Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person View.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, your surprise matches compared to my initial response upon finding out this concealed mode. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. But, should 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 the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was included in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would function until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this option tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I walked the busy roads through my metropolis and toured markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed a variety of intricacies I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just observe crop lands, but also step into them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see separate follicular elements, but you will see wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
At the moment I believed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.