Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response the moment I learned this secret option. I must step away from overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates using a top-down camera. But, should you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this option can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I strolled the lively avenues through my metropolis and visited markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed from above: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that not only could I look upon farming fields, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe specific hair details, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions now.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I then experimented with certain numeric keys and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting 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 Joy of Joyriding
At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.
