Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as I was upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to briefly leave overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. However, if you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the previous Anno title, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would operate prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I strolled the busy roads of my city and explored markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to see all my hard work through a fresh lens. I noticed all kinds of details that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted upon discovering that besides being able to look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons now.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit some number buttons and found I could alter my avatar's look. Golden robe? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, 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 gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
