Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 in first-person? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this concealed mode. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. But, should you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in the new release, yet I had doubts it would function before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (possibly an unexpected bug — this option is a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I strolled the bustling streets across my settlement and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I observed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that not only could I observe crop lands, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I could walk onto clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature 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 — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies 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 Joy of Joyriding
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
