Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person View.
Hold on — were you aware you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. I must briefly leave managing my empire, leave it in a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride around the classical city.
Unlocking the First-Person View
As a city-building game, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was included in Anno 1800, I looked forward to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
After extracting myself, I strolled the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I detected a variety of intricacies that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Further Than Mere Wandering
Yet, the experience extends to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I look upon agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Appearance and Mood
Even though I expected to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons now.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and changing perspective — 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 found I could alter my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Battle Constraints
The single feature that frustrated me within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.