Anno 117's Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Reveals Itself as a Breathtaking First-Person Mode.
Surprisingly — did you realize you can play the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this hidden feature. Allow me to temporarily abandon managing my empire, leave it in a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.
Activating the First-Person Mode
In its role as a city-builder, the game Anno 117 usually operates from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — it becomes possible to roam the empire as an ordinary Roman. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would function prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (likely not meant to happen — this option tends to be a little buggy at times).
Roaming the Ancient Streets
Upon freeing myself, I walked the lively avenues across my settlement and toured shops, taverns, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that not only could I observe agricultural plots, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto earthen quarries, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), however, you can definitely wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.
Visual Quality and Atmosphere
While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see specific hair details, yet you will notice engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, eye details, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.
Testing and Personalization
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit some number buttons and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, eliminating citizens cannot be done (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Comedy and Population Encounters
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace 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 across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Combat Limitations
The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.
