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Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as I was the moment I learned this concealed mode. Allow me to briefly leave my empire’s management, leave it in a reliable subordinate, take a wagon, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.

Unlocking the First-Person View

Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. However, if you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard 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. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to experience it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would function prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode tends to be prone to glitches now and then).

Discovering the Streets of Rome

After extracting myself, I wandered the bustling streets of my city and explored markets, breweries, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies I might have missed from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.

Beyond Simple Strolling

However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also access them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.

Appearance and Mood

Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned inside seating rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see separate follicular elements, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and distant stellar illumination, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.

Testing and Personalization

Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I opted to try different commands, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Crimson attire? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you hit the interaction button, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Thrill of Transportation

Just as I assumed 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 clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Battle Constraints

The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.

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