Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Wait — did you know you can play the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response the moment I learned this concealed mode. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, leave it in a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you gain the ability to walk your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this option is a little buggy at times).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I wandered the lively avenues across my settlement and toured markets, breweries, floral patches, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I noticed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto earthen quarries, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (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 glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see specific hair details, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions now.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — the last option enabling me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, only to be ignored completely. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
