Anno 117 Pax Romana's Top Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Perspective.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, your surprise matches as I was the moment I learned this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, leave it in a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, and take a spin around the classical city.
Activating the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. But, should you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in the latest installment, yet I had doubts it would function prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this feature tends to be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Exploring the Streets of Rome
Once I crawled out, I wandered the lively avenues across my settlement and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and seafood collectors — it was glorious to observe the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I detected numerous fine points that would escape notice from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.
Beyond Simple Strolling
However, there's additional content to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that I could not just observe farming fields, but also enter them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto earthen quarries, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.
Appearance and Mood
Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe specific hair details, but you will see writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and pine tree leaves. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, now that the citizens don’t look like terrifying apparitions now.
Experimentation and Customization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? 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 activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).
Humor and Citizen Interactions
Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Thrill of Transportation
Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.