Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Perspective.
Hold on — were you aware you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. I must briefly leave my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Unlocking the First-Person View
Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. However, if you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore the empire as an ordinary Roman. Because an analogous secret was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, but I wasn’t sure it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this mode is a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Roman Cityscape
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads of my city and toured stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to witness the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.
Further Than Mere Wandering
But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that I could not just view farming fields, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (especially stone surfaces) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see specific hair details, yet you will notice engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Nighttime, with its flickering fires 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 these days.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
At the moment I believed I had found everything available in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, moves quite quickly, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).
Fighting Restrictions
The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
