Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Is a Stunning First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response upon finding out this concealed mode. I must temporarily abandon managing my empire, leave it in a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. However, if you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in Anno 1800, I looked forward to experience it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would function prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).
Exploring the Ancient Streets
After extracting myself, I walked the lively avenues across my settlement and visited markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to observe my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I detected numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited upon discovering that not only could I look upon farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see any individual strands of hair, but you will see engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, eye details, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike 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 abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — the last option enabling me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and learned I could modify my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” 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 had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
