Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. Allow me to temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a reliable subordinate, take a wagon, and take a spin around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced using a top-down camera. However, if you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would function before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this option can be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I walked the lively avenues across my settlement and explored stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — the experience was splendid to witness the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also access them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe specific hair details, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, eye details, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I had found everything available in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
