Anachronox

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $3.47

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PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Decent Time-Killer, Final Fantasy Style [Posted on 2002-06-11]
Feeding off my love of Ion Storm's last masterpiece, "Deus Ex", I purchased the similarly silly-titled "Anachronox", figuring it to be a game that would fill me with PC gaming goodness. Well, after sinking my teeth into it for awhile, I'm left a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, though. The archaic Quake 2 engine is fine, the cutscenes are good, the voice-acting is superb, but somewhere along the line, the game lost me. The plot is dense, somewhat confusing, and if you leave the game for a week or so and come back to it, you may forget just what in the heck you're supposed to be doing. Thanks to Fatima, however -- your dead assistant now resurrected as a hologram -- you'll soon be on your way to the next world, universe, or other wacko location.

The characters are memorable, from the hero "Sly" Boots to the superhero El Puno. The game has tons of laugh-out-loud moments, and moves along at a nice pace. Nothing is really too hard or too easy, but again, I was left with wanting more. Mini-games broke up the gameplay, as did the numerous side-quests, but all-too-often, I found myself just walking to the next area and fighting weird monsters in a Final Fantasy setting. With only three playable characters at one time, Anachronox is a far cry from a true RPG. Weapon effects and special battle moves are performed with some gusto, but once you see these fights hundreds of times, the "cool" factor diminished greatly.

Anachronox has a devoted legion of fans, and deservedly so. It's a fun game that will keep you entertained for 20 or so hours. If you can keep up with the meandering story, then it's even better. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, I stopped caring for Boots, Stiletto, Pal, Grumpos and the rest and just wanted to finish the game, which finished nicely nonetheless.

So if you're a PC gamer who likes Final Fantasy-style gameplay and combat, pick up Anachronox. It'll be a nice ride.

Quirky, Dramatic, Silly, Funny, Stylish, GREAT! [Posted on 2002-09-21]
When this game first came out, I saw the names of the characters. "Stiletto Anyway? Sly Boots? This game sounds pretty strange..."
I was right about that. It IS a bit strange, but I shouldn't have let that deter me for as long as it did. I only recently purchased the game, but about 24 gameplay hours later (spread out over a couple weeks), I LOVE it. Not just enjoy. No, LOVE.
There's a lot of detail to be had in the story, something that I find lacking in most games today.
Graphics-wise, I found it to be QUITE good. Mind you, I only have 11MB of video memory on my 600MHz computer, so those good folks who have super powered-up computers and who have been playing the newest games may be disappointed in the graphics. The characters manage expressions (such as a lifted eyebrow or a smirk) that I've never seen before in games.
The battle system is strange at first, but it doesn't take long to get used to it.
Much of the game involves humor to some degree, which makes those dark parts of the plot that much more noticable, and that much more dramatic.
A tremendous amount of detail has been put into the game as far as little sub-plots and things go. I've never seen so many different models in a game, either, it's quite astounding.
It's quirky sci-fi, to be sure, but it has a really enchanting, addicting quality.
I recommend it to those who enjoy comedy with their sci-fi, to those who enjoy RPGs, to those who enjoy adventure games AND to those who want some strong story and fun characters with their game. Well, I guess I recommend it to just about anyone except those who hate comedy.

Please Sir, I Want Some More! [Posted on 2003-06-13]
It has been a long time since I last played a game that has such an original story. The world is highly detailed, the characters are hysterical, and the plot kept me guessing till the very end. I know that the visuals are a bit "dated", but I consider eye-candy to be a VERY small contribution to a great game. The only real complaint that I have is that there is no sequel (yet...I hope). Anachronox is a game that can easily be continued without losing any of the qualities that makes it such a masterpiece. There are good games...then there are great games...then there are the elite. I don't need to tell you that Anachronox belongs in the last category.

An undiscovered treat that I missed early on. [Posted on 2003-11-23]
This is a game that I wished I had found when it first came out. It is long, sprawling, immersive, and addictive once you get into it. It has caused me to stay up late too many times.

PC Gamer also recently listed it as the 6th funniest game in history.

I bought a stratagy guide and another copy of the game to give to a friend.

The downside is the character models, which are admittedly dated, and some crash problems. Most of the stability problems have been fixed, however, though you have to hunt for all the patches -- to include at least three "unofficial" ones that came out after the team that created the game was disbanded.

Still, despite the graphics limitations, there are scenes of immense beauty. In fact, the cutscenes for the game were recently edited together into a movie!

This is a game that you can pick up for a song that will run on a lower-end system. It is well worth it. I wish the team that did it could be reassembled to do a sequal. in fact, there is an online petition circulating to try to get a sequal going, and I signed it.

Extremely underrated game! [Posted on 2007-03-14]
This is a very unique game with hilarious dialogue, memorable characters, and just a fun time overall.

The combat system is standard RPG turn-based fare, but what makes this really worth it are the story and characters. You'll never quite find another group like the one that gets put together here, and there are a lot of laughts to be found here. Give this game a shot - it's going to play on almost any modern-day computer and it'll be well-worth the time.

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