http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/3590
#4 ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ Anarchy Online
Let?óÔé¼Ôäós go back to the summer of 2001. Funcom, now better known for Age of Conan, launched the first real science fiction MMO. The initial slate of MMOs were fantasy themed, and say what you will about its launch, at least someone had the balls to try a new genre.
As far as terrestrial science-fiction MMOs go, there still isn?óÔé¼Ôäót all that much out there. Star Wars Galaxies has a well documented history, and Tabula Rasa is the Waterworld of MMOs.
Yet, along comes Funcom?óÔé¼Ôäós Anarchy Online. The quirky Norwegians have continued to develop and expand this game over its eight years of commercial operation. And while they have their hands full with Conan and the upcoming Secret World, maybe they should go back to the game that got it all started?
Why It Was Awesome
Anarchy Online took all the cool bits of the MMO genre and wrapped it in a snazzy, futuristic reality controlled by a shady corporation.
Players choose from a variety of really exciting classes: Adventurer, Agent, Bureaucrat, Doctor, Enforcer, Engineer, Keeper, Martial Artist, Meta-Physicist, Nano Technician, Shade, Soldier, and Trader. While most of these have some kind of fantasy MMO equivalent, their names alone were enough to get me drooling back in 2001.
This is also the game that invented instancing, love it or hate it. They have dynamic missions tailored to the characters involved, which are a popular part of the game.
Why The Old Game Isn?óÔé¼Ôäót Good Enough Anymore
The problem I always had with Anarchy Online is that while it promised so much, it never really delivered for me. I wanted the experience of being a Bureaucrat and when I read that, I thought I?óÔé¼Ôäód be embroiled in cut-throat sci-fi politics. Turns out I was actually some kind of weird combat class.
The ideas were there, but it just didn?óÔé¼Ôäót come together. Truth is, though, that I think enough time has passed that hardcore fans would welcome a new take on it, and casual observers would have the brand recognition, without the knee jerk dismissal that miight have come a few years ago.
Some Ideas To Make The Remake Shine
This is the one entry on the list where I may be getting away from the spirit of the core game, but a truly complete terrestrial science-fiction MMO would be awesome and Anarchy Online seems the best candidate for it.
I?óÔé¼Ôäód love to see them make a well rounded game that goes beyond just different ways to kill Aliens and Robots. More exploration of the game?óÔé¼Ôäós politics and story through the rivalry between Omni-Tek and The Clans definitely seems like a good idea.
This is the one entry where they just need to do what they did in the first game and then do it?óÔé¼?ª better.
Bottom Line
It?óÔé¼Ôäód be a terrestrial science fiction MMO with some imaginative classes, a complex
character development system and a fantastic back story.