Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches compared to my initial response when I discovered this hidden feature. I must step away from my empire’s management, entrust it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this option is a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Once I crawled out, I strolled the lively avenues of my city and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and cockle pickers — it was glorious to witness all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points I might have missed from above: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that besides being able to view agricultural plots, but also access them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
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 inside seating instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see any individual strands of hair, but you will see wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.
