Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response when I discovered this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. However, if 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 can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the previous Anno title, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would operate prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this feature is a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets across my settlement and visited shops, taverns, floral patches, and cockle pickers — it was glorious to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected numerous fine points that would escape notice from above: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that I could not just observe agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe specific hair details, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike nightmarish entities these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Amber garment? 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; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten 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 experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.