Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.
Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. Allow me to briefly leave managing my empire, leave it in a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. But, should you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “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 was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in the new release, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this option can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I wandered the lively avenues of my city and visited stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and cockle pickers — the experience was splendid to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed all kinds of details I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, 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.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that I could not just view agricultural plots, but also access them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented with outdated visual quality, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (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, yet you will notice engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons now.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding 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 may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
