Anno 117's Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Stunning First-Person Perspective.

Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon managing my empire, leave it in a trusted assistant, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride around the classical city.

Activating the First-Person Mode

In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. But, should you input a hidden code — 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 — it becomes possible to roam the realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to test it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would operate before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this option tends to be somewhat unstable occasionally).

Roaming the Ancient Streets

After extracting myself, I strolled the bustling streets across my settlement and toured stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I observed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

More Than Just Walking

But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.

Graphics and Ambiance

Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see any individual strands of hair, but you will see writings on surfaces, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, pupils, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like nightmarish entities anymore.

Experimentation and Customization

Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).

Comedy and Population Encounters

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female chose to intimidate me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Combat Limitations

The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.

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