Anno 117: Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Impressive First-Person View.
Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. But, should you input a hidden code — for example “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 can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would function until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode is somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I walked the bustling streets of my city and visited stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to observe my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed from above: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that besides being able to view farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
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 within a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see any individual strands of hair, but you will see wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, eye details, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike nightmarish entities anymore.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit some number buttons and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, since they're incredibly amusing. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
