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Surprisingly — did you realize you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? If that’s your reaction, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this hidden feature. Allow me to step away from managing my empire, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, borrow a cart, and go for a joyride through Ancient Rome.

Unlocking the First-Person View

As a city-building game, Anno 117: Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. However, if you input a hidden code — for example “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you can explore your domain as a common citizen. Given a comparable hidden feature was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to test it in the new release, yet I had doubts it would operate prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).

Roaming the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I wandered the busy roads across my settlement and toured markets, breweries, floral patches, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I observed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from above: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.

More Than Just Walking

But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also access them. And even though I thought structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and invade personal courtyards. Don't bother with door access (not even the developers planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible stroll around a barley farm, observe people digging and transporting bags, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.

Appearance and Mood

While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and the occasional civilian resting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, first-person mode looks considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent within a game that's fundamentally a city-builder. You may not see any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening versus the earlier title, given that the populace appears unlike terrifying apparitions anymore.

Discovery and Modification

Since Anno 117’s super-secret first-person mode doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and back. I then decided to hit some number buttons and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Ruby clothing? Sapphire and amethyst dress? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

However, I had no desire to injure my people, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I listened to a dad instructing his kid 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 pleasant regional Celt then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Joy of Joyriding

At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding across historical settings. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, although you shouldn't expect Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Combat Limitations

The sole aspect that let me down regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Sporting my soldier fit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their arms flailing about, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to successfully impact objects using my fiery projectiles.

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