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’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. Excuse me while briefly leave my empire’s management, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Activating the First-Person Feature
As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. Yet, when you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game 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 (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I strolled the busy roads across my settlement and visited shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed all kinds of details I might have missed from above: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to view agricultural plots, but also step into them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe specific hair details, but you will see writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited 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 excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
