Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, delegate it to a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person View
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. However, if you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would work prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets across my settlement and toured shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), however, you can definitely wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; 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).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey cart, in particular, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.
