Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished as I was the moment I learned this secret option. Excuse me while step away from my empire’s management, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “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 was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would function prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets of my city and visited stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I observe crop lands, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting in a bench instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see specific hair details, but you will see engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and pine tree leaves. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions now.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed 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.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey-powered transport, notably, moves quite quickly, 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 sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
