Anno 117: Pax Romana Review – My Roman Empire

Anno 117: Pax Romana takes a look back: after the Industrial Revolution in Anno 1800, we’re invited to travel back to the heights of the Roman Empire and build a city that will become the stuff of legend. Find out how successful this new city-building strategy is in our review.

• Developer: Ubisoft Mainz
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
• Release date: November 13, 2025

A review copy was provided by Achivka, the country’s largest video game distributor.

Anno 117: Pax Romana puts players in the shoes of the governor of Rome, and from the start, gives them the choice of character. Players can choose to play as either a woman or a man, and each protagonist will have their own storyline.

For example, by placing a woman at the helm, you’ll get a story about the challenges she’ll face living in the shadow of her gravely ill husband and making decisions for him. Story missions include not only city-building tasks but also other activities, such as trips to social events, where the heroine will encounter behind-the-scenes intrigue and discussions about the difficult lot of women.

The campaign begins on an island, which will become the protagonist’s new home. Over time, the city will expand, and due to resource shortages, influence will spread to neighboring islands. Eventually, players will even be able to move to Albion and establish a colony there. Sandbox mode allows players to start in any location, and PvP is available, while the campaign mode relies on co-op.

Interestingly, the game feels different in different regions. Albion isn’t the same as Latium, but with a different visual filter. Different populations live here, different types of buildings are erected, and the player has the opportunity to choose whether to impose their customs on the Celts or, conversely, assimilate into their culture. Each decision has consequences, including how other leaders treat the player.

In terms of diplomacy, Anno 117: Pax Romana offers many opportunities. You can trade with neighbors, exchange goods needed by both sides, form alliances, and even wage war. Reputation is influenced by a number of factors, including the strength of the army, the happiness of the population, and the strength of faith—which makes sense: a governor with a formidable navy, happy citizens, and a developed pantheon will be respected even by the emperor himself.

But if you decide to fight, you’ll need to ensure you have a powerful army. While combat isn’t a primary focus in Anno 117: Pax Romana, the battles are quite engaging. You can control your fleet yourself, designating targets for destruction, or entrust your troops to the AI ​​and let it deal with your opponents. Moreover, military units have a certain multitasking ability: for example, ships can not only attack their own kind at sea but also target buildings and troops stationed on the shore.

And yet, the most important part of the game doesn’t happen on the battlefield. Anno 117: Pax Romana is a city-building strategy, and believe me, you’ll be constantly building. As expected, you’ll start small: a few cottages for the peasants, a couple of sawmills, and warehouses for storing produce. At this stage, you’ll have little need to worry about the well-being of your villagers—they’re a hardy bunch, and they’ll endure hardship, as long as there’s a roof over their heads and a market or tavern nearby.

However, over time, the opportunity arises to upgrade peasants to plebeians, and that’s a whole new level: they want better clothes, more interesting entertainment, and better food. So, they need to clear space for pastures, farms, and industrial buildings.

Many components of Anno 117: Pax Romana are closely interrelated. Buildings can provide both bonuses and penalties—for example, they can boost population growth but reduce fire safety, or provide a bonus to income and literacy but require highly valuable specialists. Therefore, you need to balance the placement of buildings and constantly redesign your city. If you start placing buildings haphazardly, you’ll quickly find that your citizens are dissatisfied, have nothing to eat or wear, and then a riot or epidemic is just around the corner.

Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate certain nuances: you seem to be doing everything right, but the citizens still seem to be complaining. Watchtowers are in place, fire safety is in place, and no one is getting sick—yet the city’s status stubbornly slips into negative territory. These situations are difficult to overcome, but Pax Romana is generally a smooth game, thanks in part to its user-friendly controls and logical interface. Even if you play with a gamepad, you won’t encounter any significant complications compared to keyboard and mouse controls.

Moreover, the game looks simply stunning. Every scene is full of detail, whether it’s a simple farmer at work or a ceremonial procession in honor of some god. The beautiful orchestral soundtrack is also impressive. However, this visual feast comes at the cost of performance drops, which unfortunately do occur. Whether this is critical to a comfortable gaming experience is up to you to decide.