Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to step away from my empire’s management, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. However, if you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I looked forward to test it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would operate before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to witness all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I observed all kinds of details I might have missed from above: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that besides being able to look upon farming fields, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, pupils, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in battle encounters. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
