An example of Solitus, of normal build, but 10% taller than average.

Which race you choose has an influence on which professions you are most suited for and on how easily your character can aquire various skills. For example, an Atrox makes a good footsoldier, while a Solitus may excel at beeing a thief or a trader.

After you have selected your race, you go on to selecting a face, with a dazzling amount of fascinating combinations to choose from. Then you can select your build (thin, normal, fat), and if you want to be higher or shorter than average for the selected race.

These cosmetic choices are there to aid the role-playing, and do in no way influences your abilities. Part of the charm of the game lays in the ability to make your own character different from everybody else you meet, so that it is easier to build your own unique identity..

Our Hero! The level of detail is very good even when you zoom in all the way.

The next step is to choose a profession: adventurer, agent, bureaucrat, doctor, engineer, fixer, soldier, martial artist, trader, nano-technician or meta-physicist. You are free to choose any profession, but the likelyhood of excelling in your profession depends on your chosen race.

For example, it is unlikely that an Altrox will become one of the leading meta-physicists on Rubi-Ka. (on the other hand... it is not entirely impossible).

As soon as you have given your character a name, one last - but very important - choice remains: Which side in the eternal power-struggle on Rubi-Ka do you wish to take? Do you want to be part of the Omni-Tek corporation and enjoy it's huge ressources and technology, or do you want to join one of the adventurous rebel clans who fight for freedom?

If you find the choice difficult, you can join the game as neutral. You can then choose sides later in the game, should you develop a sympathy for one side or the other.

Once you have made this choice, you join the game. If you belong to Omni-Tek, you'll be given your own appartment in Omni-1, the biggest city on the planet. Clan members initially have to make do with more spartan accommodations in the rebel stronghold of Tir, and neutrals start off among the settlers in Newtown.

The viewing angle can be chosen freely, and you can zoom out as much as you like. Here is Newtown, far away from Omni-1.

(More screenshots from the character generation process can be seen here)

A sight  for sore eyes
It is almost impossible not be be impressed by the visual qualities of Anarchy Online, The entire world is done in beautiful 3D graphics, and the representaion of the players is especially varied and detailed. You can choose to see one's surroundings from a first-person perspective, which is good when you are indoors, or you can select a third-person perspective. 

You can twist and turn the camera any way you like, so that you can get a good view of what is going on around you at any time. You can also zoom in and out almost indefinately, to really get a good overview.

Outside the gates of Omni-1, where Omni-Tek's propaganda posters can be seen, with slogans such as "We Bring Order". Inside the city, there are more posters with slogans such as "Be Good", "Behave", etc.

Another impressive feature of Rubi-Ka is the weather, which can vary from nice and sunny, to extreme sandstorms, rainstorms and lightning. The sunsets and sunrises can also be quite dramatic, and all these elements contribute successfully to the illusion of a real fantasyworld that you can visit in cyberspace...

Battle
FunCom promise that Rubi-Ka will be rich in storylines and dynamic interaction, but in the beta-version there is not a lot of this. Most beta-testers spend their time exploring, talking to other players, and combating space creatures and robots - which might well be the most popular ways to kill time in the finished game also.

When you engage in combat agains an opponent, be it a unintelligent three-legged alien or a top-notch elite soldier from Omni-Tek, a number of factors will decide how the fight will develop..

The battlesystem is designed such that the battles are fought in realtime, but are turn-based. In other words, once a battle has been started, each party will take turn attacking each other until one of them drop. The outcome is not decided by which player can hit the keyboard the quickest, although you can enter commands while the other players makes his move, which will be executed when it is your turn again.

Your skills and abilities determine how often you get to attack, how successful and how much damage your attacks will do, and how difficult it is for your enemy to hit you.

FunCom has enjoyed themselves when creating hundreds of different pieces of clothing, body armor and weapons that you can use to customize your character.

In AO there are tons of weapons to choose from, everything from swords and axes to particle-guns, solar-powered machine-guns and flame throwers. To effectively use a weapon, you need a certain skill level for that particular weapon.

To protect yourself from injury, it is important to put on protective clothing and armor. These can be found in caves or buildings or bought once you've made some money.

Nanotechology
Anarchy Online is not about dragons, demons and magic, but even in this high-tech sci-fi setting, one has kept the game-playing essence of many of these elements, but in different forms.

Instead of fantasy monsters, you are faced with an array of space creatures that serve the pretty much same purpose. Pistols, rifles and rayguns are the equivalent of  bows and arrows, and much of the surface of Rubi-Ka is still untouched by human hands.

An online role playing game would of course not be the same without sorcerers and magicians, and in AO a variety of these have been included by letting players play the roles of nano-technicians and metaphysicists. These are able to put their nanotech skills in ways that to many others will appear like, well, pure magic. In this fashion, AO will have some players that can heal others'  wounds, send fireballs and boost the skills and abilities of their friends, all by the use of nanotechnology.

Night-time use of nanotechnology.

Money and Experience
In order to let the player develop his charakter, AO uses a level-based system not unlike what is found in other roleplaying games. Once you have gathered sufficient experience points by winning battles, you advance to the next level. Then you also get the opportunity to redistribute points between your different skills, so that you have some control over which skills to develop.

Even if going into the forests and fighting reptiles and space hamsters can get you experience, it is not very economically attractive. Therefore, a unique system of assignment of various missions has been implemented. The missions are of varying difficulty, and some are very profitable.

The missions are generated on-the-fly, and it is possible to cooperate with other players to be successful at the more difficult ones. Examples of missions are to destroy a computer, to deliver a parcel or to kill somebody.

AO has an elaborate system for the development of skills and abilities, based on experience and levels (similar to other role-playing games).

Soon, soon....
There can be little doubt that Anarchy Online is a make-or-break product  for FunCom, which has invested considerably in the development of this game. Already there are large on-line communities of AO fans, even though many of them haven't actually seen the game yet.

Fortunately, is seems like FunCom has managed to create an exceptionally well thought-out and solid product, and there is little to indicate that the players around the world will be disappointed.

Even if the details haven't been decided yet, we can expect to have to pay a monthly fee to pay Anarchy Online - after all, this is a type of game where yo need to play for quite a lot in order to build your character and really explore the world.

Consequently, FunCom is less concerned about illegal copies of the game CD, and say that they have even taken into account that some users will wish to copy the CD from friends or download it from the 'net - the main income is expected to come from thousands of nerds who happily pay their monthly fees for years to come...

It is still not official when the game will be lanched. FunCom simply states that "the game will be launched when it is finished, and no sooner". Since AO now supposedly is in its final beta-phase, it is tempting to think that the huge E3 Expo in Los Angeles in May will be considered a suitable venue for the lanuch...

More information about the storyline, background, races and other aspects of the game can be found on FunComs's official AO site: http://www.anarchyonline.com/, or you can look up the many fan sites.

 

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