Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person View
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. But, should you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was included in Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would operate before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this option tends to be prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I walked the bustling streets of my city and explored shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to see all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also access them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons these days.
Discovery and Modification
Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
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. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Battle Constraints
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something with my burning arrows.
