Surprisingly — did you realize you can play the game Anno 117 in first-person? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as I was upon finding out this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon managing my empire, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin across the Roman world.
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you input a hidden code — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — it becomes possible to roam the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret appeared in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would function until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature can be somewhat unstable occasionally).
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the lively avenues of my city and toured stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and cockle pickers — the experience was splendid to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected all kinds of details that would escape notice from above: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.
However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just observe agricultural plots, but also enter them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see separate follicular elements, yet you will notice engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions these days.
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then experimented with certain numeric keys and found I could alter my avatar's look. Amber garment? 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 launch incendiary bolts heavenward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).
However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman chose to intimidate me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).
The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.
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