Anno 117 Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. Allow me to step away from managing my empire, delegate it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and go for a joyride around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. However, if you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was included in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this option can be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads across my settlement and explored stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed numerous fine points I might have missed from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I observe agricultural plots, but also access them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe specific hair details, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions anymore.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
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 if you feed it one more chicken, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady 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 across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
