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Preview: Anno 117 has me hooked first try
by Samuel Buchmann
Playing "Pompeii: The Legacy": lots of "Anno", little new
1.12.2025
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Debora Pape
The Early Access project "Pompeii: The Legacy" aims to stand out from the crowd of construction simulations with the reconstruction of Pompeii and a family story. This is not yet entirely successful.
Once again, there is a shortage of labour from the plebeian class. Without them, no one will do the work needed to expand my little Roman planned city. I'm building a few new residential buildings. The situation in the mines and workshops eases. Nevertheless, my patricians, who are spoilt by consumption, complain about the lack of luxury items. More rose gardens are needed so that I can produce perfume. Then there are no more boards, then the variety of food is too small, then there is no more room in the warehouses. There's always something.
What reads like a typical five minutes in «Anno 117: Pax Romana», I actually experience in «Pompeii: The Legacy». The building game, which is currently in Early Access, also transports me to the ancient Roman Empire. The only difference is that «Pompeii» is not made by a triple-A studio, but by a single developer from Croatia.
There is no shortage of building games, including those with a Roman setting. In most of them, I found a new settlement in some piece of unspoilt nature and turn it into a flourishing city.
In theory, «Pompeii: The Legacy» takes a different approach: In the year 100 AD, Emperor Trajan entrusts me with the task of rebuilding the city of Pompeii, which had been destroyed and buried by a volcanic eruption 20 years earlier. In campaign mode, I travelled with my family to the most famous pile of rubble in history. Building up my family dynasty is another aspect that sets «Pompeii» apart from the genre competition.
Rebuilding instead of rebuilding ... but only in theory
I find the idea of rebuilding exciting. It could be interesting to clear and dismantle ruins, recover valuable materials and gradually rebuild Pompeii.
Unfortunately, the reconstruction aspect plays no role at all in the game. At least not in the first ten hours that I played it. Instead of literally peeling Pompeii from the ashes and filling the ruined city with life again, I build a new city on a green meadow a good distance from the site of the tragedy. It has nothing to do with Pompeii. I use a few ruins in my urban area as quarries for building materials, but this is not necessary.
I build my old/new city on a grid map without any surprises. I need housing for slave labourers, who form the backbone of my workforce. Later, the higher classes of plebeians and patricians are added. They have more needs and expect amenities that I have to provide for them. Otherwise, they will pack their bags and move out without compromise.
I use a research tree to unlock new technologies and laws. After a short time, I build a harbour that connects me to the Roman Empire's trade network. I can use it to buy and sell goods from harbour cities all over Europe.
This gameplay hardly differs from that of other construction games. But there is potential, because Vesuvius is still active. At one point, my city experiences an earthquake that destroys a few houses. A screenshot on the website shows falling lava bombs. I have not yet experienced a volcanic eruption, but the mountain of fire could still cause trouble in the future. According to the game description, there will also be other disasters, such as plagues of locusts.
The dynastic development is (still) pale
My building endeavours are embedded in a background story about a patrician named Maximus and his family. At the start of the game, I have four dynasties to choose from, each with different advantages and disadvantages.
Messengers and other visitors keep popping up during the campaign to give me a new task or simply to tell me a story. That way, I can find out what's happening in the empire. At one point, Maximus is even sent off to war and disappears for a few years. His absence has no influence on the game. It's nice that all dialogues are set to music.
I like the idea of linking the construction aspect with a separate dynasty. However, you don't need to count on a family tree network like in «Crusader Kings». At the moment, the game doesn't care who holds the key to the city. Various talents and attributes of family members are not yet implemented in the current version of the game; there is a placeholder in the interface.
Looks great, but still needs a lot of fine-tuning
The game struggles with quality-of-life problems, such as the lack of overview. Finding buildings of a certain type in the city area feels like a punishment. The same applies when I want to sell a certain product and am looking for trading partners on the map of Europe.
Some mechanics are not entirely clear to me, such as how exactly goods are distributed and how exactly my finances are made up. There are huge fluctuations in resources: A large stockpile of thousands of units of a product can be used up in no time and I only realise it when my population complains.
All production buildings can be upgraded by several levels to increase output. This only costs me a few materials and some money, which is usually not a hurdle. I immediately upgrade newly built houses to the maximum - it's annoying and feels superfluous. If I can easily upgrade anyway, why is the feature implemented at all?
I can easily commission research without having to do anything. I just need enough raw materials and money. This gives me access to new buildings far too quickly for my liking, which I hardly appreciate. I race through the research tree and pave houses into the landscape without really noticing their effects or taking a closer look at them. That feels loveless.
The advantage of this is that my settlement is growing rapidly. Quick successes are also successes. And the settlement is really impressive: Buildings and decorative modules - which are very reminiscent of «Anno» - are beautifully designed and there are people everywhere carrying things or chatting with others. My new Pompeii is really something to behold.
Conclusion: «Pompeii: The Legacy» is worth keeping an eye on
At the moment, «Pompeii: The Legacy» does not yet stand out from other construction games. But there is potential: Vesuvius could become a threat and add some bite to the gameplay. The dynasty mechanics don't seem to have been implemented yet, but they could also offer opportunities to set the game apart from others.
The existing variety of buildings and products that can be produced provides a solid basis, but there is still room for improvement due to the lack of overview and little individual spirit. I think it's a shame that I'm building a new city instead of rebuilding Pompeii as expected. In any case, the game is already a visual treat.
_ «Pompeii: The Legacy» has been available in Early Access on Steam (PC) since 23 September. The game was provided to me for testing purposes by Siscia Games._
Header image: Debora Pape
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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