Anachronox
Game Info:
| Platform: | PC | ||
| Developer: | ION Storm | ||
| Publisher: | Eidos Interactive | ||
| Players: | 1 | ||
| Format: | 2 CD-ROMs | ||
| Gallery: |
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| Minimum Req.: | Pentium 3 933MHz 128MB RAM 30GB HDD 32MB TNT2 Windows XP |
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| Reviewer's Machine: | 266MHz Pentium or AMD equiv. 64MB RAM 700MB HDD space 16MB DX7 video card Windows 98/2000/XP |
Editor review
Final Fantasy meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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Anachronox is a PC game that plays like a console would if it were cross-dressing as a PC. A console style RPG in that it utilizes a simple Active Time Battle system akin to Final Fantasy's. BUT, it's also a PC game, filled with puzzles and witty, mature humor. The story is delightfully wacky, and you'll know it from the moment the opening movie starts. In a run down office above a bar inside a giant hollow metal planet, the protagonist, Sly Boots, is being beaten and subsequently thrown out a window by a mobster midget. Sly, a down on his luck PI, is drawn into a vast inter-universal conspiracy, as are most game characters, after accepting a simple bodyguard job. Along the way, he meets a fittingly zany cast of teammates, including a superhero and even an entire planet (a character so wonderfully bizarre that their worth taking along in your regular party, even though their not that great). The places the seven heroes will go are so incredibly intriguing, you'll spend hours exploring every nook and cranny for jokes, Easter eggs, and mini games. And there are plenty of all three. The last game I can remember laughing this hard at was the third Monkey Island, high praise if ever there was. Unfortunately, the game is plagued with a few very major troubles. First, the graphics are rather ho hum, compared to Final Fantasy X or even IX. This is because the game is built with the ancient Quake II engine. Also, the load times are atrocious. The designers obviously noticed this, and threw in some funny phrases to read while waiting, but they run dry fast. To make matters worse, the game play isn't up to snuff either. It's incredibly easy, especially the final bosses. I didn't get a game over once the whole way through on normal mode. Do yourself a favor and set it to hard, or you may find yourself bored by the dungeons and combat (the battles, by the way, are not random, but rather like Chrono Trigger's). I've heard tell of bugs, as well, but didn't run into any myself. And, worst of all, is the knowledge that Ion Storm - Dallas, the company that made the game, is gone, and the lead designer, Tom Hall, is currently making games for the Palm Pilot. That's right, no sequels, and the game has a cliff hanger ending. Be warned. But, these admittedly glaring faults aside, I can't say I've had much more fun with an RPG. Brilliant dialogue, great environments, and clever diversions from mainstream RPG gameplay are enough to make the game WELL worth a purchase. | |||||||||
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