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Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this secret option. Excuse me while temporarily abandon overseeing my civilization, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.

Unlocking the First-Person Mode

In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from a bird's-eye view. But, should you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “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. Since a similar easter egg appeared in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to experience it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would work prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode can be a little buggy at times).

Exploring the Ancient Streets

After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets across my settlement and visited markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to observe the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I detected a variety of intricacies I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coloration on a post becomes engaging to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

Beyond Simple Strolling

But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I observe crop lands, but also step into them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), however, you can definitely wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack when there's no doorway obstructing.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

Even though I expected to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see specific hair details, yet you will notice engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, fading on bricks, eye details, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames 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 sleep paralysis demons these days.

Discovery and Modification

Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and revert. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and found I could alter my character’s appearance. Golden robe? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (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 heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my outstanding integration methods by describing it as “Ideal combination,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Joy of Joyriding

Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding in Ancient Rome. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Battle Constraints

The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and observing foes flee, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.

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