Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this hidden feature. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates from an overhead perspective. However, if you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Once I crawled out, I strolled the lively avenues of my city and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting 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 felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I look upon agricultural plots, but also enter them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe specific hair details, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons these days.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? 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. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Combat Limitations
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 amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
