Anno 117 Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person View.
Wait — did you know you can play the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as I was when I discovered this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. But, should you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would work until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the lively avenues across my settlement and visited stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just observe crop lands, but also enter them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I was able to enter earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe specific hair details, yet you will notice engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, pupils, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons now.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered 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 character’s appearance. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, only to be ignored completely. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.
