Unlike previous installments of the Anno series, Anno 2205's campaign, the Lunar Licensing Program, is much less restrictive and scripted than previous campaigns, as it is integrated with the Continuous Mode. Sector Projects, although containing their own story elements and missions, are not considered part of the Campaign.
The campaign's story revolves around Earth's upcoming energy crisis, which can be avoided by the construction of the Fusion Reactor. However, the resource needed to power the Reactor, Helium-3, can only be found on the Moon's surface, and so begins the Lunar Licensing Program.
Five Corporations are first allowed into the program, but with the help of Global Union program supervisor Sam Beaumont, the player's corporation is given the chance to participate in the initiative. The Orbital Watch, a terrorist organization comprised of rebel colonies from the First Wave of Lunar Colonization, serves as the game's main antagonist during the campaign.
The story ends when the player builds the Fusion Reactor and successfully transmits energy back to Earth, thus solving the planet's energy shortcomings, although the campaign is only finished when the player builds the Corporate Headquarters and expands it with several modules. After that point, the game allows the player to continue on their own, with no established goals other than those defined by themselves.
Lunar Licensing Program[]
The Lunar Licensing Program campaign is divided in four phases. The first three phases are centered around the introduction of each one of the game's regions, whilst the fourth serves as an epiloge of the player's success on producing fusion energy by building a Corporate HQ.
Throughout the campaign, the player will be presented with Combat Missions to defeat the Orbital Watch, a terrorist organization that serves as the player's main antagonist. However, these side missions can be avoided.
Phase One[]
- For detailed information, see Lunar Licensing Program: Phase 1
Phase One of the campaign encompasses five assignments centered around getting started with the game's mechanics and population of the Temperate region. The main goal of Phase One is for the player to level up the local Spaceport to gain access to the Arctic region. To do so, the player must attract at least 1,000 Operators, at which point the third Population need, Neuro Implants (which is only produced in the Arctic) is unlocked.
Phase Two[]
- For detailed information, see Lunar Licensing Program: Phase 2
Phase Two comprises twelve assignments centered around the player colonizing the Arctic region and gathering the necessary resources to upgrade their Spaceport with a Launch Pad, thus allowing them to access the Moon. It starts after the player successfully defeats Vigil Drake for the first time, after which access to modules and rare resources is given to them.
Phase Three[]
- For detailed information, see Lunar Licensing Program: Phase 3
Phase Three starts when the player lands on the Moon. It assigns them the construction of a Fusion Reactor to solve the energy shortcomings taking place back on Earth. To achieve this goal, at least one fully upgraded Spaceport is required on both the Earth and the Moon, which will allow the creation of an energy transfer route, thus completing the goals of the Lunar Licensing Program.
Epilogue[]
- For detailed information, see Lunar Licensing Program: Phase 4
The Epilogue, referred to as Phase Four in-game, is a two-mission post-story assignment that gives the player the task to build and expand the Corporate Headquarters, thus becoming the sixth corporation to join the Big Five. After completing the tasks, the player is informed that the group has now rebranded as the Big Six to include the player's corporation.
Organizations[]
Global Union[]
- Main article: Global Union
The Global Union is the leading global authority during the time span in which the events of Anno 2205 take place. As Earth's governing body, it oversees the Lunar Licensing Program, designed to colonize and harvest the Moon's resources to solve humankind's energy crisis and is responsible for the start of the Second Wave of Lunar Colonization.
Orbital Watch[]
- Main article: Orbital Watch
The Orbital Watch is a terrorist organization comprised of rebel colonies from the Global Union's Lunar Excavation Corporation, which was part of the so-called First Wave of Lunar Colonization that took place 100 years prior to the events of Anno 2205. It is led by Virgil Drake, one of the few survivors of a nuclear incident at the Bainbridge Crater Station. The main goal of the Orbital Watch is to prevent the Lunar Licensing Program from building the Fusion Reactor, claiming that the Moon, as well as its resources, should stay out of Earth's reach.
Arctic Custodians[]
- Main article: Arctic Custodians
After the disaster caused by a geothermal power plant prototype designed by the Ebashi Trench Observatory, a group of researchers from the Eden Initiative founded the Arctic Custodians and developed the Climate Stabilization tecnology used to create the artificial Arctic region, which they control.