Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon managing my empire, leave it in a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
Once I crawled out, I walked the lively avenues of my city and visited stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to see my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I noticed numerous fine points I might have missed from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that not only could I observe crop lands, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (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 glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Graphics and Ambiance
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (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, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary compared to Anno 1800, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
