Anarchy Online: Boy, Funcom has come a long way...Shadowlands

I don't have to tell anyone the history that Funcom has had, nor the kind of expectations people (fans and press alike) had about the successful launch of FC's first "Official" Expansion titled SHADOWLANDS.

Being one of those people that played AO when it first hit the shelves, I have to admit that I had mixed feelings when I began installing "Shadowlands". What was I in store for? What kind of community had developed out of the ashes of the Anarchy Online I left less than 2 months after initial release?

From the investigating I had done I had come to the conclusion that Funcom had listened to the fan base, fixed the bugs that plagued AO, and now had a stable, enjoyable and addicting game. That created a solid and loyal community of gamers who will swear up and down that Anarchy Online was where they wanted the game to be. Since I first played, FC had expanded this vast universe with a Booster Pack titled "Notum Wars", which added Land Control, Voice Commands, as well as other goodies, but that wasn't enough to satisfy the masses. So, Funcom went back to the drawing board, and after the smoke cleared we got "Shadowlands". Now, on to the review...

I play on a P3 800Mhz system, with 256MB RDRAM and a GeForce 4 Ti4200 128MB Graphics Card. I run at 32bit Color, with no Anti-aliasing. Not the biggest or smallest rig on the planet but it still gets the job done. Installation was easy, registering was a snap, putting in all the codes for "Shadowlands" and my Jobe Apartment (more on this later) took just a spare minute.

After updates, hit the login screen. Picked a server (I chose Rimor, there are 3 choices), and selected "create a character". This is the first time I noticed a significant difference between AO 2001, and AO present. Before, there was a very bland character selection process that often left you confused and not too sure of what you were getting yourself into. You could easily be left in the n00bie area completely clueless as to what to do next. Now, there is a nice little backdrop story line to the whole thing, computer voice walkthrough, explanations for everything you are doing, and I felt more at ease with the decisions I was making. In this stage of the character creation you pick race (male or female - except for the species Atrox), features of your body (height, weight, facial look), and then Profession. For each Profession they give you a difficulty playing level from Easy through Hard to give you an idea on the learning curve for that profession. There is also a description of what lies in store for you if you choose that type of character. Now with the "Shadowlands" expansion come two new Professions - Shade and Keeper. The Shade is sort of an assassin-type role, and your Keeper is based off of a paladin- knight-type role. I decided to check out the Keeper because I like to play the "Tank" in my MMO's. Last but not least, I chose a name. I have to admit that this took a minute since the game has been around a while. And, with a creative community of gamers even the most unique idea could be taken. After about 10+ tries one worked, and BOOM - I was then teleported to a "Space Station" which was an area that allowed you to talk to NPC's to give you bits of information on what to expect in your new life on Rubi-ka, as well as help make your decision on what affiliation to choose from. There are traditionally 3 choices - Omni, Clan, and Neutral - but with the expansion comes an additional choice of "Jobe". All Shades and Keepers have to start there, so that is where I went.

*Side note - Upon portaling to the "Space Station" I was able to see the GUI. It has changed since my AO Days, and I was very impressed how much more user friendly it is. Upon later usage out in the real world of Rubi-ka, when selecting NPC's, other players, and monsters I found that some of the menu and bars that pop up are placed for me in places that are frustrating. The health bars of monsters and friends you can't select and move, and they aren't on the center or very right/left of the screen. So you have a hard time, if not impossible time finding a uniform way to arrange your GUI so things do get tangled with each other. After while you just get used to it and look past it, but something I feel should be addressed sooner or later. The option to go BACK to the Pre-Expansion GUI is there, I have not tried that yet, but I may have to, to avoid this problem.

Upon portaling into Jobe (Jobe "Research" is a city that is built on the fringes of the Shadowlands, with portals to Rubi-ka within the city), all I have to say is Wow! The overall look of the place is just incredible. Most impressive is the sky terrain - lots of things going on including what looks like a "Black Hole" that periodically will swallow things, and two suns that actually revolve around each other. Now remember the system specs that I am running the game on, and I have none of the in-game graphics options cranked to full, and it still looked stunning. Awesome!

I am used to starting a game in this little "Backyard" where you go around hunt till you are level 5, and then go play with the rest of the world. Now I take 2 steps and fall straight through the bridge, and get stuck in mid air below the bridge. Enter stage left, an ARK member. ARK stands for Advisors of Rubi-ka, and these guys from all my encounters are on top of the game. The ARK member that saved me was actually one of the "Greeters", but saw me take the plunge and was able to portal me to the backyard of Jobe. He then proceeded to answer a ton of my questions - very polite, very informative. My hats off to that program, and to the people who got that whole program off the ground to make it what it is today.

Said my goodbyes to my savior, and started exploring the backyard. Compared to everything else, it is big, and not only big but there is a set of quests that basically take you from level 1-5 OR HIGHER, so you don't feel like you are doing it for nothing. While doing these quests, you are also getting back-story information on what "Shadowlands" is all about as well as some goodies along the way for completing all the missions. While I was doing these missions I had the opportunity to see some new monsters that have been added as well as see the 2 new NPC Races - which the "Shadowlands" storyline revolves around. My first few levels were the best time I've ever had as a n00bie out of my 5 years and countless MMO's I have played.

I reached level 5 and that is when I got in touch with my FC contact for my Official "Reviewers Shadowlands" walkthrough. I was taken on my tour by none other than Ziana1 who was gracious enough to give me one heck of a tour. The tour starts in the Jobe Apartment. Now this feature that you could only get if you pre-ordered "Shadowlands". Very cool little place, VERY spacious, couple rooms, walkout balcony, and your very own grid access. Grid access at this time is only from the apartment to the grid, not vice versa. But, it could go to both ways in the future. You never know.

"Shadowlands" is broken up into 7 different (I call them "Land" levels) or zones. As you progress in level and skill (and storyline), you get to progress through the levels. They range from the rich vegetation of Nascence, the Eden revisited Elysium, chaotic torn landscaping of Scheols, Underwater city of Adonis, frozen tundra of Penumbra, sweltering land of Inferno, and last but not least the final apocalyptic struggle of Pandemonium (which was NOT shown to me - to be saved for those that make it there themselves). About halfway through the tour I came to the conclusion that Funcom didn't just release an expansion, they released a sequel. Each zone is huge in dimension - monster level progression goes up on each new zone and as you go deeper for each zone. You could easily go from level 1 to 200+ and never leave the "Shadowlands". I was able to check out a small piece of each level except the last level, Pandemonium, and that was to save the best for last - or so I am told - and from what I have seen I don't doubt it one bit. It may take me a very long time to get to the level I need to be at to see the very last level of "Shadowlands", but I think it will be worth my wait, as well as yours.

Now this brings me to some other points - "Shadowlands" is not Rubi-ka, plain and simple. I truly believe that the majority of the people were expecting it to just be more land for them to roam on without any major changes to the way you have to play the game. In this respect, the majority was wrong. It IS different. Some differences are the "Missions" that you can get by going to terminals in Rubi-ka do not exist in this game. They have a new Game on Demand system in place, so that if you find a static dungeon while roaming and you walk inside, as you are portaling in it will assess your level and provide for you a dungeon that is blended to you as a player. This system is very unique and the idea behind it is sound but flawed. Flawed in the sense that if someone is already IN the dungeon you enter the dungeon is already filled with monsters, but for the level of the player that has entered before you. So, I have yet to enter a dungeon where I am the first one in, which means I have to turn right around and leave, because at level 5 I do not possess the skills to kill 100+ level MOBS. The hardcore fans have already started to let FC know this.

One additional difference is that traditional hunting does not get the job done in the "Shadowlands" like it does on Rubi-ka. Reason being - the monsters are harder, and tactics that have been tried, tested, and perfected over the last 2 years are now becoming null and void due to certain nanos not working in the Shadowlands like they do in Rubi-ka, thus making some professions not as strong in these new lands as they are back on Rubi-ka. Funcom tries to combat this by adding a new system called "Perks". The Perks system gives added bonus and special skills to the member - you get one point per 10 levels. Some of these perks are general and can be used by everyone and some are profession specific. So, with a well-balanced group, all of the perks being applied can make a definite difference in gameplay. *Note: Only applied to people that own the expansion.

Thus the community is split right now between the people that see "Shadowlands" as a huge new world to explore, and maybe the chance they were looking for to start a new character, and then the others as seeing it as too different from Anarchy Online traditionally and after one look haven't gone back for a second until FC addresses the "bugs/game balancing" issues.

Putting my mind at ease is Funcom's past history of listening to the community to fix bugs/balancing issues such as this. I don't think it will be too long before the community and FC are singing off the same sheet of music.

To finish up this review, I have to say that Funcom has taken yet again a firm grip on the Sci-fi realm of the MMORPG Genre. When the balancing issues get addressed and more people are used to this new expansion, I expect a boon of newcomers as well as veterans coming back for another taste of what Funcom's hottest MMO has to offer.

Overall, I rate the game at a 9 (currently), once the balancing issues are addressed and the community starts getting into the groove of ALL of what Shadowlands has to offer, I would have to re-rate at 9.5 to 9.7, but only time will tell.