Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction the moment I learned this secret option. Allow me to briefly leave my empire’s management, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was included in Anno 1800, I looked forward to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would work prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this option is prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Roman Cityscape
Once I crawled out, I strolled the busy roads across my settlement and visited stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to witness the fruits of my labor using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice from above: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I view farming fields, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, but you will see engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, eye details, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. Should you be curious, 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, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.
