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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 I was upon finding out this concealed mode. I must step away from managing my empire, entrust it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin across the Roman world.

Unlocking the First-Person Mode

As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 is typically played from a bird's-eye view. Yet, when you press a covert button sequence — including “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” using PC controls alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Since a similar easter egg was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to experience it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would work before I discovered myself submerged in a structural glitch (possibly an unexpected bug — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).

Roaming the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I strolled the busy roads of my city and explored shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to see the fruits of my labor through a fresh lens. I observed all kinds of details I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Front door decorations, an ass transporting a floral pail, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Merely examining the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.

Beyond Simple Strolling

But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I was especially delighted the moment I learned that I could not just view agricultural plots, but also step into them. And although I’d assumed structures would be inaccessible, I was able to enter clay pits, tour an esteemed educational structure during active classes, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the studio allocated resources for that), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

While I was completely ready to observe my settlement depicted with outdated visual quality, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the first-person view appears considerably improved over predictions. The highly detailed textures (especially stone surfaces) really have no business being this good for a title that remains primarily overhead. You may not see any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, eye details, and evergreen foliage. Evening, with glowing light sources and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and also a lot less scary relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities now.

Testing and Personalization

Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and quickly discovered the functions for jumping, dashing, and changing perspective — the zoom function permitting me to change from first-person to third-person mode and return. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and discovered that I could change my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Red toga? Blue and purple toga? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You can wield a blade and protection, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I attempted, naturally).

Humor and Citizen Interactions

But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and if you offer additional fowl, your elder will punish you.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A friendly native Celtic person then started applauding my outstanding integration methods by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Thrill of Transportation

Just as I assumed I had found everything available in the title's first-person feature, I encountered the delight of riding through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and was promptly seated on the box. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, though you shouldn’t imagine open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).

Combat Limitations

The only thing that disappointed me in Anno 117’s first-person mode was discovering my inability to participate in any fighting. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces during active combat and tried to harm them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, seemed enormously rewarding, yet it would have been exciting to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.

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