Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this secret option. I must step away from my empire’s management, leave it in a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates using a top-down camera. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would function until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this option is somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I strolled the busy roads of my city and toured stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted when I found out that not only could I look upon farming fields, but also access them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, eye details, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons these days.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then experimented with some number buttons and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
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 grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
