Anno 117 Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Is a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as my own reaction when I discovered this secret option. I must step away from managing my empire, entrust it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.
How to Access the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this mode is somewhat unstable occasionally).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
After extracting myself, I strolled the lively avenues across my settlement and explored markets, breweries, flower fields, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that not only could I observe agricultural plots, but also access them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.
Graphics and Ambiance
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, iris elements, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Comedy and Population Encounters
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A pleasant regional 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 Joy of Joyriding
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
