Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as I was 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 through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, the game Anno 117 is typically played from a bird's-eye view. But, should you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would function prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the bustling streets across my settlement and visited stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to see all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed all kinds of details that would escape notice from above: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted when I found out that besides being able to view crop lands, but also access them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio 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.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, excluding a few unpolished motions and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit some number buttons and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace 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 in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — 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 battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
