Review: For disappointed ‘Civ’ fans, ‘Anno 117’ will scratch that strategy itch

With Sid Meier s Civilization VII a disappointment Anno has an opportunity to snag the strategy match spotlight The Ubisoft franchise has been in the shadow of Firaxis long-running classic though it takes a different approach when it comes to mixing history and video games Whereas Civilization focuses on nation-building from ancient times to the future Anno takes a narrower approach Instead of running an empire that stands the test of time Anno focuses on city building and creating colonies that work in unison to fend off and conquer their rivals THINKING ABOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE The latest entry to the long-running strategy series is Anno Pax Romana which takes place during the height of the Roman Empire Players take on the role of a governor tasked with running an island They start off with a trading post and they ll have to send woodcutters to the forest and build sawmills for lumber That s how the campaign starts but from there the city builder promptly grows more complex Players have to nurture food support clothing a military community services and other demands As a newcomer to the series it can be overwhelming and the best tutorial that Anno offers players is the single-player campaign where they choose between Marcus Naukratius or Marcia Tertia who each have their own storylines Although the origin stories about how they become governor differs players are on equal footing when it comes to the political drama and shape of the campaign which takes them through the death of the emperor and an exile to Albion a new locale that s a stand-in for Britain The highlands and moors are where much of the campaign takes place before returning to Latium where Anno opens up the full sandbox experience Players will need to plant lots of lavendar to create soap a product that certain groups use in Anno Ubisoft GOING FROM CIV TO ANNO As a Civ fan jumping into Anno the gameplay is both familiar and new It feels more granular when it comes to city building as players have to figure out the logistics of each structure and supply Players have to place production facilities near warehouses and those also need to be near shops The land and naval combat adds spice and drives the conflict in the campaign Players have research bonuses that s comparable to a tech tree and how rapidly that advances is influenced by the choice of island residents and structures Religion is also another feature that adds bonuses to an island and is the counterpoint to research On top of that each island has a fertility of distinct materials meaning players have to colonize fast to total the best ones Those should be familiar to veterans of Civ but despite the similarities players will run into roadblocks and pit falls because of the complex systems For novices Anno has a learning curve the size of Mount Everest and it s daunting when realizing how they re all connected Players are exiled after the death of the emperor in the single-player campaign of Anno Ubisoft MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCKS Players will run into issues such as the lack of workers before realizing that building an army pulls utility members from an island s population They can expand and build more materials but not realize that the fire risks is rising within a city and that building fire station is more effective in the center of town rather than the edges It s not the major concepts that are intimidating The systems make sense but rather it s how they integrate with each other and how they re deployed that pose a challenge Players need to do research on city layouts and the best ratios of buildings to people After mastering that the scope of those logistics expands It s not just about building an effective megalopolis on one island Players have to figure out how to specialize each location so that it fills role in the wider colonies Meanwhile players have to manage agreement routes and diplomatic relations with other governors to acquire support All of this is needed to keep the Roman and Celtic populations happy with their demands fulfilled while also offering safeguard from attack The campaign fails to explain these intricacies well so players will have to find outside sources to figure out what they re doing wrong Thankfully the strategy title has plenty of materials online to guide players or at least offer hints on how to improve their city building For those who love researching and stress testing systems Anno is a tournament with bottomless depth It has little wrinkles that lets players experiment to maximize guidance or come up strategies to try out in the sandbox side but it will take time to explore it or even tread its waters Being fluent in the championship s system will take weeks but mastering Anno will take months and that s the draw of this challenge It offers the feasible for limitless fun that perhaps can last as long as the Pax Romana itself Anno Pax Romana Three stars Platform PC PlayStation Xbox Series X and Series S Rating Teen