Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Impressive First-Person View.

Hold on — were you aware you can play Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this hidden feature. Excuse me while briefly leave overseeing my civilization, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.

How to Access the First-Person Mode

Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from an overhead perspective. But, should 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 console — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret was part of the previous Anno title, I looked forward to experience it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would work before I discovered myself stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode is prone to glitches now and then).

Exploring the Roman Cityscape

Upon freeing myself, I strolled the busy roads through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to see all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I detected numerous fine points that would escape notice when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the design of a windowsill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.

Further Than Mere Wandering

Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just observe farming fields, but also step into them. And despite my expectation structures would be inaccessible, I could walk onto clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.

Graphics and Ambiance

Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, iris elements, and conifer needles. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.

Discovery and Modification

Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Yellow toga? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; when you press the action key, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I attempted, naturally).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Joy of Joyriding

At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding through classical settlements. Entirely by accident, I selected a carriage and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate any GTA-like shenanigans — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (again, not saying I’ve tried).

Fighting Restrictions

The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets via my incendiary bolts.

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