Anachronox

Anachronox is a 3-D, third person computer role-playing game produced by Tom Hall and the Ion Storm games studio. Development took around three and a half years. The game is built on a heavily modified version of the Quake 2 engine, heavily re-coded to allow for improvements such as a wider color palette as well as more complex character animations (including facial expressions).

Related Topics:
3-D - Computer role-playing game - Tom Hall - Ion Storm - Quake 2

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The gameplay style is heavily influenced by console RPGs such as the Final Fantasy series, as opposed to the style of computer RPGs such as the Baldur's Gate or Fallout series. Character statistics and item collection are simplified, and the emphasis is on exploration and story-telling rather than character building. Although at first the game appears to take place in a gritty, cyber-punk universe, the game is actually fairly light-hearted, with a quirky sense of humor. However, the underlying story itself is quite serious and in particular some of the in-game cutscenes carry a surprising emotional weight.

Related Topics:
Final Fantasy - Baldur's Gate - Fallout

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The player plays the part of Sylvester "Sly" Boots, a down-and-out detective in the slums (known as "The Bricks") of an alien world called "Anachronox". Anachronox sits inside a giant, hollow sphere called Sender One, which is the centre of the galaxy's network of space-lanes.

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Recruited against his will to investigate a mystery concerning the very nature of the universe, "Sly" travels throughout the galaxy, meeting many characters along the way, some of who can join the player's party. A few of these characters are Pal-18, Sly's robotic buddy; "Grumpos" Matavastros, a wiley old professor; and Stiletto the leather-suited assassin.

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The game ends on a major cliff-hanger, as the development team was only able to complete about 50% of the story they intended. The second half of the game's story was supposed to be covered in the sequel, but the game's poor performance in the retail market coupled with the dissolution of Ion Storm suggests that no sequel will ever be made.

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The game has notably good music.

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Since its release some fan-based updates have been produced which provide such improvements as taxi-cabs between distant points, greater stability under newer versions of Windows, and enhanced save game functionality.

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Anachronox did poorly commercially. This fact, coupled with the poor performance of Daikatana, another Ion Storm release around the same time, partially contributed to the collapse of Ion Storm's Dallas branch. The game nonetheless developed a cult following, largely due to its off-beat, humorous storyline.

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In response to favorable input about the game's story, the developers independently spliced together the game's cutscenes into a single hour-and-a-half long machinima movie, which has since been distributed over the internet.

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