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 seven exclusive screenshots

Alien Dungeons

Private realms, instanced dungeons, mission areas, content on demand systems, Auto-Content Generated (ACG), modular hallways... many names have been given to this unique invention which came into the massively multiplayer online gaming scene with Anarchy Credits in 2001. Instantly available personal dungeons with "infinite" variations in looks and size, tailored to each person's or group's level and preferred settings... it goes without saying that this was a quantum leap feature in MMOG design when it first came out. As more and more MMOG games develop similar systems of their own - and surprisingly enough, some MMOGs at E3 this year claimed they will be the first to have private realms... even though they're not yet out the door :) - it's clear that this system is (almost) essential for any MMOG developer wishing to produce the ever-popular dungeons in a fast, reliable, cheap and instantly testable way. After all, such games are played for thousands of hours, and all that shiny static content and NPC quests are "eaten up" faster than you can imagine.