Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response the moment I learned this secret option. Excuse me while briefly leave overseeing my civilization, leave it in a capable deputy, 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, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk the realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would work prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature tends to be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Streets of Rome
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets through my metropolis and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to observe my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted when I found out that besides being able to look upon farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice specific hair details, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, pupils, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, 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 should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.
