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Wait — did you know it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as I was when I discovered this secret option. Allow me to briefly leave overseeing my civilization, entrust it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and take a spin around the classical city.

Activating the First-Person View

In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played from an overhead perspective. But, should you press a covert button sequence — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would operate before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode can be prone to glitches now and then).

Roaming the Roman Cityscape

Once I crawled out, I wandered the busy roads across my settlement and explored stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to see all my hard work using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to modern individuals unfamiliar with ancient life.

More Than Just Walking

However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased the moment I learned that besides being able to view crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter earthen quarries, investigate a respected schoolhouse as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.

Graphics and Ambiance

While I was completely ready to witness my city rendered using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, but you will see writings on surfaces, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.

Experimentation and Customization

Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you offer additional fowl, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Thrill of Transportation

At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Cattle, asses, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Fighting Restrictions

The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation remained quite impressive, and observing foes flee, their arms flailing about, proved very satisfying, but it would’ve been cool to actually hit something with my burning arrows.

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