Anachronox Review
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When diplomacy fails, or you're just exploring hostile areas, you'll be whisked into combat, which is real-time: your characters will spend varying amounts of time getting ready for their next action, which could be moving, using an item or a special ability, or just plain attacking an opponent. The combat arena is based on a grid, and characters can block ranged attacks against those behind them, which brings some depth to the system. Additionally, as the game progresses, you will gain access to magic (in the form of MysTech artifacts), which will further broaden the number of options available. Unfortunately, while you're choosing who to attack or where to move, time will still be flowing, which makes the combat somewhat hectic - the game really could use a pause function, or pseudo-realtime based combat, because as it stands currently, it requires a surprising amount of agility to do everything in time - on the other hand, the game is easy enough that only perfectionists will be bothered by this. Character development is very streamlined, which is a bit disappointing. While there are a number of different stats, you can't choose which to improve - in addition, the stats themselves are only explained in a tutorial at the start, which you're bound to forget, so you'll spend some time wondering what each does. There's also very little loot management - the characters only have five equipable slots each, and weapons aren't interchangeable among them - though you will gather consumables and various miscellaneous objects as you progress. Characters' special attacks (the three not available at first) are gained by talking to the right people, as is the single world skill upgrade.
Anachronox is based on a heavily modified version of the Quake II engine, which wasn't too new then and is obviously outdated now. The art direction has a definite cyberpunk tone and is interesting, if a bit dark, but the low quality textures and low polygon counts will make this hard to notice. Unfortunately, the long, winding corridors combined with such textures can cause a mild headache, so you'll need some time to adjust, or will just have to take it slow at first. Sound ages considerably better, and is another strong suit of the game. The music is good, though not particularly memorable, while the voice-acting is excellent when it's present during the cutscenes.
Anachronox offers a console RPG experience, infused with an extraordinary amount of quality humor, and is worth playing for that reason alone; the actual gameplay is nothing revolutionary. If you do decide to play Anachronox, my only advice is to bear with it for a while - the old graphics and slow start might turn you off, but those who stick with it will be rewarded with some good laughs and a generally enjoyable time.
