Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Stunning First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this secret option. I must briefly leave overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to test it in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would operate prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this mode can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I strolled the busy roads of my city and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I noticed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting 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 felt particularly pleased upon discovering that not only could I view agricultural plots, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench instead of on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A pleasant regional Celt then began complimenting my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.
