Released last September, the Shadowlands expansion pack represented a significant landmark for Anarchy Online. Although developer and publisher Funcom could easily have taken the straightforward approach by adding more locations, creatures, quests, items et al to the planet Rubi-Ka, the team decided upon a more imaginative and riskier direction. The product implemented a new and entirely different environment, in effect an entire second world made up of seven diverse regions for players to explore. The progression through these represented a communal grand quest to unearth the lost secrets of a newly discovered ancient civilization. The ultimate result was most definitely a success. In our 2003 RPG Vault Awards, we named it our Online World Expansion Pack of the Year, one of many honors and accolades it received. Naturally, we also wondered when we'd see the subsequent forward step.

The wait proved not to be all that long. In February, the company announced Anarchy Credits - Alien Invasion, the next major chapter in the project's evolution. As the title clearly states, the theme this time is an external threat. An unexpected attack on Rubi-Ka leads to a planet-wide call to arms, with citizens forced to defend themselves and their communities against hordes of interlopers possessing superior technology, with part of the action said to involve taking the fight to the intruders by boarding their spaceships. Another notable feature encompasses the ability to build organization headquarters, houses and even entire towns. A new line of flying vehicles will be added, along with lots of weapons, armor, clothes, quests, perks and more. Fortunately, Funcom has agreed to help familiarize us with these and other elements as development moves forward.
Includes six exclusive high-resolution screenshots

As many of you know, Funcom is currently creating a new expansion to Anarchy Credits entitled Alien Invasion. Upon announcing Alien Invasion earlier this year, we received great feedback from our player base, and the strengthened focus on the social and sci-fi aspects of Anarchy Online was (luckily) received with open arms. This feedback gives us important assurance that we are on the right track with the third commercial add-on for Anarchy Online. These days, we are therefore hard at work making sure the presence of a technologically advanced enemy will look and play great, as you can learn more about in this Transmission.