Ubisoft blesses us with a new Anno game! And this time it will take us further back in history: to the Roman Empire.
The Anno series has taken us on virtual journeys across several centuries, from the earliest title set in 1401 to a futuristic exploration in 2205. The latest game, however, takes us further back in time than any of its predecessors.
A New Chapter In The Anno Series: Anno 117: Pax Romana
Anno 117: Pax Romana puts you in the role of a Roman governor tasked with managing the needs of your empire. The game offers a variety of gameplay options, including building cities, trading with other regions and expanding your influence through warfare. This new title, developed by Ubisoft Mainz, was presented with a live action trailer during the Ubisoft Forward event. Now, we also got some game tests that show clear improvements, but also some criticism.
Finally More Curves!
Probably the most important new feature: we can build diagonal roads and curves! So the eternal "stair-building" is finally history. Joking aside, there is one change that everyone should be looking forward to: We finally get land units back and are no longer limited to a naval war in the water. Speaking of ships and water: You can build your own ships at the harbor to put together your dream ship. Faster ships? More rowers. More firepower? More cannons. All of this comes at the expense of your capacities, so you have to decide carefully what is best for you.
Blessing Or Curse?
Nevertheless, there are some things that might cause skepticism or simply not appeal to everyone: With "skill trees", you have to "discover" a lot of progress. That sounds super exciting at first, but you could criticize the fact that essential things that you could do from the start in previous titles are now unlockable in the skill tree, such as port improvements. Also, at the beginning you don't see what's waiting for you after the big nodes, which could cause frustration.
One new feature could be a blessing for some and a curse for others: there will be many more buildings with radius effects. In other words, facilities where you have to build as many houses as possible around them. This can be great fun and keep the gameplay fresh by having to restructure from time to time or plan very carefully from the start. There are also buildings that you should definitely keep away from everything else, such as the pig farm.
It looks like we will once again have to get used to a very numbers-heavy game. Although we are already accustomed to this from previous Anno parts, there are certainly players who want a certain narrative depth. We think it can be a good thing when games stick to their identity and are already looking forward to the next installment in the series!
Scheduled for release next year, Anno 117: Pax Romana will be available not only on PC, but also on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.