Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to step away from my empire’s management, delegate it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person View
As a city-building game, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates using a top-down camera. However, if you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would operate prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this mode is prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I walked the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored markets, breweries, floral patches, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I detected a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that not only could I view farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting inside seating instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions these days.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
