Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person View.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked as I was the moment I learned this secret option. Allow me to briefly leave overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person View
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. However, if you input a hidden code — for example “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. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this option can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Roman Cityscape
After extracting myself, I wandered the lively avenues through my metropolis and visited stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent 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: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating 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 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also enter them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting inside seating instead of on a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like nightmarish entities now.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. 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 sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
