Anachronox took a long time to get to the market, but that time was obviously spent well.

I'll admit I am a creature of first impressions. I know that very little can be derived from a brief encounter with a person (or a game) but I still base a lot of my opinion about something or someone on the initial meeting. That said, there was a good chance I was never going to pick up Anachronox because of the impression game designer Tom Hall left me with after E3 2000. Granted, Hall is a great talent, but when I met him, he was demo-ing the game, dancing and gyrating as he merely clicked the mouse. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I usually play my games rather quietly, letting the screen and the speakers do the talking. Occasionally I will reach into the bag of the 'Chips of the Day' and take a healthy swig of soda, but I can't for the life of me remember a time when I danced like the nerd who has too much to drink at the party. This might be the first case of a game developer losing a sale because of his own actions. Then again, there was another developer at the Ion Storm Dallas office who was famous for such things.

Anyway, part of my growing older has been to change my ways. I purposely do things I normally wouldn't, just to prove I have some sort of adaptability. In the case of Anachronox, it has paid off. Catering to console RPG fans, the game promises to deliver such an experience on the PC, with all the bells and whistles only a PC can provide. On most levels, this game delivers on its promise, bringing a wildly entertaining game to RPG fans looking for something different.

Now, the minute the term RPG is brought up in the same sentence as PC, people tend to think of games like Baldur's Gate, or Icewind Dale. This game purports to be nothing like these games, both in delivery and gameplay. If you go into this game expecting a 3D version of CRPG classics, you'll be disappointed. If you think more along the lines of Final Fantasy you'll hit the nail right on the head and be treated to a truly enjoyable experience.

The game starts as your main character, Silvestro Bucelli (aka Sly Boots) is taking a thorough whooping from a hammer-fisted goon. Seems Sly hasn't been paying off his debts in a timely manner, and the issue of collection has come up. Boots ends up taking a swan dive out of his office window, much to the entertainment of the people below. We find out that Sly is in debt to the local mob, and his sidekick, the robot PAL-18 is need of batteries. Basically, life sucks for Sly.

From the very beginning, there is a sense that this game is going to have a huge scope, and this sense if followed up on throughout the game. The city of Anachronox is by no means small, and its multi-cultural inhabitants offer plenty of substance to an otherwise stable plot. The game sends you to three different planets, several space stations, and a few battleships as well. As far as gaming dollar goes, this game gives you plenty of bang for your buck.

The most amazing thing about this game is that it is based on the Quake II engine. That's right, Quake II. At a time when Quake III is already showing its age, a game comes along based on its predecessor. Suprisingly, if you didn't know the game was based on this engine, you'd never know it. Anachronox is full of vibrant color and rich detail, and could easily pass for an Unreal Tournament-based game. Of course, if you look closely, you'll see the low-res textures and low polygon counts, but the game is pretty enough for today's standards, and plays smoothly on a wide array of systems. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. Kudos to Hall and his crew for taking an archaic engine and making it look almost new.

Combat is split between real-time and turn based, and it instantly reminiscent of the Final Fantasy combat system. There's no saving throws or monster-specific weapons to worry about. Instead, you get a simple 'move and hit' system that almost anyone can learn quickly. Each character has a certain special ability, and these range from berserk attacks to defense and healing moves. Combat is a major part of the game, and it appears that a lot of time has been spent tweaking and perfecting it. I think it works superbly.

You'll meet several characters along the way, some of whom will join your party. You get the cleavage princess pasted on the cover of the game, an elderly man named Grumpos, PAL-18-your robotic sidekick, and a red-tight-wearing superhero Paco, who suffers from super-depression. Each character adds a different flavor to the game, and they add depth, something no RPG should be without.

Anachronox is by no means a simple game, at least in terms of scope. Over the course of the game, you will deal with time-traveling aliens, vote in an election, and save the entire galaxy. In between that, you will engage in serious dialogue, be entertained by some well-scripted humor, and train in the ways of preventing your butt from being kicked. In all, the game entertains, delights, and humors. Not much more you can ask for.

There are a few rough spots in the game. One, which seems to be the norm in RPG's, is the endless same response from an NPC. After you have followed the dialogue tree to the end, the character will keep repeating the same thing over and over when you approach them. A little variety would be nice, but this is really no big deal. On some video cards, getting the right resolution to run is impossible (patch available) and the game does crash to the desktop from time to time. Along with a decent amount of corrupted textures, these are the only real complaints. Not too bad, I would say.

Anachronox was in development for about as long as the other Ion Storm game Daikatana. It amazes me that both of these games came from the same studio, and if I remember correctly, the same game engine as well. Where Daikatana fell flat on its face in the graphics and gameplay department (read: failed in every aspect of gaming) the Anachronox team took the extra development time to hone its game, and make sure it brought a quality game experience to the market. Though grossly late, the game plays well, and it isn't readily apparent that the game is old.

Though the sound effects are flat and generic, the music is a treat. I found myself turning the music volume up and the sound effect volume down just so I could enjoy the music. I am a big proponent of music in games, and Anachronox offers the perfect example of how music can add to a gaming experience.

All told, this game is impressive, from its complete overhaul of a dated engine to its wide scope of gameplay. Console RPGs usually cater to a small niche audience (though the Final Fantasy series sold like hotcakes) and they have had limited success in the PC market. Anachronox can change that, because it offers an experience that will appeal to all sorts of gamers, from 3rd person shooter lovers to strategy gamers to adventure fans. The game isn't perfect, but it is perfectly enjoyable. That, in and of itself, is something unique. Like I said earlier, I base everything on first impressions, and though I thought the lead developer of this game was an eccentric geek, he can code one hell of a game.

Reviewed by John Misak.