Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response the moment I learned this hidden feature. Excuse me while briefly leave managing my empire, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and take a spin around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person View
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates using a top-down camera. Yet, when you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would operate until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I walked the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to see my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting 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 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that besides being able to view agricultural plots, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe separate follicular elements, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons now.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.
