Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person View.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches compared to my initial response upon finding out this concealed mode. I must briefly leave managing my empire, entrust it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates using a top-down camera. However, if you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “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 was eager to experience it in the latest installment, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature is a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I walked the busy roads through my metropolis and toured shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to see the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed numerous fine points I might have missed from above: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
However, there's additional content to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that besides being able to look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then decided to hit some number buttons and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Combat Limitations
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle 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, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
