🔗 Share this article

Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117: Pax Romana using a first-person camera? If you're thinking that, you’re just as shocked as my own reaction upon finding out this secret option. Allow me to step away from managing my empire, entrust it to a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and take a spin around the classical city.

Unlocking the First-Person View

In its role as a city-builder, Anno 117 Pax Romana is normally experienced from a bird's-eye view. But, should you press a covert button sequence — such as “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 the realm as a regular inhabitant. Given a comparable hidden feature appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I felt excited to test it in the latest installment, though I was uncertain it would work until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (which probably wasn’t intended — this feature can be prone to glitches now and then).

Exploring the Ancient Streets

Once I crawled out, I strolled the lively avenues through my metropolis and explored stalls, alehouses, blossom gardens, and cockle pickers — it felt magnificent to observe my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I detected numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, fowl roaming freely, people relaxing on their verandas… Even just observing the design of a windowsill and the coloration on a post proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.

More Than Just Walking

However, there's additional content to Anno 117’s first-person mode aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited when I found out that besides being able to observe agricultural plots, but also access them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I was able to enter earthen quarries, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building as teaching was underway, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the creators allocated resources for that), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter when there's no doorway obstructing.

Visual Quality and Atmosphere

Although I was fully prepared to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting inside seating rather than on a bench, the immersive perspective seems far superior to anticipations. The intricately designed surfaces (especially stone surfaces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice separate follicular elements, yet you will notice wall inscriptions, fiery particles from lamps, discoloration of masonry, pupils, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and distant stellar illumination, is especially atmospheric, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble nightmarish entities these days.

Discovery and Modification

Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I decided to experiment a bit, and quickly discovered the options to jump, sprint, and adjusting the view — with the latter allowing me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I then experimented with various digit inputs and found I could alter my representative's visual design. Yellow toga? Crimson attire? Blue and purple toga? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You may carry a sword and shield, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, harming inhabitants is impossible (not that I’ve tried, of course).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

Yet, I didn't want to damage my population, since they're incredibly amusing. Shortly after I activated first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you feed it one more chicken, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A friendly native Celtic person then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by calling it the “Best of both worlds,” while some cranky old lady decided to threaten me: “Utter those words again, and your fate will be sealed.”

The Thrill of Transportation

At the moment I believed I’d discovered all there is to discover within the game's immersive perspective, I experienced the pleasure of driving across historical settings. Completely unexpectedly, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even people-powered transports; you can control each one as desired. The donkey cart, in particular, travels rather rapidly, although you shouldn't expect open-world vehicular chaos — impacting citizens or additional vehicles cannot occur (again, not saying I’ve tried).

Fighting Restrictions

The only thing that disappointed me regarding the first-person view was finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I charged toward adversaries in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects with my burning arrows.

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