Anno 117: Pax Romana's Top Secret Turns Out to Be a Breathtaking First-Person View.

Wait — did you know you can play Anno 117 Pax Romana from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you’re just as shocked as I was the moment I learned this hidden feature. I must step away from managing my empire, delegate it to a trusted assistant, borrow a cart, and take a spin through Ancient Rome.

Unlocking the First-Person View

Being a city-building title, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. However, if you enter a secret combination — such as “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. Since a similar easter egg was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to try it out in the new release, yet I had doubts it would function before I discovered myself chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (possibly an unexpected bug — this mode tends to be a little buggy at times).

Discovering the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I wandered the bustling streets through my metropolis and toured stalls, alehouses, floral patches, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to witness all my hard work from a brand-new perspective. I observed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice from the top-down view: Entryway ornaments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the shape of a window sill 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 than strolling along the road. I felt particularly pleased 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 mud extraction sites, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and even trespass into people’s gardens. Don't bother with door access (not even the creators planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible wander through a grain field, watch folks shoveling and carrying sacks, and take a peek inside any small shack provided the entrance is missing.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and periodic inhabitants sitting in a bench as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems considerably improved over predictions. The meticulously crafted materials (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive in what is still, essentially, a top-down game. You might not observe any individual strands of hair, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, brick decoloration, pupils, and pine tree leaves. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and stars shining in the distance, creates a particularly moody setting, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions now.

Experimentation and Customization

Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and adjusting the view — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I subsequently tried pressing some number buttons and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Amber garment? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. If you're interested, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Comedy and Population Encounters

But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, as they're remarkably entertaining. Moments after I entered first-person mode, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”

The Thrill of Transportation

Just as I assumed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I found the joys of joyriding through classical settlements. Totally unintentionally, I clicked on a wagon and was promptly seated on the box. Cattle, asses, even human-pulled carts; you may operate any of them freely. The donkey-powered transport, notably, is pretty fast, though you shouldn’t imagine Grand Theft Auto-style mischief — colliding with pedestrians or other carts is impossible (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Battle Constraints

The single feature that frustrated me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The proximate observation was nonetheless magnificent, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, felt highly gratifying, yet it would have been exciting to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.

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