A Fresh Look at Anarchy Online
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While there is a standard monthly subscription fee should players want access to all Anarchy Online has to offer, there's also the option to play the original game minus expansions for free. In between the two, there's also an option to pay a nominal fee of only $5 a month, which grants access to the core game plus everything the Shadowlands expansion has to offer, including my favorite profession, the Shade among other interesting perks. Why this tiered approach hasn't been embraced by the industry as a whole as of yet is beyond me, but it's one of many aspects of AO that more publishers could learn a thing or two from. For the sake of this preview it should be noted that I opted to go through the full AO experience, which includes the core game plus all four major expansions and content updates.
I was eager to step into the role of Shade, which is one of the two professions introduced with the Shadowlands expansion, but first I had to make a quick run through character creation. Compared to the robust options in Funcom's more recent entry into the MMO market, Age of Conan, the customization options in AO are pretty bare bones. The title is beginning to show its age graphically, complete with character models so blocky they'd no doubt make NetDevil's Lego Universe team jealous. A visual overhaul of the game engine is due to go live sometime this summer, but in the meantime AO might not win any beauty contests against more recent MMOs.
