Anno 117 Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Is a Stunning First-Person View.

Wait — did you know gamers have the option to enjoy the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? If you're thinking that, you feel equally astonished as my own reaction when I discovered this hidden feature. I must briefly leave overseeing my civilization, leave it in a reliable subordinate, commandere a carriage, and go for a joyride across the Roman world.

How to Access the First-Person Feature

As a city-building game, the game Anno 117 usually operates from an overhead perspective. But, should you press a covert button sequence — for example “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 empire as an ordinary Roman. Since a similar easter egg was included in Anno 1800, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would operate until I found myself submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this mode can be a little buggy at times).

Exploring the Streets of Rome

Once I crawled out, I strolled the bustling streets through my metropolis and explored shops, taverns, blossom gardens, and seafood collectors — the experience was splendid to observe the fruits of my labor from a brand-new perspective. I noticed numerous fine points I wouldn’t have spotted from the top-down view: Front door decorations, a beast of burden holding a blossom container, poultry scattering about, folks chilling on their balconies… Merely examining the shape of a window sill and the coloration on a post is quite interesting for those not residing in classical times.

Beyond Simple Strolling

But there’s more to the game's immersive perspective aside from meandering through streets. I became extraordinarily excited the moment I learned that I could not just view farming fields, but also enter them. And even though I thought interiors would be restricted, I could walk onto mud extraction sites, tour an esteemed educational structure as teaching was underway, and intrude into private gardens. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the developers planned for that functionality), yet it's completely feasible wander through a grain field, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut when there's no doorway obstructing.

Graphics and Ambiance

Even though I expected to witness my city rendered in PlayStation 1 graphics, excluding a few unpolished motions and periodic inhabitants sitting within a bench rather than on a bench, first-person mode looks much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (particularly rock faces) really have no business being this good 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, sparks flying from torches, brick decoloration, pupils, and evergreen foliage. The night, featuring dancing flames and stars shining in the distance, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating relative to the previous game, especially since the inhabitants no longer resemble terrifying apparitions these days.

Discovery and Modification

Given the covert first-person feature has no guided tutorial, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the zoom function permitting me to alternate between immersive and external perspectives and revert. I subsequently tried pressing certain numeric keys and learned I could modify my avatar's look. Golden robe? Ruby clothing? Blue and purple toga? Or — maybe superior — complete battle gear? You can wield a blade and protection, or, personally chosen, equip a shooter's costume; if you activate the engage command, you’ll fire burning arrows into the sky. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).

Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues

But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Moments after I entered the immersive perspective, I overheard a father telling his child that “You cannot keep a fox as a pet and should you provide another poultry, your grandmother will be furious.” Appropriate response, paternal figure. One lovely local Celt then began complimenting my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” while some cranky old lady opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”

The Fun of Vehicle Use

Just when I thought I’d discovered all there is to discover in the title's first-person feature, I experienced the pleasure of driving in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I selected a carriage and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even human-pulled carts; you can control each one as desired. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, moves quite quickly, although you shouldn't expect any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).

Fighting Restrictions

The only thing that disappointed me within the immersive perspective was discovering my inability to participate in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy in the midst of battle and attempted to attack them, but was entirely disregarded. The front-row seat remained quite impressive, and watching the enemy run, their limbs waving wildly, seemed enormously rewarding, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets using my fiery projectiles.

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