Anno 117: Pax Romana
Ubisoft
Shape the Roman Empire in this genre-defining strategic builder game. Build cities while expanding your influence through Roman provinces. Govern using your economic prowess, diplomatic skills, or military might. As governor, how you build and govern will shape your story, your citizens’ destiny, and your provinces’ future. Will you cooperate with other governors or prove your military prowess by challenging your rivals? The cost of peace is yours to decide.
Anno 117: Pax Romana is the first new addition to the Anno series since Anno 1800 was released in 2019, and it’s absolutely been worth the wait. Overall, it’s less flexible than Cities: Skylines and the combat is much simpler than Total War, but the combination is incredibly well-done. It’s a fantastic new city-builder from Ubisoft, and fans of the genre will be very happy with this one.
There isn’t much story here, but that’s not expected for the series or the genre. Anno 117 is set in Ancient Rome, making this the earliest historical setting in the franchise. The subtitle Pax Romana refers to the almost 200-year period of ‘peace’ and stability through the Roman Empire, which had a thriving economy, vast trade networks, significant architectural achievements and cultural achievements. It’s the perfect time for players to rule over their Roman province.
Anno 117: Pax Romana feels like a typical city builder with all the expected management that comes with it. Players need to collect resources to expand their cities, keep their citizens happy, manage the province and eventually, go to war in an attempt to grow further.
There is a story campaign, but this doesn’t have much of a story and feels more like an extended tutorial. Endless Mode allows you to start in the Roman province of Latium or the Celtic province of Albion, which both have different playstyles and personalities. Difficulty options can be adjusted, and players can also pick the rival governors to compete with.
Citizens level up differently in this game compared to Anno 1800. Progress is no longer locked behind acquiring specific goods; instead, each household has needs that must be filled. Players do get to choose how to fill these needs, and some are much better than others, but the ability to specialise in certain resources while ignoring others is great for replay value. Every play-through has a different feel depending on how you choose to play the game.
Pros
Awesome sandbox & endless modes
Two provinces to select from
High replay value
Fun and relaxed gameplay
Choices and playstyle matters
Fantastic graphics and audio
Cons
Campaign story is very weak
Minor performance bugs
Forced Ubisoft connection
Slamming AI artwork in cut scenes
The tech tree is massive and includes persistent progress between save files. It’s not possible to research everything in one playthrough, but the next playthrough makes it possible to try a different branch. It’s a great addition, though some of the research node groupings don’t feel very logical.
Buildings do affect citizens, with many non-residential buildings having bonuses and penalties accordingly. Designing neighbourhoods becomes a satisfying puzzle to maximise the positives and reduce the negatives of each essential structure. It’s great, but there is no overlay for the building effects, which makes it more difficult to see the impacts them, especially while zoomed out. Anno 117 doesn’t give a great overview of the vital information, which is very frustrating. However, the Anno games do improve over time with DLC and updates, so it’s likely this will be dealt with in the future by Ubisoft.
Combat is easy to understand and follow; it’s not a complicated system, but it does need a lot of management before the fighting begins. Players need to prepare for combat with stable supply lines, build fortifications in the right places and still have enough of a population at home to keep getting new resources. This makes it feel very different to the Total War series, and it fits the Anno series perfectly.
When it comes to the actual fighting, Anno 117’s combat is classic RTS. Players need to protect their trade routes, fight to protect what’s theirs and fight for new territory. There’s naval combat alongside ground combat with melee, ranged and siege units that perform different roles. It has different battle strategies; tracking the fight and controlling units is very simple. However, it’s also possible to skip most combat entirely by creating treaties with different people.
Diplomacy is basic but important still. Making treaties with different regions, keeping them happy and dealing with the Roman Emperor to avoid penalties. It gives you the chance to alter your playstyle for each run for a very different gameplay experience.
Anno 117: Pax Romana takes everything we love about the series and refines it. This does feel a little weak compared to the last game when all of the DLC is taken into account, but it’s a fantastic starting block, and this series has always done a fantastic job for long-haul players.
Overall Rating
