After a whistlestop tour of the past, city-building strategy series Anno (aka Dawn of Discovery) is preparing to blast off into the future with Anno 2070. Publisher Ubisoft is giving a little taste of that gleaming tomorrow, today, with a 1GB demo you can download here at Shacknews.

Anno 2070 is set in a flooded future, where you'll still need to juggle resources, trade and diplomacy in setting up your trade routes and cities. However, this time around you'll get to play with robots and submarines rather than peasants and frigates, and even build underwater.

Here's what Ubisoft has to say about the demo:

The demo will allow players to experience the first two missions of the game, where you will work for a tycoon leader who is building a hydroelectric power plant. Players will be required to generate manpower to construct a turbine for Global Trust, the organization belonging to the tycoons. During the missions, the player is guided by quests through the core gameplay mechanics imbedded in the brand new setting, dealing with its challenges.

Anno 2070 is developed by series regular Related Designs, with help from Ubisoft's Blue Byte. It's due to launch in the UK on November 18, but Ubisoft's North American arm is dragging its heels on giving a release window more specific than "fall." Hopefully we won't see a repeat of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover situation, where the US release mysteriously took an extra four months to launch.