Anno 117: Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response the moment I learned this hidden feature. Excuse me while step away from overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. However, if 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 console — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the previous Anno title, I looked forward to test it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this mode is prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Ancient Streets
After extracting myself, I wandered the lively avenues through my metropolis and explored markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I observed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted when I found out that not only could I view agricultural plots, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice specific hair details, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
