Beautiful Graphics And Lean Gameplay Makes Anno 117: Pax Romana Perfect For Newbies (Review)

City-building sims have been a foundational gaming genre for decades, with plenty of series establishing themselves over the years with their own approach to the concept. Franchises like Civilization, City Tycoon, and Frostpunk have found varying levels of success, sometimes struggling to find the right balance of gameplay depth and engaging content. The Anno series has typically leaned into the former over the latter, using its historical games and sci-fi titles to play with the inherent complexity of the genre.

The latest title, Anno 117: Pax Romana, takes a step back and focuses on easy engagement over complexity. The result is one of the more accessible and entertaining riffs on the genre in recent memory, which benefits from the phenomenal graphics and charming touches. While hardcore strategy gamers might get bored with the more pulled-back elements, it all makes for a city-building sim that’s easy to recommend even to players who might otherwise balk at the genre.

Score: 4/5

Pros:	Cons:
Phenomenal graphics and streamlined gameplay deliver a polished experience for casual and hardcare gamers alike.	Players looking for the deepest city-building experience possible might be disappointed by the focus on accessibility over complexity.
Compelling campaign mode is the perfect onboarding tool for gamers.	The campaign’s relatively short length leaves the player wanting more.
Quality of life measures find the right balance between gameplay depth and entertaining sim.	The UTI and menu layout can feel cluttered.

What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?

As with many city and civilization-building strategy games, Anno 117: Pax Romana’s single-player mode is designed around teaching players everything they need to know ahead of online play and sandbox mode. For Anno 117: Pax Romana, the campaign mode is fairly short but also very entertaining. Filtered through a plot that has enough comedy to be charming and enough twists to keep the tension high, the campaign mode made for a very entertaining introduction to the game.

Players are given two potential avatars (and sent to Albion, otherwise known as Celtic England, to serve as the governor of a new colony at the behest of Emperor Lucius. There, players are tasked with expanding the Roman empire, solidifying supply routes, fighting off the local resistance, and making more decisions that impact their growing community. It’s funny enough to be charming and with enough twists to keep the tension high, even as the real purpose of the campaign is to whet the player’s appetite for more gameplay.

The biggest problem is the overall length of the storyline, as it ultimately left me wanting more. However, this also helps keep the character focus fairly tight. It also does its job very well, walking players through a streamlined and fairly easy-to-master approach to the city-building sim genre. If anything, I wish the campaign mode had been longer and afforded more depth, so I could have gotten more involved in the plot as it unfolded. However, for what it’s worth, Pax Romana‘s story mode is delightful.

Refining The Wheel Instead Of Reinventing It

The gameplay of Anno 117: Pax Romana will be familiar to anyone who has played a previous entry in the series, as well as gamers well-versed in titles like Civilization. Developer Ubisoft Mainz doesn’t reinvent the wheel with this title. If anything, Pax Romana takes a step back from the more complex approaches that other titles have. There’s a simplicity to Pax Romana‘s approach to construction and expansion that makes it ideal for players who are new to the genre or still learning the ropes.

The game onboards players with deceptive ease, although the in-game menus (as with many games in the format) can be a little muddled, especially early on. The UTI can be hard to adjust to, especially on consoles. This is another example of a title released across platforms that favors the ease of PC mouse and keyboard play. However, there’s a keen focus on keeping the player’s attention on their growing community, ensuring that the player never feels too disconnected from their work.

This is in large part thanks to Anno 117: Pax Romana‘s gorgeous graphics, fleshing out the world, especially on the PlayStation 5. The key to victory is supply line management, although a mastery of diplomacy, the expansion of a military, and the embrace of religion are also viable options for progression. All of the gameplay has been streamlined, with even combat being transformed into a rock-paper-scissors style that ensures players don’t get bogged down with too many variables.

It’s certainly not the most complicated approach to the genre, especially after Anno 1800 was commended (and criticized) for its ridiculously deep gameplay options. As a result, the more streamlined approach of Anno 117: Pax Romana might be a disappointment for fans of the series who were hoping to see this title double down on the more complex elements of previous entries, but it makes it ideal for newbies still learning the ropes or experienced players looking for a more casual and entertaining take on the genre.

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered

Anno 117: Pax Romana is a slick and gorgeous-looking riff on the city-building genre, with the sheer execution of the concept standing out as a true strength of the title. The visuals for the game are top-notch, with a certain amount of charm to each creation that makes it more than just checking off boxes on a list. It all adds a sense of liveliness to the overall experience that can be missing from this genre.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the city-building sims, going all the way back to playing SimCity 2000 as a child in a school computer lab. I love the game concept, and it can feel great to get a full civilization moving and bustling. However, the often overly complex gameplay and typical lack of narrative connection always kept me at a distance, even as I recognize that’s exactly what some players want.

Anno 117: Pax Romana feels like an attempt by Ubisoft to find a happy medium, with a streamlined approach to the game that tells a compelling story and opens up the gameplay for more casual players. It’s overall a compelling move, helping keep the game pace strong while delivering on a polished and compelling game world. It’s easy to get lost in the story and worldbuilding, expanding into Celtic lands and debating the right balanced approach to assimilation and growth. While hardcore strategy games might balk at some of the simplification, it all makes Anno 117: Pax Romana a more entertaining title than many others in the genre.

Comicbook.com was provided a PlayStation 5 review code for the purposes of this review.