Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while temporarily abandon managing my empire, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and take a spin around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would work until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this option can be a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
Once I crawled out, I wandered the lively avenues of my city and explored markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice from the top-down view: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
More Than Just Walking
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that not only could I view agricultural plots, but also access them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see specific hair details, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, pupils, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, 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, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content 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 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, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.
