Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response upon finding out this hidden feature. I must temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. However, if you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in the new release, though I was uncertain it would operate prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this option is a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I walked the lively avenues through my metropolis and toured markets, breweries, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to witness the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
More Than Just Walking
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 beyond simply walking the paths. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that besides being able to observe crop lands, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and the occasional civilian resting in a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I then decided to hit some number buttons and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.
