Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as I was upon finding out this secret option. Allow me to briefly leave my empire’s management, entrust it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates from a bird's-eye view. But, should you input a hidden code — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or “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. Because an analogous secret was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would operate before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this feature tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets of my city and toured markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to see all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I detected all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to view crop lands, but also enter them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I could walk onto clay pits, 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), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe specific hair details, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Amber garment? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, 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 gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
