Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person View.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response the moment I learned this secret option. Allow me to step away from overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person View
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. But, should you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you gain the ability to walk the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret was included in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature tends to be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Roaming the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I strolled the busy roads across my settlement and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to witness all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio have the budget for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, 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 observe my settlement depicted 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 far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe separate follicular elements, however, you can observe engravings on walls, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, eye details, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions now.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I then decided to hit some number buttons and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, 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 people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
