Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as I was when I discovered this concealed mode. Allow me to step away from overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — for example “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. Since a similar easter egg was part of the previous Anno title, I looked forward to experience it in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would operate until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets across my settlement and visited shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I noticed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
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 look upon farming fields, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, 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 have the budget for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting within a bench 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 within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Red toga? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies 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 Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Fighting Restrictions
The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
