Anno 117: Pax Romana

The offer to build a Roman empire is not something I would turn down. Building Roman cities using the gameplay systems we are used to in the Anno series is something I have wanted to do for many years. The last time we encountered the series, we spent time with businessmen, industrialists, and imperialism in the 19th century, we built cities in a changing time period during the industrialisation of Europe. In Pax Romana, you will not build industries and become an international entrepreneur. Instead, you will try to please the emperor of the Roman Empire.

It's immediately noticeable that this time period is perfect for this setup. You take on the role of a character where the choice is either Marcus or Marcia. The character you do not choose becomes the heir to the throne and will play an important role during the campaign as the emperor's successor. Both characters have different perspectives on the world and the events in the title. Although Anno is at its best in skirmish mode, I still enjoyed my time with the campaign as it offers family squabbles, betrayals, and drama. It's also replayable thanks to the ability to choose a different character.

During the campaign, you also have to engage with dialogue not unlike what you would otherwise find in role-playing games and make certain choices, however, they lack the weight you find in the world of role-playing games. On the other hand, the experience offers characters with acceptable voice acting and a lot of dialogue. It also helps to break up the repetition that inevitably becomes a reality in this city builder, however, you should not expect the choices you make to have huge consequences and change the entire story. They can change the outcome of individual situations and give you rewards in the short and or long term and I can appreciate the system as it offers you more control over the campaign, rather than just how you build your cities.

I wrote in my preview that the title reminded me of Pompeii: The Legacy and I stand by this. The premise of building an island that is devastated after a volcanic eruption is both exciting and engaging, however, that's not the only place you get to visit. You'll also get to travel to Albion, the homeland of the Celts. It's clear that Ubisoft Mainz wanted to differentiate the two regions, as both areas offer different architecture and terrain. This is important if you're going to be successful in this title, as they offer completely different challenges. As you progress through the campaign, you can easily switch between both provinces, not entirely unlike how it worked in previous iterations of the series.

The Roman province is lush and has a typical Mediterranean climate. You can build vineyards, grow wheat, and construct amphitheatres. The buildings are often made of marble, brick, and other materials you'll probably recognise from history books. Albion, on the other hand, is more muddy and rainy. In Albion, the houses are often made of wood, so you have different architecture depending on where you are, and the buildings also differ in both function and appearance. In Albion, beautiful sunsets are replaced by a more present darkness at night and rainy days. Swamps spread out on the islands and you don't have nearly as much space to build on and I liked the challenge that this part of the world offers. They remind me of the slightly more difficult levels in older Anno games, where you can create real challenges if you adjust the difficulty a little.

There is a wide range of settings to change to increase or decrease the difficulty and during the journey you will discover technologies in a fairly extensive technology tree for both factions. The difference between this and the tree in Anno 1800 is that you research both buildings and bonuses and not just items. You need to offer your inhabitants knowledge via libraries and other things to increase the speed of this. The system is typical of strategy games and works well here. It's also so integrated into the title that you need to use it. Even though it's a system I feel I don't necessarily need in a title like this, it gives me something to look forward to unlocking.

A new addition to the series is the focus on religion and land-based warfare. When you build your city and place your temple, you can choose a god to worship, and while not all of the Roman gods are represented, many are. I chose the sea god Neptune, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Poseidon. By gaining many worshipers of the god, parties can be held and bonuses can be unlocked. It's a powerful tool that can benefit your city and its future.

Another new feature is land-based combat that complements the sea-based one. You can build legions and use them to defend the islands or invade your opponents. To do this, you need to transport the troops by ship to nearby islands and all of this works great and I like the extra dimension to the combat. However, I quickly learned that troops require a lot of inhabitants and this can create problems. Just like usual, you need to build housing for the people and meet their needs. The more social classes you unlock, the more advanced production lines you can build, and it's all about balancing needs, spending, and building a city that's both fireproof and keeps the residents happy. If you don't succeed in this, you'll have problems managing it. If the fire risk is high, larger fires that last longer can break out and this can devastate a city and then you'll need to invest resources in rebuilding it. The same can happen if people aren't happy or foreign troops invade your island.

Over time, you'll expand to more islands and trade with foreign nations. That may not sound like much to think about, but as the cities grow, it's a lot to handle. Thankfully, there's a pause function if you need it...

In the campaign, you'll complete missions for characters and these missions utilise all the game's systems. You'll need to deliver goods, expand to new islands, build a temple, or you might need to defend an area or escort ships. You'll also be able to conquer enemy islands with troops and fight battles at sea. The missions are varied and let you experience everything at your own pace and a mission only starts if you choose to start it, which means you control the pace even better. There are also side missions and smaller tasks that different factions can give you during the game. The latter tasks are usually time-based and give you smaller rewards than the others, however, they are randomised and there is always something you can do.

Your construction should not be rushed, but you are rewarded by methodically and strategically building up your city. I also like the personality of the different characters, even if they can be a bit exaggerated in their way of speaking. Pax Romana may not quite match Anno 1800 with all its downloadable packages, however, it offers a really exciting time period and a layout that can be expanded with future content. I'm quite satisfied with the campaign and the skirmish mode, but what I would have liked to see more of are settings for the appearance of the levels. The Anno series no longer offers a level editor and what you see is what you get.

I also took the opportunity to test the levels with another player. If you want to play this over the Internet, you have to invite your friend to a lobby, and this worked well, although I've never really liked the multiplayer component of this series. You have the same amount of tools to customise your matches as in the single-player mode, and I had no noticeable problems with the mode. However, it may be worth knowing that the multiplayer mode doesn't bring anything new or exciting, it works much like the older titles.

I've also thought a lot about usability after reviewing Europa Universalis V. One thing I've long wanted to see for the Anno series is tools in the user interface to get a better picture of which buildings are happy, have unmet needs, and the like. This has never really been a feature of the series, but you should often use the statistics tab in a side menu or click on individual buildings, however, this is quite time-consuming if you can't find which buildings have problems in larger cities. The filters would then change depending on the island, so that you always get the correct information. At the moment, I think the user interface is good, but the experience itself could be a little better with filters for the islands so that it's easier to find problem areas on the map.

If there is one thing I have a serious problem with, it's the performance. In the version I have tested, the performance has fluctuated between acceptable and poor on higher settings. Even on lower settings, the title can sometimes have trouble reaching acceptable frames per second. To some extent, this can be blamed on the fact that it's very stylish and applies a lot of the latest technology for Ray-Tracing, HDR, and much more. At the same time, it does not perform impressively at lower settings either. It was fully playable, but you need to know that the performance is not perfect and probably will not be at the title's launch either. If you are on an older device, it may be worth waiting for tests of the title on computers that are similar to yours in performance and capacity.

However, I have to give this sequel praise. It's really stylish for the genre, light is beautifully reflected in the oceans, the sky changes colours beautifully at sunrise and sunset, the cities are full of life, and depending on whether there is a festival or not, you can see people buying things from the market or visiting other buildings. In addition to the graphics, the sound is really impressive, and the music is beautiful and fits the experience perfectly. Even the background sounds good with, for example, people talking in the streets and comments via your advisors. Just like in Anno 1800, you can click on a tab in the upper corner and get notifications, choices to make, and other information. Thanks to all of this, Ubisoft makes its world feel more alive than ever before. It deserves some praise as I think Anno has had trouble bringing its worlds to life in a way that other city builders have succeeded in the past.

Anno 117: Pax Romana is a simulator about logistical challenges and resource management disguised in a cloak of history. The title offers a beautiful visual design and captivates with good music. It also challenges your thinking and your decision-making, but unfortunately, there are some shortcomings in the technical aspects. I also miss variants of readable colour-coded filters so that it's faster to identify problems in the resource chains. But despite this, this is the best city builder of the year set during the glory days of the Roman Empire. If you are interested in history, enjoy building cities, managing logistics, and want to see something grow in your capable hands, this is for you. It's a natural continuation of the Anno series and feels modern despite the fact that we've travelled back in time. I highly recommend this if it sounds like you'd enjoy it and you have a capable computer at your disposal.