Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person View
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 is typically played from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in the previous Anno title, I looked forward to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this feature tends to be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I walked the bustling streets across my settlement and explored shops, taverns, flower fields, and cockle pickers — the experience was splendid to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
More Than Just Walking
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that not only could I view agricultural plots, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, 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While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench instead of on a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions these days.
Experimentation and Customization
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 zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, 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 elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I approached opposing forces during active combat and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
