I'm very grateful that I got this when it was on sale.

The combat is awful since ships don't respond to controls, and the economy gets extremely repetitive. Automatic trade routes don't really work either since the commodities are constantly shifting in availability, and the computer creates complex alliances which defy all notions of imperialism. It gets ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ too where the computer will deliberately ally, then raid your smaller colonies to take them over without making a declaration of war. If you take them back, then you implicitly declare war on the whole alliance.

It's a great concept, but extremely poorly executed.

Despite being a bit enjoyable at its best, this maritime strategy game is scuttled by a very slow start and a lack of depth. Peculiar challenges and a good managerial dimension have to compare with a poorly detailed graphics and an excessive selling price.Strong naval combat is marred by shallow trade and town management.Instead of wrestling with rival nations, you'll tussle with unruly advisors in this naval trading sim.The lack of a tutorial is also not a great selling point.The Age of Discovery has enough excitement and intrigue to fill a hundred video games, just not this timid and repetitive strategy game.Overall, I'd give it a 5/10.A waste of money if you ask me.

Many of the achievements seem to be broken and will not trigger. In addition, the naval combat is also extremely broken and buggy. The voice work is terrible. The visuals are average for 2010. The music is bland and repetitive. I think there might only be three tracks in the entire game, at most. Though probably only two. Set on an endless loop, good god. Finally, the commercial and administrative mechanics of the game are extremely primitive and superficial-- this game is, in essence, a poor man's Port Royale or Patrician, as regards the trade sims of this model.

I don't know if I've missed anything, but this game is so uninspiring it's hardly a surprise that I don't especially care. Do not pay any more than $2.50 USD for this title.

This is an interesting game. I think it probably can meet the needs of some players for a new world colonization simulator, but the setup is not really my preference, so I doubt it will get a whole bunch of playtime from me.

This game is stupid, confusing, and a waste of $2.50.

I liked this game quite a bit. It does the whole trade thing pretty well. It's definitely one of the better economy games released recently. It not only allows you to build ships and set up trade routes but also allows you to build colonize and maybe be a pirate if you want. I'll go into some pros and cons:

Pros:
-You aren't stuck playing the economy game. You can play a military game by being a pirate or fighting with other countries.
-The game does the trading really well. The amount of resources aren't overwhelming (although the amount also isn't very impressive either). It's easy to just jump into the game.
-There is a good amount of ships and you can customize each one you build by spending a little extra money.

Cons:
-The colony management is a little too simplistic. It does add to the game but it is only picking a building you want to build from a list.
-There are only limited colony spots that you can build colonies on. I would've liked to just see where the resources were and build a colony accordingly.
-You have to buy the resources from your colonies to sell them in the Home Country (Europe) and, as far as I can tell, you can't trade with other colonies. Instead you trade resources via diplomacy but those resources can only be traded via diplomacy and you cannot sell them in Europe. Because of this it is very possible to go negative and you can't do anything about it.

All in all it's a fun game and I would recommend it. Especially now (11/27) with a sale going on. Certainly worth the $4 for the base and $6 for the complete.