Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, your surprise matches compared to my initial response when I discovered this concealed mode. I must step away from overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced using a top-down camera. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was included in the previous Anno title, I was eager to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would operate prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this option is prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads across my settlement and explored markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to witness the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted upon discovering that I could not just view crop lands, but also access them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Graphics and Ambiance
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, but you will see engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like nightmarish entities these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then experimented with various digit inputs and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Thrill of Transportation
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. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
