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Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience the game Anno 117 from a first-person viewpoint? Should that be your response, you feel equally astonished as I was when I discovered this concealed mode. Excuse me while briefly leave managing my empire, delegate it to a capable deputy, commandere a carriage, 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. Yet, when you enter a secret combination — 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 appeared in the earlier game Anno 1800, I looked forward to experience it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would function prior to being submerged in a structural glitch (likely not meant to happen — this mode can be prone to glitches now and then).

Exploring the Ancient Streets

Upon freeing myself, I wandered the lively avenues across my settlement and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — it was glorious to observe my diligent efforts using an entirely new viewpoint. I noticed a variety of intricacies that would escape notice from above: Front door decorations, a donkey carrying a flower bucket, chickens running loose, citizens lounging on their terraces… Simply noticing the shape of a window sill and the paint layers on a column is quite interesting to someone who doesn’t live in Ancient Rome.

Beyond Simple Strolling

But there’s more to the first-person feature in Anno 117 aside from meandering through streets. I felt particularly pleased when I found out that I could not just view crop lands, but also step into them. And even though I thought the building models would be off-limits, I managed to access earthen quarries, 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 studio planned for that functionality), but it’s entirely possible meander across a cereal plantation, observe people digging and transporting bags, and glance into any tiny hut as long as the door is absent.

Graphics and Ambiance

Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented in PlayStation 1 graphics, besides some crude animations and periodic inhabitants sitting inside seating as opposed to atop a bench, the immersive perspective seems much better than expected. The intricately designed surfaces (notably masonry elements) shouldn't logically be this impressive for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, but you will see engravings on walls, flames emitting from lights, brick decoloration, pupils, and evergreen foliage. Nighttime, with its flickering fires and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and proves significantly less intimidating versus the earlier title, now that the citizens don’t look like nightmarish entities anymore.

Testing and Personalization

Given the covert first-person feature doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and promptly found the options to jump, sprint, and changing perspective — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and return. I then experimented with various digit inputs and discovered that I could change my representative's visual design. Golden robe? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You may carry a sword and shield, or, preferably, wear an archer's uniform; when you press the action key, you shoot flaming projectiles upward. In case you’re wondering, eliminating citizens cannot be done (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 the first-person view, I heard a parent advising their offspring that “Owning a fox is prohibited and if you offer additional fowl, your gran will have your head.” Understandable stance, father character. A pleasant regional Celt then started applauding my excellent cross-cultural strategies by describing it as “Ideal combination,” meanwhile a grumpy senior female opted to menace me: “Say that one more time, and they’ll never find your body.”

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 encountered the delight of riding in Ancient Rome. Totally unintentionally, I interacted with a cart and was promptly seated on the box. Bovines, equines, even manually drawn vehicles; you can drive them all at your leisure. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — 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 finding out I couldn’t partake in battle encounters. Wearing my military outfit, I approached opposing forces amidst fighting and attempted to attack them, yet was completely overlooked. The proximate observation was still rather spectacular, and watching the enemy run, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, though it might have been amazing to effectively strike targets with my burning arrows.

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