They no longer make games like this, and it's no wonder. In 2001, Anachronox outdid its creators, leaving fans in the dark

Imagine how Tom Hall must have felt in 1996. He just became a co-founder of Ion Storm studio and started working on a game, the first elements of which had been germinating in his head since his student days. One of the creators of the iconic platform game Commander Keen decided to give players Anachronox - a western take on the jRPG genre. Time was to show that this wonderful combination of black comedy, noir story, and space opera would be the nail in the coffin for the main branch of the studio. But let's start from the beginning.

Odyssey that started in a pub

Anachronox is the name of the planet that was abandoned by an ancient civilization, and now it's home to a bunch of shady characters. "Poison from the Past" is the perfect place for Sly Boots, a private detective destroyed by events from years ago. We meet him at a really bad time, when one of the gangsters punches him in the face and then throws him out of his own office window. If you can even call the shack at the back of Rowdy's bar an office.

Sly Boots in the flesh

Sly's situation doesn't look rosy. He is in debt to the local mafia boss, and there are no lines of clients in front of his desk. Desperation therefore pushes him to work as a security guard for the eccentric Grumpos, who is investigating the mysterious MysTech crystals. At first glance, a simple job turns into a mission to save the world, and Boots is promoted from a drunken bum to a man standing in the middle of a battle between two divine forces. In the meantime, he's evacuating from a planet about to explode, taking part in a crazy series of democratic votes, and even running away from comic book villains.

The plot of Anachronox is a crazy mix that could be the lovechild of Blade Runner and The Fifth Element. Raised by MDK. A pal of Futurama and Firefly. Its real father, however, is Tom Hall, who developed an odyssey so vast that he had to divide it into three parts for Ion Storm studio to be able to realize even a portion of his ideas. Unfortunately, when the game launched in June 2001, the Dallas branch responsible for it was already on the verge of collapse. We, on the other side, were hit with a huge plot twist right before the end credits.

Team of misfits and weirdos

If we were to compare Anachronox to a spaceship, one of the engines driving it would be the script, and the other would be its main characters. The game quickly shows us that without companions, we won't go far. That's why, after the grumpy Grumpos, our party is also joined by the robot PAL-18, who has had identity issues from the beginning. Over time, the team was joined by Rho, known for her scientific heresies, and Boots' former partner, Stiletto Anyway. The superhero El Puno also appears, who, instead of signing comics, prefers to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

The entire planet is on a mission to save the world

My favorite, though, is Democratus, one of the planets we visit, whose inhabitants decide... to shrink their home to travel alongside Sly. The party is rounded out by Fatima - Boots' digitized secretary, contained within a device known as LifeCursor. In the game, she becomes a visual representation of the cursor, which maintains immersion. The package doesn't really like each other, which gives us a reason for some lighthearted banter and jokes. However, they are united by a common goal, for which they are ready to give their life. It's hard to follow the adventures of the characters without a smile on your face.

Japanese RPG in American style

The title is heavily inspired by solutions known from jRPGs, including one of Tom Hall's favorite games, Chrono Trigger. In the game, we control a party of up to 3 people and engage in battles similar to the Active Time Battle system from Final Fantasy VII, where participants take turns based on their readiness gauge. During the game, we can move characters on the board (which is crucial for those fighting in close combat), perform a regular attack, use one of the special abilities (each character has its own set), or use magic, represented here by MysTech crystals.

Battles in Anachronox become very repetitive over time and even frustrating by the end of the game.

The multitude of tactics and gradual unlocking of new possibilities didn't help - the battles in Anachronox are simply boring and have a sluggish pace. Most of the actions are accompanied by long, very repetitive animations, which are far from the spectacular summoning of Bahamut in the Final Fantasy series. The situation is made worse by enemies scaling to our level, which makes grinding pointless and prolongs fights even with the most basic enemies. Elementor, which allows for the creation of unique magical abilities, causes slightly more excitement, but this tool is not the easiest to use.

Exploration is also a problem. Since many locations in Ion Storm's game take the form of a real labyrinth, the lack of a map or fast travel option is a real nightmare. All the more so, as Anachronox notoriously forces us to backtrack. In order to fully discover the stories of the characters and unlock all their skills, we often visit the same locations multiple times. Plus, we can't rely on the journal for help because the content in it is very brief.

Dancing is just one of the many mini-games.

However, the mini-games - another element borrowed from jRPG - look exceptionally good. In the game, we control a jet ski and dodge incoming boulders or shoot at targets in a side-scrolling setting. Each of the characters also has a special ability with its own mechanics. In this way, Sly can open locks (after guessing the right combination), Democratus uses a beam to retrieve hard-to-reach items (in a variation of Whac-A-Mole), and old man Grumpos... gathers strength in his lungs to overwhelm his conversation partners with a barrage of nonsense, forcing them into submission. Hilarious!

Talent over technology

The title is powered by the Quake 2 engine, which was already outdated on the day of the game's release. Despite that, the Ion Storm studio squeezed everything they could out of it to make the game look as good as possible. The locations, whose design is extremely creative and execution meticulous, are worth noting. Thanks to the TPP view and the option of free exploration, we can admire the bizarre planet Anachronox, whose inhabitants move around us on many levels, also using the walls and ceiling.

The title is full of excellent, truly cinematic shots. The camera often zooms in on the characters' faces, makes flashy shots, and changes angles. Its work justifies the decision, according to which cutscenes were created exclusively on the game engine, not allowing flashy intermissions to "kick the ass" of the title itself. The solution was so good that Jake Hughes used it to make the award-winning Anachronox: The Movie, which I recommend watching. The whole thing is tied together by a superb dubbing that enhances the ubiquitous humor and a pretty good soundtrack.

Reviews, sales and the fate

Anachronox divided the experts. However, the worst part was the sales results - they turned out to be a complete disaster for the studio, which was on the verge of falling apart. Under the control of the publisher, the British company Eidos Interactive, the Austin division (Deus Ex) remained, as well as the rights to Anachronox.

Our virtual assistant.

Since then, Tom Hall has made many, each time unsuccessful, attempts to regain the IP he loved. Many former Anachronox devs also expressed interest in working on the sequel. However, Eidos Interactive studio invested too much money in Ion Storm projects (including the unsuccessful FPS Daikatana) to easily get rid of them.

At this moment, the situation is even more complicated. Right now, the owner of Eidos Interactive is Square Enix, which probably has its own plans regarding the owned copyrights. In 2015, a Japanese entrepreneur was thinking about continuing Anachronox as part of the Square Enix Collective program, but since then, there hasn't been much talk about it.

How to play Anachronox today?

There are no problems with purchasing the game of Ion Storm. You can get the game on Steam or GOG.com for around $6.99, and there are often sales if you're willing to wait a bit. In these platforms, you can easily run Anachronox on modern operating systems.

You can also get used, original physical editions from years ago for a similar price. Full versions are also available, which were included with various magazines.

Devs and fans hope

Instead of a trilogy or extensive additions, we received one, but an exceptional title - full of unfinished threads, brilliant humor, and great ambitions. Tom Hall never gave up hope that one day he would be able to tell the ending of Anachronox. We also have to believe in it.

Anachronox

June 27, 2001

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• Overview

• jRPG
• RPG games
• Retro Gaming