Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as my own reaction the moment I learned this secret option. I must step away from overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates from a bird's-eye view. However, if you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “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. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the lively avenues through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to observe all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to view crop lands, but also access them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, 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. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
