Anarchy Online, like most MMORPGs is all about creating your own avatar in a virtual world and developing it until you can’t any longer, all the while having some serious fun a long the way. Truth be told, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing whilst spending time with Anarchy, if you can stay steady for your first few steps on Rubi Ka. Rubi Ka is a fictional land, much like earth. Set in the future, in the distances of space Anarchy embraces the excitement of Human vs. Alien conflict, in a stylish science fiction setting. Rubi Ka plays host to a community of Humanoids as well as several alien races. Each race has it’s own unique look, and each have distinct advantages and disadvantages. You’ll find yourself, spoilt for choice upon creation of your first character. Half the fun, is finding out which race is best for you… and that’s before you even chose a profession. On top of the various portraits, armour and other customization items found throughout the world the real depth lies within your profession. Again, there’s a lot to chose from here. From the Soldier,Enforcer,Medic and Martial Artist classes through to the Engineer,Metaphysist and Fixer. There’s plenty to choose from, including a few I’ve left out including the ever hand trader! In total, there are 4 breeds and 12 professions from which to mould your character, so you’ve definitely got a strong chance of finding something that fits how you want to play. An important part of AO is letting you play how you want. You can go solo, and quest alone across the lands. Either by activating a mission by talking to a pivotal NPC or simply requesting a mission from a local mission terminal If you prefer, you can team up with a few friends and do pretty much the same thing and more!. Unlike other similar games in the genre, there are no real penalties for teaming, if anything you‘re rewarded for grouping with a couple of mates.. The XP comes thick and fast, and the fun lasts for as long as you have to spare. There’s a lot to choose from when it comes to combat, as well as the enormous “playfields” that make up the land, including barren wastelands and distinct cityscapes all littered with little and large creatures for you to slaughter. there’s a wide selection of “static” dungeons for you to plunder. Most of which, are restricted to a chosen level bracket, preventing any nasty thievery of your loot and experience! Combat isn’t all AO has to offer, oh no. There’s loads to do, if you’d just like to wander the lands and explore feel free but be warned, like most things on Ka explorations comes with it’s own dangers. Unless of course you own one of them fancy flying cars you see so many citizens of Ka zipping about in. Up in the air, out of harms way you’re truly free to just look around. On top of all the sightseeing, and monster culling you’ll be doing, you’re also free to dabble in the art of crafting. Creating anything from weapons, and armour through to fully fledged flight enabled vehicles, as long as you’ve channelled enough experience into the skills you need to do so. Anarchy’s skill system is somewhat complex, like most features of the game it’s something with a lot of depth and isn’t easily picked up at first. Even to veterans of the genre. This isn’t a bad thing. At heart, it’s the same system we’ve seen in all other MMORPGs to date, complete a task, gain some experience, spend it all on improving a selection of skills and make your avatar the best around! Well, only if you want to. There’s a few key attributes such as strength,agility,stamina,intelligence etc that deserve everybody’s attention but on top of this there’s a whole list of other skills you can dabble with to make yourself different. From the ability to wield, great big swords or just big ass guns there’s a lot to chose from. Including, the skill to pilot Ground, Air, and Water vehicles. As well as the abilities to run quicker, swim faster and heal for more. Graphically, AO is pretty impressive. It’s a fully 3D environment, with some truly amazing sights. Admittedly, the graphics are a little dated now but there’s a lot worth looking at Animations are smooth, even if in some cases they lack a little variation.. The game runs fairly smooth, I have experienced a few hitches here and there despite exceeding the recommended requirements, such as frame rate drops when entering player built cities and other small things. For the most part, it’s a steady running, sexy looking experience. This does of course vary quite drastically depending on your machine, most machines should be able to run the game without issues as the specs are pretty low compared to most modern games on the market today. On par with the graphics, the audio is up their at the top of the freeware market. Keep in mind, this game was initially published commercially, theirs a strong professional polish in both the sound and music departments. Guns, are appropriately partnered by some devastating blasts and there’s nothing more satisfying than watching that one last boss, go down in a cry of pain. The game weighs in at a hefty 1.84 Gbs, but is well worth the wait and the hard disk space. Check it out, prepared to be hooked… and just have some fricking fun! Important Note: The Anarchy Online CLASSIC client/game is free to play. This is the full game that originally launched in 2002. On top of this, the first “booster” pack of content Notum Wars is also included in the free edition. However, since it’s initial launch AO has been the parent to a string of substantial expansions including Shadowlands ,Alien Invasion and more recently Lost Eden. All of the expansions add new weapons, armour and playfields and in reality Froobs (Free players) are generally at a disadvantage when playing alongside paying customers. However, there’s still a full, uncapped game there for non paying players. Things, can and will take a little longer if you do not pay. I for one, have been playing for several months, have reached level 100ish out of 200 and I still find there’s plenty for me to do and explore. --- Admin Junk --- Member Name: Sean Game Genre: Sci-Fi MMORPG 3 Positive Points: Gorgeous graphics. Free/Pay hybrid structure. Substantial game world. 3 Negative Points: Free/Pay hybrid structure. Some small technical problems. Rating: 4.0 System Requirements: Minimum: Windows 98/ME/2000 SP1+2/XP Pentium II 300 128MB RAM 2X CD-ROM drive DirectX 3D 8Mb video card DirectX compatible sound device 700MB free hard drive space Internet connection, 28.8K Modem Recommended: Pentium II 450 256 Mb RAM 3D card with 32MB RAM, DirectX 8X CD-ROM drive 1GB free hard drive space Internet connection, 56K Modem No additional software, unless downloading with BitTorrent. In which case, a BitTorrent client is required. You will require an account in order to login and play. Official Game URL: http://www.anarchy-online.com/ Official Download URL: http://www.anarchy-online.com/free/ad_campaigns/freecampaign (Direct DL, and BitTorrent Links) Questionable Content: Violence, Monsters, Unfiltered chat. Internet Options: Online only, Internet. 56K Modem