Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Mode.

Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave managing my empire, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride around the classical city.

Activating the First-Person Mode

As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 is typically played from an overhead perspective. However, if you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the previous Anno title, I was eager to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would work until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this feature is a little buggy at times).

Exploring the Streets of Rome

Once I crawled out, I wandered the bustling streets of my city and toured shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to witness all my hard work through a fresh lens. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

Beyond Simple Strolling

However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited upon discovering that I could not just look upon agricultural plots, but also access them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.

Appearance and Mood

While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see separate follicular elements, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, pupils, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions these days.

Testing and Personalization

Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then experimented with some number buttons and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just as I assumed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Combat Limitations

The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.

{Conclusion: More to Discover|Final Thoughts: Additional Exploration