find these games sort of hypnotic. Once you get your supply-lines set up, there's not that much to do but watch your ships go back and forth and your workers tend the fields or what-have-you. That, and figure out where your supply-lines are failing. This game requires a bit more management than "Settlers", which you can read a book whilst playing, but I was never truly inspired to venture much into more combat-based scenarios. It's more "model train" than "combat simulation" in my experience.

There are a lot of good things to say about this game. Heck, look around and you'll see a lot of enthusiastic reviews. Whether or not you personally should buy it depends on a number of things: If you've played similar games (like "Settlers") and liked them, you'll probably like this, too. It has a less intimate and cute scale compared to "Settlers". If you're a die-hard combat fiend, you probably will want to give this a miss.

But uf you haven't played similar games and you don't require a lot of battles, there's really no way to tell whether or not you're going to like this one without trying it. (Unless you try "Settlers" or the sequel, "1503 AD", of course.) And this is as good a game as any to start with. You might find you really love it. You might, also, find yourself playing and waiting, waiting, waiting for the game to begin.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This game would be a LOT better if it had good documentation, August 12, 2002

By 

Cas (the Idaho mountains) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 1602 A.D. (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

Did I play the same game the other reviewers did? Seriously?

Maybe it's just the version I got, but this game is far too flawed to enjoy on any kind of consistent basis. Commands are not detailed in the manual or on the tutorial (for example, how to QUIT). There is no ingame help system, either. There is no explanation for important concepts like question marks over buildings in the tutorial.. the manual just says to look at them, decide what to do, and handle it. Overall, the tutorial was almost useless as a way of learning the game. Each segment of it appeared to last about 2 minutes and provide about 10 text lines of material, most of it encouragement. The manual, incidentally, can only be retrieved from the CD using Explore -- the CD auto-runs any other way you try to access it. It sure has a lot of pretty pictures, but it doesn't tell you how to quit either, or how to get tools, the shortage of which I tended to knock up against on a regular basis.

Graphics are blocky, but survivable. There is no explanation of what stars mean in the initial game setup -- I thought it was a rating system, but turns out it's probably a difficulty level. I still have no idea why I couldn't build a warehouse on the scenario I tried -- I had enough stuff, but it just didn't want to do it.

I suppose if I were more intuitive or more patient I could probably figure it out, but as it is, it's just too frustrating to play.