Anno 117: Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Is a Breathtaking First-Person Perspective.

Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana in first-person? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as I was the moment I learned this hidden feature. Allow me to step away from managing my empire, delegate it to a capable deputy, borrow a cart, and enjoy a ride through Ancient Rome.

Activating the First-Person Feature

As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced using a top-down camera. However, if you input a hidden code — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard or else “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. Because an analogous secret appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would work before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature tends to be a little buggy at times).

Discovering the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I wandered the bustling streets of my city and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I observed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, people relaxing on their verandas… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.

Further Than Mere Wandering

However, there's additional content to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I look upon agricultural plots, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed interiors would be restricted, I managed to access mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.

Appearance and Mood

Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned within a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You might not observe separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, fading on bricks, iris elements, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions now.

Experimentation and Customization

Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and promptly found the functions for jumping, dashing, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to change from first-person to third-person mode and back. I then experimented with certain numeric keys and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? 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 launch incendiary bolts heavenward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

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 should you provide another poultry, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my excellent cross-cultural strategies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Fighting Restrictions

The single feature that frustrated me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and endeavored to damage them, but was entirely disregarded. The close-up view remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.

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