Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as I was the moment I learned this secret option. I must temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, the game Anno 117 usually operates from an overhead perspective. But, should you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to test it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would function before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I wandered the busy roads through my metropolis and visited stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — the experience was splendid to observe my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I noticed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited upon discovering that not only could I observe crop lands, but also access them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe separate follicular elements, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I then experimented with various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You may carry a sword and shield, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
