Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches compared to my initial response when I discovered this hidden feature. Allow me to temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is typically played using a top-down camera. But, should you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out 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 feature tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I walked the bustling streets of my city and toured markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to observe the fruits of my labor using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to look upon farming fields, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers have the budget for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. Should you be curious, 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. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just as I assumed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
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 charged toward adversaries during active combat and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
