Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response when I discovered this hidden feature. Excuse me while step away from managing my empire, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would work until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the lively avenues through my metropolis and explored shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that not only could I view farming fields, but also access them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely 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
Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe separate follicular elements, yet you will notice engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike nightmarish entities anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; 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’ve tried, of course).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid 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 started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
