Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Is a Impressive First-Person View.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as I was when I discovered this hidden feature. Excuse me while step away from overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is typically played from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in the latest installment, but I wasn’t sure it would operate prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this option can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
Upon freeing myself, I walked the busy roads of my city and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators 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 when there's no doorway obstructing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
