Anno 117: Pax Romanais the latest upcoming installment in Ubisoft’s long-runningAnnofranchise. The city builder franchise heads to Ancient Rome for the first time, putting players in the shoes of a Roman Emperor tasked with building a fully-functioning city from the ground up. Boasting bothground and naval combatas well as an engaging narrative where player choice matters, Ubisoft Mainz has pulled out all the stops to make this the most detailed, in-depth entry in the series to date.
Game Rant was able to go hands-on withAnno 117: Pax Romanafor a couple of hours at a recent Ubisoft event. The game is shaping up to be the series' most in-depth entry yet, with an incredible level of detail permeating through every part of it. Those who’ve always wanted to create their very own Roman Empire will find plenty to love about Ubisoft’s upcoming city builder.
Anno 117: Pax Romana Eases Players Into its Vast World
After a brief introductory cutscene, the player is asked to select from two protagonists, a brother or sister, each with their own distinct personality traits. Decisions made throughout the game can have a big impact, sometimes being the difference between peaceful resolution and warfare, so it’s fairly safe to assume these protagonists will havedifferent dialogue optionsduring meetings with other rulers and NPCs as the campaign progresses.
After this, the player is let loose in the central western Italian region of Latium, on whichRome was originally founded. Latium is full of coastlines, rolling hills and rivers to build on and around. Rich with trees to produce wood, rivers to utilize running water, and ports to fortify and establish trade routes, there’s a plethora of opportunities for players to uncover in their quest to build a stable, profitable civilization. Resources must be stockpiled and can be used to build, or to trade with, should the player need to raise funds.
Core Attributes in Pax Romana
There are eight main attributes for the player to keep an eye on:
Residents must be housed, and their needs taken care of. To begin with, these needs can be as simple as running water and food, but as the residents grow in number and stature, they gradually become more complex, asking more of the player in terms of both time and resources. The level of detail is at times astonishing. For example, a pig farm is needed to produce ingredients like soap which can keep residents clean. However, placing the pig farm in too close a proximity to residents will result in them becoming unhappy with the unpleasant smell accompanying the pigs.
Pax Romana Offers Rewarding Experience With a Steep Learning Curve
The city-building genreis not always the most intuitive or inviting, particularly for newcomers, butAnno 117: Pax Romanadoes its best to ease the player in gently with tutorials before slowly cranking up the complexity. Despite these best efforts, though, there’s no denying that things can quickly get pretty overwhelming in the game’s first few hours. The learning curve is a steep one, but after this, the game’s intricate mechanics start to make more sense, and understanding how they all come together is both rewarding and, at times, satisfyingly therapeutic.
Once the player has established a working city,Anno 117: Pax Romana’s impressive visualsreally come to the fore. The living, breathing city is full of life, incorporating a full day/night cycle with atmospheric weather, with residents busy going about their daily tasks, whatever they may be. The immersion is impressive, with every aspect of Roman life accounted for. Libraries and schools can be built to improve residents' knowledge. Taverns can be erected for entertainment, boosting morale. Other structures like the coliseum will be available to build in the game’s full release.
Players Can Choose to Avoid or Embrace Combat in Pax Romana
A barracks can be built, allowing the player to train soldiers for both land and sea. This is far from straightforward though, with the troops proving to be a costly acquisition who need to be fed, watered, and entertained. That being said, Ubisoft Mainz was keen to point out that combat will be entirely optional, with peaceful negotiations a viable option should players wish to avoid warfare. Faith played a huge part inAncient Roman culture, and the player is able to choose which deity they want their residents to worship, with each offering unique boons. For example, choosing Mars, the Roman god of war, will result in increased soldier morale and combat prowess.
A new addition to thisAnnoinstallment is the discovery tree. Acting similarly to atraditional skill tree, it allows players to unlock new perks and skills as they hit certain milestones, with over 150 perks to unlock. These include things like new road types, which allow for faster transportation of goods and materials, and new weapon types for soldiers. This gives a degree of freedom to the player, allowing them to focus on the things they enjoy the most.
The discovery tree is divided into three main categories: Economy (impacting things like the production of materials), Civic (influencing the residents, their culture and religion), and Military (allowing players to unlock new types of ships, weapons and fortifications).
The World of Pax Romana is Vast
Of course, while Latium was the only location on show, it isn’t the only one in the game. Players can send ships out to find other islands and locations, which will sometimes be filled with hostile pirates and other unsavory individuals that will need to be dealt with either through negotiations or violence. The aim ofPax Romanais to allow players to build organically. Each building type is distinctive from the next, making them easily identifiable, andthe UI isn’t cluttered, with the layout of menus feeling natural. In the space of a few hours, we were able to build a small but functioning city, leaving us with a taste of what is to come when the full game launches in winter 2025.
Game Rant was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.
