Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response when I discovered this secret option. Allow me to briefly leave overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. But, should you enter a secret combination — including “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 realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode tends to be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads through my metropolis and toured markets, breweries, flower fields, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to witness the fruits of my labor using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed numerous fine points I might have missed from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that besides being able to observe crop lands, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, iris elements, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions these days.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Red toga? Blue and purple toga? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
At the moment I believed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
