Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as I was when I discovered this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, leave it in a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced using a top-down camera. However, if you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was part of the previous Anno title, I was eager to try it out in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I wandered the busy roads through my metropolis and toured shops, taverns, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I observed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that besides being able to look upon crop lands, but also enter them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I could walk onto earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, now that the citizens don’t look like sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, 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 return. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.
