Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. Excuse me while briefly leave overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. However, if you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets of my city and toured markets, breweries, floral patches, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed numerous fine points I might have missed from above: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that besides being able to view crop lands, but also enter them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Graphics and Ambiance
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see separate follicular elements, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.
Discovery and Modification
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I attempted, naturally).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The single feature that frustrated 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 amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
