Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Is a Impressive First-Person Perspective.

Hold on — were you aware you can play the game Anno 117 using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked compared to my initial response the moment I learned this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride across the Roman world.

How to Access the First-Person View

In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. However, if you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was part of Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would function before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode can be a little buggy at times).

Roaming the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I walked the lively avenues through my metropolis and toured shops, taverns, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to witness my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed from the top-down view: Doorway embellishments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

Further Than Mere Wandering

But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective than strolling along the road. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that I could not just look upon agricultural plots, but also step into them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the developers have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut provided the entrance is missing.

Graphics and Ambiance

Although I was fully prepared to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, but you will see engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions anymore.

Testing and Personalization

Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and found I could alter my avatar's look. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; 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).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

However, I had no desire to injure my people, as they're remarkably entertaining. Shortly after I activated the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”

The Joy of Joyriding

Just as I assumed I had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Battle Constraints

The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.

{Conclusion: More to Discover|Final Thoughts: Additional Exploration