Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play the game Anno 117 in first-person? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as I was when I discovered this secret option. Allow me to temporarily abandon my empire’s management, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the previous Anno title, I was eager to try it out in the new release, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature is a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I walked the busy roads through my metropolis and explored shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to observe all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that besides being able to view crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe separate follicular elements, but you will see engravings on walls, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, eye details, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Red toga? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
