GamersInfo.net

You've chosen your faction now, what breed shall you be?

You can choose from the Solitas, the descendants of humans. They don't have any special attributes but are very compatible with any type of profession and have a great ability to learn.

The Opifex are special in that they aren't very strong and lack hit points. But what they lack in strength they make up for in quickness and agility. They make a good Agent, Fixer and Martial Artist.

The Nanomage are the inhabitants of Rubi-Ka, engineered for the Notum rich environment and are unable to live anywhere else. They have a strong advantage in Nanotechnology and Metaphysics.

Last but not least, are the Atrox. The Atrox are an asexuak species, while the other breeds have male and female counterparts. The Atrox have been genetically altered to the point they are genderless. These look like giants and are the tanks of the bunch. They make for a good soldier or worker.

There is definitely a feeling of being your character, the important choices you have to make, the intricate skill system that makes your character exactly like you want. There is also the ability to look in first person or third which is rather convenient. The NPC system is very unique and feels very interactive. You can swim through water and there is a skill that enhances swimming as well. The many small details that you might not catch at first are really what make the game shine. There is the ability to marry; there are news announcements in game such as who won certain battles and marriages, which I think is great.

As one of the few sci-fi based games on the market, its graphics really shine. There are settings that allow for nearly any type of system to run the game. While the game really shines on its highest graphical settings, with the game on low the game isn't very pretty to look at but what is necessary works just fine. The environments in the game really show that the devs took their time to build the world. Although there are parts of the game that you can see are aged, overall the game still has freshness to it even after more than 3 years.

The UI is one of the most important and impressive parts of the game. I say this because it really puts in the players' hands exactly how they want the game to look. While there are a lot of things needed to be on screen at one time, you can really see that it is made as compact as possible, without impairing you from what you need. Also, you have the ability to make windows as small or large as you like. There is perfect transparency to the windows as well as giving the option to making them opaque. Just about everything is moveable if you want to customize where certain things are at such as health, info, chat, etc.

The chat system is great, too. There is a channel subscription service that allows you to make multiple chat windows including exactly what you want/don't want. The options window contains many different options as to how you want your game to run and every different window contains a set of their own customizable options as well. Probably my favorite part of the UI is how truly customizable it is.

The controls are very fluid; as time went by I was able to figure out easier ways to get around than the already simple default settings. This is a very complex system, as is most of the game and can be tweaked, to any liking. There are many options available to hot key such as windows that can be opened or closed at the hit of a button. The different attacks can be added to the hot key bar (which by default is located at the top left corner of the screen, contains different tabs for different set ups, etc.) or at any keyboard button. Getting around can be done by just using the mouse as the middle mouse button is run and the right button is mouse look. To strafe you would need to use your other hand - that is unless you customize that to your mouse as well :).

The character modeling is on par with the rest of the game; there is a decent character customization system. While it isn't the best system I've seen, the many different types of armor, etc. make up for it. The paper doll system is a good one. While customization of your character is limited to your face, height, and build (tall, medium, short and large, medium, skinny) the face options are what shines. While you don't have the ability to tweak anything the face really does set the look for your character. The animations are somewhat bound to the animation sequence. There isn't really the ability to stop or change the animation until it is played through. There are some unique ideas though which are fun to watch. Good emotes and the mobs have a lot of personality.

The sound of the game really does fit and is also something that your able to customize to your liking. The combat music is intense and not as repetitive as some I've experienced. The music works well with the environments your in and help suck you in.

I do consider this to be a difficult game because there is such an intricate skill system. Personally, I love this. However, there is a steep learning curve and I would suggest reading some guides on the game before beginning. There are four different breeds, fourteen different professions and probably 100 different skills. The breeds and professions affect what you can do, what skills you need to raise and what items you can use. What's nice, is that the breeds section tells you what they are about and what professions they are best at. The professions section tells you the difficulty to play and what it's about. Even with all the information it's still difficult to know everything you need to do.

I think over the years this game has been tweaked and revamped to the point where it is hard to complain. I think this is a wonderful game particularly if you like the Sci-Fi approach and have time to really learn the workings of the game. I love games where the characters can truly be different rather than cookie cutter and in this game, it is most definitely the case.. If you have a little time in your life to devote to a well balanced, in-depth game than I suggest Anarchy Online to you.