Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. I must step away from my empire’s management, entrust it to a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or else “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 the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in the new release, though I was uncertain it would operate prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this mode can be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads through my metropolis and visited shops, taverns, floral patches, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to see all my hard work through a fresh lens. I detected numerous fine points that would escape notice from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to view crop lands, but also enter them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Graphics and Ambiance
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities these days.
Discovery and Modification
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (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 listened to a dad instructing his kid that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female 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 had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.