Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response upon finding out this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and take a spin across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, the game Anno 117 is typically played from a bird's-eye view. But, should you input a hidden code — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the latest installment, but I wasn’t sure it would function before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature tends to be a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to observe my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that I could not just look upon farming fields, but also enter them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. 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 any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe engravings on walls, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then experimented with certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
