Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.
Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. I must temporarily abandon managing my empire, delegate it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
Activating the First-Person Feature
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. But, should you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would operate before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature tends to be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Roaming the Ancient Streets
After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored markets, breweries, flower fields, and cockle pickers — it was glorious to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining 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
Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I became extraordinarily excited upon discovering that I could not just look upon farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I could walk onto clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, 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 started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Fighting Restrictions
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
