Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Impressive First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches compared to my initial response the moment I learned this secret option. Allow me to temporarily abandon my empire’s management, delegate it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. However, if you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was included in the previous Anno title, I looked forward to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would function until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this option can be prone to glitches now and then).
Roaming the Streets of Rome
Upon freeing myself, I walked the lively avenues across my settlement and toured shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed from above: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
More Than Just Walking
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted upon discovering that besides being able to look upon crop lands, but also access them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, 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 creators allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack as long as the door is absent.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons these days.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I then experimented with certain numeric keys and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Comedy and Population Encounters
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Fighting Restrictions
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I charged toward adversaries during active combat and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.
