Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person Mode.

Hold on — were you aware you can play the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, your surprise matches compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. I must briefly leave overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and take a spin across the Roman world.

How to Access the First-Person Feature

Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this option is somewhat unstable occasionally).

Discovering the Streets of Rome

Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets of my city and visited shops, taverns, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed all kinds of details that would escape notice from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.

More Than Just Walking

However, there's additional content to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that I could not just observe agricultural plots, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers planned for that functionality), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.

Graphics and Ambiance

While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, however, you can observe engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons these days.

Experimentation and Customization

Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Comedy and Population Encounters

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. 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 feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Battle Constraints

The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.

{Conclusion: More to Discover|Final Thoughts: Additional Exploration