Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. I must step away from managing my empire, delegate it to a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. However, if you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard 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. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would operate before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets across my settlement and visited shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I noticed all kinds of details I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
More Than Just Walking
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that besides being able to view agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) 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, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions now.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and found I could alter my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
