'Anno 117' review: Build, trade, strategize – on crooked Roman roads

Anno now has diagonal roads. If that alone hasn't already blown your mind and convinced you to get the latest in this cult strategy series, there's something else this game offers: a massive amount of freedom. Berlin (dpa) – It borders on a revolution in the Anno series. One of the first things fans learned about the new "Anno 117: Pax Romana" is that diagonal roads and paths can now be drawn on the square grid where players place their buildings. What might not sound like a particularly significant change has actually caused quite a stir. As always in this series, everything begins on an island. The flagship is docked in the harbour and some building materials have been loaded. From then on, players are in charge of building and managing their own Roman empire. "Anno 117" does exactly what you'd expect from the successful series in many ways. The first thing you need is a lumberjack. The wood is used to build houses, which allow you to reach the first, lowest population tier. The inhabitants of these houses naturally have needs that must be met. Initially, these are food and clothing. But at this point, the game does things quite differently from its predecessors. You have the choice of how you fulfill those needs. For food, you can either catch fish, grow oats for porridge — or both. There are also different options for producing clothing. Each fulfilled need brings different benefits: for example, increased happiness, higher income or a larger population. But only one specific option is needed to reach the next population level, from which new buildings, resources and production chains develop. Choose your region According to developer Ubisoft Blue Byte, freedom was a key element in the game's development. This includes the choice of region. At launch, the Mediterranean region of Latium and the Celtic region of Albion are available. Players can freely choose which of the two regions they want to start in — beyond the campaign, which always begins in Latium. They are also free to decide whether or not to expand into another region at all. This makes the development paths more open than in its predecessor, "Anno 1800." In the Celtic region, the question of how the occupiers treat the local population is also intriguing. Will the Celts be Romanised, their swamps drained and Roman temples built? Or are they allowed to retain their customs? Furthermore, the behaviour of a non-player character, modelled after the military leader Boudicca, influences the natives’ attitude towards the invaders — and whether they will attack them. The Emperor's favour is also important. Depending on the player's choices in certain quests or through specific actions, their reputation at the Roman court rises or falls. A good relationship, for example, makes the colonisation of new islands easier. If the player becomes too rebellious, the Emperor will send troops. Prepare for battles Also returning to the series are land armies and their corresponding battles. Legionaries, archers, and siege weapons can be trained to defend the islands and the Praetor's villa. However, according to the development studio, this gameplay element is also optional. The result is an "Anno" game based on the "anything goes" principle. Players set their own goals — outside of the story campaign — and work towards them. These goals can be achieved in various ways. What the latest instalment aims to avoid is the pressure to take a specific major step to progress. But at its core, "Anno 117: Pax Romana" remains a very good "Anno" title: building and managing production chains, transporting and trading goods by ship, colonizing further islands and expanding the population to the wealthiest levels. And there's plenty of freedom to design your main island not only functionally but also beautifully, with ornaments, plazas and Roman statues. This is underscored by an impressive visual presentation that remains bustling even at the lowest zoom level. Even those who don't think about the Roman Empire a lot will find "Anno 117" to be a superb, long-lasting, and comprehensive city-building strategy game that ranks among the best in the genre. The game is available for PCs and Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles and costs from €60/$60. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn wck yyzz a3 bzl av tsn pmc

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