Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as I was the moment I learned this secret option. I must temporarily abandon managing my empire, entrust it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to experience it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would operate before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode can be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Ancient Streets
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets through my metropolis and visited stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to witness my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I view agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating instead of on a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, iris elements, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I then experimented with various digit inputs and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I had found everything available in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.
