Anachronox

Did You Know?

• Before releasing Anachronox, Ion Storm retextured characters and adapted sequences from the game for Shiner, a production by the Undermain Theatre.
• Anachronox references the films Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink through street addresses on the planet.
• Tom Hall had studied acting at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and volunteered as an usher for Undermain.

Plot

The game is set on Anachronox, a small planet inside a huge artificial sphere called Sender One. The planet's name is a portmanteau of anachronism and noxious, meaning "poison from the past." Husks of futuristic cities sit on shifting artificial tectonic plates. Inhabitants believe diseased aliens were quarantined there long ago. Northern Anachronox is clean and upscale, while the south is crime-ridden. Humanity travels from Sender One, once the center of a faster-than-light transportation system for a non-humanoid race. Traffic stops at Sender Station, an orbiting construct with hotels and a red light district. Currency includes the one-dollar coin called a "loonie." MysTech, shards of rock with markings believed to be dormant weapons or art from an extinct alien race, are collected. Other planets include Sunder, a temperate world for the galaxy's scientific community; Hephaestus, a volcanic religious center with monks studying MysTech; Democratus, climatically similar to Earth and ruled by tall, thin humanoids on a mechanical ring obsessed with democracy; and Limbus, the "planet of death" from which no one returns. Krapton, home to superheroes and villains, is mentioned but not seen.

Development

Development of Anachronox began at Ion Storm in 1996, bankrolled by Eidos Interactive as part of a three-title agreement. The game was publicly revealed in April 1997, with a target release of late 1998. Tom Hall, a seasoned designer and Ion Storm co-founder, drove the project and conceived most of its narrative and design. The core team also included Todd Porter, Jake Hughes, Ben Herrera, Brian Eiserloh, and David Namaksy. Mapper Larry Herring joined after sending a custom Doom 2 level to Hall. Hall first imagined Anachronox while in his bathroom, which prompted him to install a whiteboard and voice recorder in his shower, plus notepads throughout his home. He had created the character Sly Boots years earlier during college. Hall finished a 460-page design document in May 1997 that detailed the game's universe well beyond what the game would cover; typical design documents of that era ran about 125 pages. He trimmed the story, leaving a third of it for a sequel. The design phase took three months. From the start, Hall planned two expansion packs due to the story's size. Developers told Next Generation the narrative would follow a "Campbellian" structure and feature vast environments.

Reception

Anachronox was well received by critics. The Daily Telegraph considered it Ion Storm's most original title, while The Scotsman praised its "many original touches." PC Gamer ranked it among the top 100 PC games four times: 16th in 2007, 17th in 2008, 61st in 2010, and 76th in 2015. USA Today selected it as Game of the Week. Jeff Green, a writer, regretted Ion Storm's closure after the game's release, describing it as "easily the best console-style RPG ever made for the PC." Reviewers noted its unusual blend of role-playing and first-person shooter mechanics, drawing comparisons to Final Fantasy and Deus Ex. The Evening Standard observed that it replaced confusion with humor while retaining character interaction, a deep storyline, and strategic combat. Computer Gaming World said it merged the finest aspects of adventure and role-playing games. Next Generation, however, argued that the genre mixing sometimes led to generic gameplay. Lyndon Russell of the Herald Sun liked the core mechanics but found the battles predictable. Erik Wolpaw appreciated the battle system's emphasis on movement but wanted the option for characters to wait instead of acting immediately. Puzzle elements, especially those involving Fatima, were well received and deemed "indispensable."