Anno 117 Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response when I discovered this secret option. Allow me to step away from overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this feature is a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I walked the bustling streets of my city and toured markets, breweries, flower fields, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to see the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I noticed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that besides being able to look upon agricultural plots, but also access them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see separate follicular elements, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary compared to Anno 1800, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — the last option enabling 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? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.