Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. I must temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and take a spin around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates from a bird's-eye view. But, should you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls 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. Because an analogous secret was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in the new release, yet I had doubts it would work prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode can be prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
After extracting myself, I strolled the lively avenues through my metropolis and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I noticed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
Further Than Mere Wandering
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that not only could I observe farming fields, but also access them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building as teaching was underway, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice specific hair details, however, you can observe engravings on walls, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
