Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, your surprise matches as I was when I discovered this secret option. I must temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this option tends to be a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets across my settlement and visited shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I observed all kinds of details that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
More Than Just Walking
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that besides being able to view agricultural plots, but also step into them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions now.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox 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,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Thrill of Transportation
At the moment I believed I had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
