Anno 117: Pax Romana Preview
I’m a sucker for city builders, and as someone who almost chose a career in archaeology, I’m fascinated by ancient history. It would appear that Anno 117: Pax Romana was built for a target audience of, well, me. The seventh game in the long-running Anno series, Anno 117: Pax Romana takes the player back to a relatively peaceful period of Roman history. It was a time of expansion and innovation. It’s amazing to realize how forward-thinking and advanced Roman civilization was. It’s a shame the ambitions and territorial overreach of the Emperors led to the downfall of a great civilization. Who knows what Albion (Britain) would have been like had the Romans stuck around?
From the Walls Up
I had the chance to play a bit of the game’s campaign and dip into the sandbox mode. Anno games have always been both deep and broad in their scope. They can also be a bit opaque. It’s clear from the start that developer Ubisoft Mainz has diligently addressed the issue of accessibility. Controls and UI are streamlined, uncluttered and well designed. I played everything using a controller and for once in a city builder, doing so felt pretty intuitive.
In the campaign you start as the unwilling bride of a provincial ruler, whose new husband is essentially absent and you must step in. The first hours of the campaign — all I had access to — are essentially an extended tutorial, teaching the player the basics of construction and the economy. At least at the start, it’s similar to a guided version of the sandbox mode, albeit with a narrative context. The talking heads that drive the story are reminiscent of the recent Civilization games and a host of other strategy titles. They’re well-acted and written.
Dip Your Toes into the Sand(box)
Anno 117’s sandbox mode is a first for the franchise as it gives the player a choice of starting locations. Albion is remote and has less established trade than Italy. However, the build mechanics are the same. You start with housing, add roads and basic means of production, soon working your way up the order to more civic amenities and other necessities to keep the populace happy, healthy, well-ruled, and entertained.
Anno 117 isn’t trying to shake up a winning formula too dramatically. The change of venue and time period go a long way to making it feel fresh.
It has been nearly six years since the last Anno entry, 2019’s Anno 1800, a hugely popular game supported by a wealth of DLC. The games have always had sharp visuals, but Anno 117’s look like a major step forward in lush and detailed graphics and believable environments. The series has also featured historically accurate game play and design elements (well, maybe not so much in Anno 2270), which is still true in this new title.
Roman Peace
We’re in a bit of a city builder renaissance right now, with games like Manor Lords changing up the mechanics. I think I’ve played and enjoyed most of — if not all — the Anno games. It appears from the two slices of game I played that the developer has found a winning balance between depth and accessibility, which should broaden its audience. With an engaging ancient setting, Anno 117: Pax Romana is definitely a city builder with potential and I look forward to the game’s final release.
***PC code provided by the publisher for review***
