Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. I must step away from my empire’s management, delegate it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. However, if you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would work until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I strolled the lively avenues through my metropolis and visited markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected all kinds of details that would escape notice from above: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted when I found out that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, eye details, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like nightmarish entities now.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered the first-person view, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and seeing opponents retreat, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
