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Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If that’s your reaction, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction the moment I learned this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.

Unlocking the First-Person Feature

As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. However, if 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 your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret was included in Anno 1800, I looked forward to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would operate before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode tends to be prone to glitches now and then).

Exploring the Streets of Rome

After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets through my metropolis and toured shops, taverns, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to see all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I detected a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, fowl roaming freely, folks chilling on their balconies… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.

More Than Just Walking

Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted when I found out that not only could I view crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered with outdated visual quality, besides some crude animations and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench instead of on a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You may not see any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice engravings on walls, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, eye details, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons anymore.

Experimentation and Customization

Because the game's hidden immersive perspective has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then decided to hit certain numeric keys and learned I could modify my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Red toga? Blue and purple toga? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I’ve tried, of course).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey cart, in particular, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Combat Limitations

The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy amidst fighting and endeavored to damage them, only to be ignored completely. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.

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