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| Anarchy
Online Beta Impressions |
By
Za0oO |
 Developer:
Funcom
Publisher: Funcom
Release Date: June 27th, 2001 (Title has Gone Gold)
Demo: Not Available (Currently in Public Beta Testing)
The Beginning…
Development on Anarchy Online started back in 1996 (5 years ago!), at a time when
this kind of game (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) didn't exist.
When Ultima Online, Everquest and Asheron's Call were released, the guys over
at Funcom have finally realized they were onto something BIG with Anarchy Online.
With most other upcoming MMORPGs close to a year behind them in development, Anarchy
Online is set to be the Next Big Thing in the MMORPG market.
For years now, Funcom has been promoting that title with a lot of their energy,
to the point that most gamers out there really only know Funcom as the developer
of Anarchy Online. Funcom is also the team behind The Longest Journey, a title
that is sadly almost unknown.
The Anarchy Online development team released the following statement sometime
after the Beta 4 release: We have received lots of questions about reviewing Anarchy Online. Even though
we have finalized the gold version of the game, the beta 4 phase of Anarchy Online
is not representative of what will be played by the public after release on the
27th of June. Because of debugging, the servers are not yet optimized, and there
will also be patching up until release. Beta 4 is therefore to be considered a
preview copy only.
The Story
 By
the year 29.475 A.D. humanity has colonized many of the worlds in the Milky Way.
This is to accommodate the growing need for natural resources by the expanding
number of people. Rubi-Ka is a small planet on the farthest frontiers of the Galaxy.
A red and barren desert world, plagued by sandstorms and heavy winds, only made
habitable by the terraforming process of the intergalactic hyper-corporation Omni-Tek.
What makes this planet special is the presence of the substance Notum, used for
powering the all-important nanotechnology. Which is the reason why Omni-Tek has
colonized the planet they rule with an iron fist.
You are an inhabitant of Rubi-Ka, and you must choose either to side with the
corporate rulers, ally yourself with the revolting Clans to try and overthrow
the totalitarian regime, or simply enjoy life as a neutral spectator going wherever
fame and fortune might take you.
The Facts
 Anarchy
Online do bring the MMORPG game genre to a whole new level, and no, I haven't
been paid by Funcom to tell you that neither by any terrorists factions around
the world! The game clearly redefines today standard of Massive Multiplayer Entertainment,
both, visually, and in terms of gameplay. As stated on the official Anarchy Online
website, the following features will be bundled in the retail version of the game.
(which should, by the way, hits your local store shelves by June 27th 2001)
- Your
playground will be Rubi- Ka, a science fiction world.
- Strong,
original storyline that will tie the actions and choices of the characters
into the game world.
- Game mechanics
that make the game interesting to work together in groups.
- Several
types of quests or missions in the game: predefined, auto-generated, player-generated
and GM-generated. All this adds up to a very flexible and interesting quest-system.
- Awesome
graphic capabilities of the Anarchy-Online engine.
 From
what I've seen in the most recent build of the Beta (which means it is probably
NOT representative of the gold master), most of the promised features have already
been implemented. However, I'll go straight to the thing everybody wants to know:
Is this game worth the US $9.99/month server cost? At this point, in my
opinion, not really. The servers are extremely laggy at times, causing the game
to be unstable and unplayable. But for most of the time it was running okay, with
minor lag issues.
Another problem that often occurred was the inability to continue the zoning between
missions, as I progressed through them but got killed underway. The zoning between
different lands on Rubi-Ka where often buggy, even when the server wasn't filled
up to maximum capacity. Although I don't know the exact capacity (which should
be around 3,000 - 4,000 players at once), I know that a lot of people had the
same problems I had. Hopefully, we'll see those issues fixed with the bundled
copy of the game. But for some reason, when I either tried to attack an enemy
or simply tried to change zones, the game would invariably crash, transporting
me to a nice looking debug menu, giving me the choice to e-mail my problem to
the developer with the crash exception code.
 As
stated by Funcom, the most important aspect of Anarchy Online is the social aspect.
All the gamers you meet on the actual servers are people from around the globe
that you can interact with. This is done through text, chat, and even illustrated
body animation. As far as I can tell, the communication system is very well done.
While you can shout words and gestures to people on the playground, you can also
chat and interact with them. All the player characters will look different, as
there are limitless options to add individual touches in character creation. Anything
from skin color and body fat ratio, to a huge selection of clothes and tattoos,
is available to make individual and unique characters.
Funcom had a strong storyboard for that title, and you'll soon find out why. The
ongoing story that will last approximately four years. Funcom implemented NPC
characters in the game, called guides, which are very well implemented. When you
ask them a question about the mission state or other gameplay issues, you will
likely find a valuable answer. The developers even employed a live team that follows
the conflict on a weekly basis and makes sure the gameplay is always exciting
and progressing constantly.
Conclusion
 Anarchy
Online already stands up well when compared to other well-established MMORPG games
out on the market. However, preview of the game is based upon beta impressions.
My experience was rather frustrating at times. But when the server issues weren't
so apparent, the game's unpolished charm revealed itself. As I've only got 13
days left in my beta license, you'll have to excuse me now while I head back for
some more Anarchy Online!
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