I’m quite familiar with strategy games, particularly recently, and I’ve been monitoring this one closely.
Anno 117: Pax Romana.
Ubisoft generously allowed me to get some hands-on time with their newest game.
Anno
The series continues, and although the game requires careful balance, I’m eagerly anticipating its complete release, particularly in 4K resolution.
Lately, I’ve been dedicating a significant amount of time to
Civ VII
, but prior to that, I was engaged in gameplay
Citadelum
Anno 117: Roman Peace
It feels like an ideal blend of both genres, merging city construction, strategic planning, relationship management, and exploration into a single experience. Initially, I played a sandbox mode version which didn’t include extensive gameplay details such as tutorials or much background story. In this scenario, you assume the role of a recently named Roman Governor, bestowed with this title directly from the Emperor, thus bearing significant responsibility.
Similar to many city-building games, you begin with minimal resources and gradually expand your population and infrastructure. As your town grows, upgrading houses becomes possible but requires meeting specific criteria based on the type of inhabitants you have. These conditions often encompass their style preferences and dietary demands, alongside providing essential amenities like marketplaces or pubs for them to use.
During Anno 117: Pax Romana, it seems like an ideal fusion of elements from Civ VII and Citadelum, merging aspects such as city construction, strategic planning, interpersonal relationships, and exploration into a single experience.
For instance, the least privileged inhabitants—the Liberti—need basic provisions such as fish or porridge, a marketplace, and apparel including tunics or caps. Above them, the Plebeians seek better quality products like footwear. A key point to remember: do not immediately upgrade all structures once they become available. Various societal groups have distinct functions within your economic system. For example, Plebeians will not craft tunics, yet they play crucial roles in areas such as worship and learning.
I erred by attempting this and ended up having to reconstruct lower-level houses since nothing was being generated. Nonetheless, further along in the game,
Anno 117: Pax Romana,
I learned that you can downgrade a building, which is good to know for the future!
It took some time for me to understand which residents were producing or requiring specific items. Although new items and structures become accessible as you advance through different levels, I believe this could get confusing further into the gameplay. Tapping on a structure reveals what kind of resident operates within it; however, you have to go through them individually to discover their details. Fortunately, there’s a bar at the top of your screen indicating how many residents from each category are currently employed or ready to be assigned tasks, which aids significantly in managing things effectively.
It’s challenging to differentiate between certain structures as well. I’m looking forward to accessing more advanced settings so that we might have an option to better delineate various building types with clearer highlights. Constantly zooming in and conducting manual searches has started feeling somewhat monotonous. Fortunately, houses designated for distinct groups of residents use color-coding which simplifies their identification—though distinguishing between the red and orange hues remains tricky when viewed quickly.
There are eight primary factors you should monitor: population, income, beliefs, knowledge, prestige, health, happiness, and fire safety. These elements dictate how well your city performs and grows over time. Although I didn’t delve deeply into every mechanic within these areas during my gameplay, I encountered multiple fires. Certain structures like the Market, Tavern, and Fire Station have visible impact zones, whereas for some others, this isn’t quite so apparent.
The trickiest part of
Anno 117: Pax Romana
Was ensuring that everybody got what was necessary without overspending. Essential public services demand financial resources to function effectively and should serve every household within the vicinity. Typically, in other city-building games, I would position a Fire Station at each corner and construct everything neatly in a grid pattern. However, doing so here wouldn’t work as it would leave you unable to cover their operational costs.
I’m accustomed to constructing with a consistent design, but since the structures form circles and each positioning impacts my funds, I swiftly understood that I required an alternative plan. Positioning markets and crucial facilities at the heart of your town appears more strategic. This concept also holds for manufacturing processes reliant on roads, such as the hemp farm and tunic workshop. Keeping them close ensures efficient operation within these chains. In this game, planning is key.
Anno 117: Pax Romana
.
I truly appreciated my experience with Anno 117: Pax Romana—clearly, the complete title suggests it will indeed be quite the delicate equilibrium.
Another thing
Anno 117
The distinct aspect lies in its approach to storage management. Numerous production structures cease functioning when their storage limits are reached. Typically, in similar games, players would simply construct an extra warehouse closeby and continue playing. However, here, although warehouses must remain within reach of production facilities, theTrading Post dictates your total storage capacity. As gameplay progresses, you can enhance your Trading Post by acquiring knowledge from different buildings for potential upgrades. At this juncture, it remains uncertain if constructing supplementary trading posts will become available further into the game.
The Trading Post will become essential as soon as you start sea exploration, forming new partnerships and boosting revenue. Deciding what goods to retain and which ones to vend becomes crucial for sustaining a robust economy and ensuring your populace remains content. Although constructing vessels and setting up trade routes is within reach down the line, these aspects were not thoroughly examined in this preview.
Rather than doing that, I set sail with my vessel to explore uncharted territories and forge new alliances. That’s where the similarity to
Civilization
VII
enters. Establishing fresh connections proves crucial for commerce, financing, adventures, and conflicts. Numerous regions offer fetch-quests that allow you to earn some cash when your funds run short. Additionally, you’ll encounter quests proposed by individuals you’ve newly met or even residents of your own town, adding an extra layer of intrigue.
For example, I needed to venture out onto a boat to locate a ghostly vessel and send it plunging into the depths of the sea. There were also instances where my task involved relocating inhabitants to a different region. At times, all I had to do was deliver a speech or make promises to keep everyone content for the moment. I figured that the decisions I made might influence the gameplay later on, yet because this was only a brief demonstration in sandbox mode, things aren’t clear at present.
I genuinely had a great time during this experience.
Anno 117: Pax Romana.
I sense that the complete title will surely require a delicate balance, and I’m eager to take on this challenge. For much of my trial run, I found myself in debt and had to seek out loans just to keep going. So, I’m really looking forward to acquiring new knowledge—ideally via a tutorial—to help my city flourish down the line.
Ubisoft’s
Anno 117: Pax Romana
still does not have a release date, but is reportedly set to
come out sometime in 2025
for
PlayStation 5
,
Xbox Series X|S
, and
Steam
.
