Anno 117: Pax Romana Review: City-Builder that will leave you saying "Home Sweet Rome"

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Anno 117 - Pax Romana is developed by Ubisoft Mainz and published by Ubisoft. The game puts you in the hot seat as a Governor, and every decision you take will either shape or break your cities. Engage in combat, trade, and diplomacy to ensure your reign is ultimate.

With overlapping mechanics to learn and master, including how to use religion and research to your advantage, there's much to do and little time to do it all. That said, let's dive into the final hands-on review of Anno 117 - Pax Romana.

Anno 117 - Pax Romana: Final impressions and gameplay

Albion is not for the faint-hearted (Image via Ubisoft)

To say that Anno 117 - Pax Romana brings the glory of the Roman Empire to life would be an understatement. Following in the footsteps of Anno 1800, the game incorporates many familiar elements and enhances them in specific ways. While the game itself can be a bit confusing to newcomers of the franchise, those who've been around since the start will have something to keep themselves busy for a long time.

That being said, the game starts as any Anno game would; you're given command of an island to develop as you see fit. In this case, you're the governor with limited funds, but you do have the support of the Emperor, which is a good thing (while it lasts). The storyline itself is good enough, but you're not here for storytelling, are you? The meat and guts of Anno 117 are the city-building mechanics, and they don't disappoint.

Navigating the UI will take some getting used to (Image via Ubisoft)

However, before I talk about the positives, I need to address one major negative point, which is the UI. To be fair, it is rather confusing, and having to swap between different tabs to find one building is rather time-consuming. If you're sticking to the main chain of buildings, as in those that are unlocked as your population grows, they are found under the respective population type tier tab.

But to find anything else, well, you will have to do some swapping about. Of course, once you've got the hang of things, it shouldn't be an issue, but it will take a while to memorize. You will also have to swap tabs to check the logistic chain for certain building types, which could be tedious, but then again, as mentioned, once you've played enough, you will remember where to find exactly what you're looking for.

Landscape looks beautiful even at night (Image via Ubisoft)

Coming to the positives, I have to say that the game is polished and perfect in every way, apart from the UI, that is. As you progress, many overlapping mechanics interconnect to create diverse gameplay that challenges and delights you every step of the way. Knowing how to segregate your population centers from industry will make all the difference. Of course, you could just bungle them altogether, but there are adverse effects (something I found out the hard way).

This makes you truly spend some time and figure out how to want to divide your cities. Since placing certain types of industry next to your population benefits them, it pays to read the fine print about what each structure/building brings to the table. You could also counter-balance the negative effects using certain specialized buildings, but why create solutions to problems that can be avoided in the first place?

Marsh and swamp as far as the eye can see (Image via Ubisoft)

Anno 117 also has great pacing, which ensures that you don't rush through one set of buildings and immediately have to progress to the next set. There's enough time to explore and do things right, experiment with different city layouts to make the most of the space that's available to you. Speaking of space, as always, if you find yourself running short of it, you can expand to neighboring islands and claim them.

As you progress, you will be taken from Latium to Albion. This is where things get a bit trickier, as more mechanics will be opened up to you, including population type and combat. That said, the pacing is great, and it doesn't feel rushed or overwhelming. By this time in the campaign, you should have enough experience to handle anything.

That's a lot of research! (Image via Ubisoft)

Two things I really loved are the Religious system and the Research tree. The Religious system allows you to worship Gods that will grant you boons. Based on your playstyle or the type of resources you want to focus on, you can choose the God that suits you best. Of course, you can change who you decided to worship, but at a cost. While this system may feel insignificant at first, as devotion your a God rises, the boons increase manifold. In theory, a certain resource type can be produced at 200% efficiency.

Lastly, we have the Research tree, which is extensive and eyewatering to say the least. Each new perk or research unlocks or improves buildings/structures and units. You can unlock a lot of new technology during the early game, but it will take some time based on how strong your research is. This again is something you can pick and choose at your discretion, but the sooner you get to it, the better.

Performance and sound

Anno 117 - Pax Romana, provided by Ubisoft, was played on a system having the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RTX 3070 8GB
RAM: 32 GB

Apart from having to wait for the textures to load in after booting up a saved game, there was nothing else that felt slow or delayed. Once textures were loaded in, everything worked as intended. There was no lag, stutter, or other issues that hampered gameplay.

As for sound and music, well, it's pitch-perfect and rather entertaining. The VAs also did a great job of bringing the characters to life, and the banter that occurs between certain intervals is amusing to say the least.

In conclusion

Anno 117: Pax Romana is truly incredible at what it sets out to be. Aside from the UI that needs a second look and the campaign that could be tweaked a bit, everything else is as promised. Throughout the total time I've played, I've demolished and rebuilt my city several times to achieve the perfect layout of at least one that is functional, to say the least.

Is there a lot of trial and error? Yes. Will your city burst into flames? Most definitely. Will barbarians and enemies of the Empire overrun you? Yes, regularly. But once you're able to understand Trade, Diplomacy, and other mechanisms that interlink with each other, you're going to have a lot of fun going to war and conquering new lands.

All in all, Anno 117: Pax Romana is a solid entry to the franchise. And if you love Roman history and culture, this is a great place to start in Anno. Keep in mind that there is a learning curve that has to be overcome, but that goes for all city-builders.