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Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave my empire’s management, delegate it to a reliable subordinate, take a wagon, and take a spin across the Roman world.

Activating the First-Person View

Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana usually operates from an overhead perspective. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on a keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on a controller — you gain the ability to walk the empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was included in the previous Anno title, I felt excited to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, yet I had doubts it would function prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature is prone to glitches now and then).

Discovering the Roman Cityscape

After extracting myself, I wandered the lively avenues of my city and visited markets, breweries, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it felt magnificent to observe all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I detected numerous fine points I might have missed from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, an ass transporting a floral pail, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post becomes engaging for those not residing in classical times.

Further Than Mere Wandering

Yet, the experience extends to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that I could not just observe agricultural plots, but also access them. And although I’d assumed the building models would be off-limits, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and look within any modest shelter provided the entrance is missing.

Graphics and Ambiance

While I was completely ready to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench instead of on a bench, first-person mode looks 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 might not observe any individual strands of hair, but you will see writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, eye details, and conifer needles. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble sleep paralysis demons anymore.

Testing and Personalization

Given the covert first-person feature lacks official documentation, I opted to try different commands, and immediately located the options to jump, sprint, and zoom in or out — with the latter allowing me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my character’s appearance. Amber garment? Ruby clothing? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you hit the interaction button, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (not that I attempted, naturally).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, because they’re way too funny. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and should you provide another poultry, your elder will punish you.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. A friendly native Celtic person then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Thrill of Transportation

Just when I thought I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I clicked on a wagon and immediately found myself in the driver's position. Bovines, equines, even people-powered transports; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, is pretty fast, but don't anticipate Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (again, not saying I’ve tried).

Combat Limitations

The single feature that frustrated me regarding the first-person view was learning about my exclusion from in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and endeavored to damage them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to actually hit something via my incendiary bolts.

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