Anno 117 Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Wait — did you know it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response when I discovered this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a trusted assistant, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person Feature
As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “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. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I walked the bustling streets across my settlement and explored shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to witness all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I noticed numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just observe agricultural plots, 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 while lessons were in session, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers allocated resources for that), however, you can definitely wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see any individual strands of hair, but you will see engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, eye details, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions now.
Testing and Personalization
Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I listened to a dad instructing his kid that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then began complimenting my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Joy of Joyriding
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I experienced the pleasure of driving through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
