As the sun rises on the cobbled market street that rises from the bustling docks on the dynamic waters of the Mediterranean to the up-to-date forum high on the hill above, Anno 117: Pax Romana fills me with wonder and civic pride. It’s taken a long time, but I feel like I’ve finally landed on this series that I’ve had a somewhat rocky relationship with, having come in a bit behind schedule and at an awkward moment with 2205. The complicated economy can still feel spectacularly off-axis and send you into a terrible downward spiral, but the wonderful mechanics of trade, naval warfare, and cultural mixing offer a chance to right the ship.
The basic procedure in Anno 117 is familiar and effective if you have played other games in the series. You start by building modest mansions to house hard-working people freedmen, or freed people – a somewhat conspicuous omission of the institution of Roman slavery. Once their needs are met, they can rise up the social ladder to become snobbish patricians, demanding all kinds of exotic delicacies from all over the world.
Part of what drives these promotions is simply city-wide access to merchandise. But another element is living near prestigious buildings such as theaters and temples… and away from unpleasant or polluting ones such as a charcoal stove. I like the way this naturally creates clusters of higher-class homes on essential shopping streets, narrowing into working-class neighborhoods in more industrial areas. This adds the feeling of a real, bustling city. And since paved roads extend the reach of these buildings, it’s an improvement that allows you to see its positive effects right away.
It’s really nice to see my little citizens in togas going about their business. Each building, from a stately villa to an idyllic lavender farm, is full of detail and character. Even the untouched green fields and peaceful blue waters teeming with marine life create a mighty sense of place. The character models of the leaders and advisors may be the only thing that didn’t impress me. They’re full of character, but some of the campaign cutscenes in particular had some sedate lip-sync issues that made it feel like a much older game or a poorly dubbed movie.
The summer paradise of Lazio is not the only place worth visiting. Eventually, you’ll unlock the ability to sail to the misty, rocky Albion – that is, Britain – with its own resources, aesthetics, and population. I was a little worried that Anno would rely too heavily on other “mystical Celts” stereotypes based on some of the marketing, but it’s actually a pretty grounded and reasonable image. The really fascinating choice you have in this region is whether to stay true to Celtic traditions or completely Romanize your up-to-date themes. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and ultimately can be mixed and matched to create powerful synergies.
However, Anno 117 really comes to life with its detailed trading system. To truly meet the needs of the discerning nobility in both regions, you would need to create luxury goods production chains that could draw resources from two or three different islands and then send them across the world map from one region to the other. Each shipment requires separate ships to be assigned to trade routes, so I can see exactly where my next cheese shipment is and even redirect it to another location.
It’s all quite effortless to set up and upgrade thanks to the well-organized interface, and naturally creates an incentive to build smaller villages that deal with one specific thing, as well as warehouses and way stations to speed things up. My cheese island is quite far away, so I noticed that my merchant ships were spending half their time sailing through Albion. But if I set up a colony nearby that is basically just a cheese warehouse and a few subsistence fishing grounds, I can constantly transport cheese there via intra-regional trade ships that will be collected simultaneously at the edge of the map. I love this kind of logistics.
Anno 117 is also a pretty good RTS. I’m especially a fan of naval combat, which I had to quickly master in order to protect my trade routes from increasingly fierce pirates. Maneuvering the ships feels ponderous and realistic, with differences in maneuvering depending on whether they rely on sails, oars, or both. I eventually got quite good at maneuvers like trapping a sneaky little pirate ship in a cove from which there was no escape.
Ground combat is fine. It serves its purpose by having a petite selection of melee, ranged, and siege units that can fill several different roles. It’s possible to succeed without getting into a land battle if you have a good fleet, but in the few cases where I’ve managed to do so, I’ve found some fascinating tactics worth considering. At least it feels like a real RTS as opposed to an unfinished minigame, which I really appreciate.
Diplomacy is a fairly basic discipline, with one fascinating storyline being that the Emperor works a little differently. You can’t actually make treaties with him, but he will make demands on you, and success, failure or refusal affects your reputation in Rome. When he likes you, you get bonuses. If he doesn’t do this, you will receive a penalty. But both ends of the scale end up with very powerful rewards. Either you will be good and be appointed Consul, or you will defy his authority so successfully that you will grant yourself proconsular authority like Caesar.
There is a decent story campaign, but it’s really more of a tutorial. It took me less than 10 hours to complete the game, and it really only scratches the surface of the mechanics that can be played with in infinite mode. You can play as Marcus or Marcia, the latter being a sort of crazy “Weekend at Bernicus” scenario where you take over as governor of your completely undead husband. It’s solid to call it Shakespeare, but it has some fascinating intrigue and a cast of memorable characters. Ben-Baalion the Canaanite was a particularly engaging companion who presented me with an emotionally satisfying choice at the end.
While you can continue playing from the end of the campaign for as long as you like, I spent most of my time in infinite mode, which allows you to start the game in Albion or Latium and offers a wide range of difficulty options. You can even choose from a group of competing governors with different personalities and playstyles. However, I don’t think they necessarily play by the same rules as you as a player. Looking at some of the cities they built in the behind schedule game… I honestly don’t know what’s going on. Still, they can be compelling opponents or valuable trading partners.
There are still some classic problems with Anno, such as the fact that very huge economies can become unwieldy and prone to death spirals. If food is disrupted, the population will decline, which causes underemployment in food buildings, which leads to even less food and even greater population decline. At one point I had to start over because I accidentally changed the patron god of a huge city, causing it to immediately become insolvent and almost impossible to recover due to lost farming bonuses. But trading is the hero here again, because setting buy orders on anything that’s currently in compact supply can save you from a lot of sticky situations as long as you have the cash. It’s a bit fiddly to set up lots of different trades in lots of different ports the first time, but the interface is effortless to exploit and once I got everything figured out, I didn’t have to fiddle with them too much.
