Strategy Anno 117: Pax Romana received a temporary demo on PC, but its launch was clearly not successful. Steam users massively hated the game.
The demo reveals the early part of the game: the first two levels of population in the Lacium and Albion regions in the sandbox mode. Here, you can found settlements, explore territories, build accessible buildings, and interact with NPCs. However, there is no war in the demo, there are a limited number of items for ships and villas, and the scenario itself is rigidly fixed — you cannot change settings or NPCs, as in the full game. The only thing you can choose is the starting province.
According to the description, the early part has a lot of gameplay to offer, but the player is given only one hour. Although the number of launches is not limited, fans are still unhappy with this time period. Progress cannot be saved, so after the hour is over, you will have to start all over again. This is one of the reasons why a day after the demo was launched in Steam only 45% of positive reviews.
“I was seriously thinking of canceling my pre-order because of your 1-hour demo limit and selective beta. Either do it right or don’t do it at all. You know that Anno — is not a sprint, but a marathon, but someone decided to limit the demo to a maximum of an hour,” they wrote in the reviews.
There are also many complaints about the modern sci-fi style of the interface, which has nothing to do with Roman aesthetics. Some say that the graphics style of Anno 117: Pax Romana looks cheap — when you zoom in, the picture pixelates and becomes grainy, not clear, like in the Anno 1800 engine. In general, unlike the original, the visuals, basic mechanics, and interface have been changed very inconveniently.
“You’ve successfully created the worst UI in Anno history — it’s horrible to use and has zero intuitiveness other than ‘make it console friendly’ while neglecting PC. The UI theme looks way too modern for a game set in 117 — it ruins the overall feel of the game,” commenters added.
Demo version Anno 117: Pax Romana will be available on Steam from September 2 to 16, and the final one will be released on November 13. At least the demo gives at least a superficial idea of what Ubisoft has prepared in the new Anno.
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