Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person View.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. I must temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
Unlocking the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates using a top-down camera. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Since a similar easter egg was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would operate prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I wandered the busy roads through my metropolis and visited markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to observe all my hard work through a fresh lens. I noticed all kinds of details that would escape notice from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the form of a ledge and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that besides being able to look upon agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I could walk onto earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Appearance and Mood
While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe specific hair details, yet you will notice engravings on walls, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions now.
Experimentation and Customization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, 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 elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Combat Limitations
The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.