Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Stunning First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as I was the moment I learned this concealed mode. Allow me to step away from overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, the game Anno 117 usually operates from an overhead perspective. However, if you enter a secret combination — 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 can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this option can be prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I walked the lively avenues through my metropolis and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and cockle pickers — it was glorious to see the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I noticed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I look upon farming fields, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I could walk onto clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks 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 might not observe any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, iris elements, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. 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 grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.
