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Hold on — were you aware gamers have the option to enjoy Anno 117 Pax Romana using a first-person camera? Should that be your response, your surprise matches compared to my initial response the moment I learned this concealed mode. I must temporarily abandon my empire’s management, entrust it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin around the classical city.

Activating the First-Person Mode

As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates using a top-down camera. Yet, when you input a hidden code — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” with a gamepad — you gain the ability to walk your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature was part of the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to experience it in the latest installment, but I wasn’t sure it would operate prior to being stuck in a Celtic building (which probably wasn’t intended — this mode is prone to glitches now and then).

Discovering the Streets of Rome

Upon freeing myself, I strolled the bustling streets through my metropolis and toured markets, breweries, flower fields, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to see all my hard work through a fresh lens. I detected all kinds of details I might have missed from above: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coating on a pillar is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

More Than Just Walking

Yet, the experience extends to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased upon discovering that I could not just look upon agricultural plots, but also access them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I was able to enter earthen quarries, tour an esteemed educational structure while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators have the budget for that), however, you can definitely meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.

Appearance and Mood

Even though I expected to observe my settlement depicted using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, but you will see wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, eye details, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and also a lot less scary versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons now.

Experimentation and Customization

Because the game's hidden immersive perspective lacks official documentation, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and revert. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Golden robe? Red toga? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Comedy and Population Encounters

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered the first-person view, 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.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female decided to threaten me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and quickly occupied the transport. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Fighting Restrictions

The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was finding out I couldn’t partake in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, proved very satisfying, though it might have been amazing to actually hit something using my fiery projectiles.

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