Anno 117: Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as I was the moment I learned this hidden feature. Excuse me while temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates using a top-down camera. However, if you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in the previous Anno title, I looked forward to experience it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the lively avenues across my settlement and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected numerous fine points that would escape notice from above: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that not only could I observe crop lands, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons these days.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
