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

Surprisingly — did you realize it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished compared to my initial response upon finding out this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave my empire’s management, delegate it to a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, and take a spin across the Roman world.

How to Access the First-Person Feature

As a city-building game, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you input a hidden code — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — it becomes possible to roam your domain as a common citizen. Because an analogous secret appeared in Anno 1800, I felt excited to try it out in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature can be somewhat unstable occasionally).

Discovering the Ancient Streets

After extracting myself, I walked the busy roads across my settlement and explored shops, taverns, flower fields, and seafood collectors — it felt magnificent to see my diligent efforts from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Entryway ornaments, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

More Than Just Walking

But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted when I found out that I could not just look upon crop lands, but also step into them. And despite my expectation interiors would be restricted, I managed to access clay pits, investigate a respected schoolhouse while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Avoid attempting to open doors (not even the creators have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.

Appearance and Mood

While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented with outdated visual quality, apart from certain rough movements and sometimes citizens positioned in a bench instead of on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, sparks flying from torches, discoloration of masonry, iris elements, and pine tree leaves. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, creates a particularly moody setting, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.

Discovery and Modification

Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I then decided to hit various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Azure and violet outfit? Or — perhaps even better — full armor? You can wield a blade and protection, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (not that I’ve tried, of course).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, as they're remarkably entertaining. Only seconds after I landed the immersive perspective, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your grandmother will be furious.” Understandable stance, father character. One lovely local Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just when I thought I had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can drive them all at your leisure. The donkey cart, in particular, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (reiterating, without confirming testing).

Combat Limitations

The sole aspect that let me down within the immersive perspective was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Equipped in warrior attire, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and tried to harm them, yet was completely overlooked. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and observing foes flee, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.

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