Anno 117: Pax Romana's Hidden Gem Is a Impressive First-Person View.

Surprisingly — did you realize gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches compared to my initial response the moment I learned this concealed mode. Allow me to temporarily abandon my empire’s management, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.

Activating the First-Person Feature

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 — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls or “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was part of the previous Anno title, I looked forward to test it in the new release, though I was uncertain it would work prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (likely not meant to happen — this option is a little buggy at times).

Exploring the Streets of Rome

Once I crawled out, I walked the busy roads across my settlement and visited markets, breweries, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to see the fruits of my labor using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Even just observing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.

Beyond Simple Strolling

But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted upon discovering that I could not just observe agricultural plots, but also enter them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I managed to access mud extraction sites, investigate a respected schoolhouse during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice specific hair details, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Evening, with glowing light sources and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike nightmarish entities anymore.

Testing and Personalization

Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I opted to try different commands, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I’ve tried, of course).

Comedy and Population Encounters

However, I had no desire to injure my people, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then began complimenting my excellent cross-cultural strategies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Joy of Joyriding

At the moment I believed I had found everything available within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey-powered transport, notably, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Battle Constraints

The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The close-up view was still rather spectacular, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.

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