Rating: 
Summary: Good game, but wait....
Review: Anarchy Online is a very fun game.... when its working. The problem is, since it went live on the 27th of June, that almost nobody can stay connected for more than a short while. Those that can, for whatever reason (and its a small number) have leveled like the wind and are way ahead of the curve. I recommend you wait a few weeks, and check for reviews from people who have actually played the game. I got my copy the day before the game went live, and I'm trying to think of a reason not to return it for nonfunctionality. If the packet loss and connectivity problems are solved, the game will merit 4 or 5 stars. Its fun, innovative, has good graphics, excellant world design, good AI for the monsters, and even a real sense of humor. Funny when a newbie area monster ("Leet") is attacked and says, "I'LL GET MY MAIN!" and so forth. So just wait a few weeks, then see. If the technical problems are resolved, its a must buy.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this game! It is soooo buggy!
Review: I have been trying to play for the last five days and the servers are constantly crashing. Nothing in the game works properly. You cannot get missions. Doors usually don't work. Most things you try to do are broken. Tech support is non-existant. No one responds to any problems at all. You can send email and be entirely ignored. You will be playing the game and suddenly it will crash. When it crashes it will screw up your data so that you cannot get missions ever again. Without missions there is very little to do except wander around an empty world. I would give these guys a few weeks, if not months, to get the bugs out of this game before buying it. I paid $55 for the game, and then $35 for a game subscription so I could play online. THat is over eighty dollars. And I have yet to be able to play the game. It doesn't matter what you want to do in-game... You will probably discover it is broken and you can't do it. If it isn't broken right now then it will be soon... Hopefully they can fix all the problems but right now I recommend waiting... Do anything else but don't PAY to be frustrated by this so-called game!
Rating:
Summary: I'd wait to buy this game!
Review: When I bought this game I didn't realize I was paying for beta 5. This game is not only buggy, but unplayable. Funcom should not have released this game in its present state. My advice is to wait to buy the game, let them fix all the problems first.
Rating: 
Summary: More Beta that Finished Version
Review: While the game can be fun, there are still numerous bugs including serious server instability. Timeouts frequently occur and you lose experience points and have to "restart" from where the server remembers you were. The longest I have been able to play is 20 minutes before getting a disconnect. There is also a lot of difficulty moving between zones. If I hadn't already purchased the game, I would wait a few weeks to make sure that Funcom gets the game working properly before considering this game. If they can get the bugs fixed, it will be a really fun game.....
Rating:
Summary: The game is not playable
Review: This game was not even close to being ready for release. Consider the following: 1) Servers are not up for more than 20 minutes at a stretch in prime time. 2) Lag in the cities is about as bad as it gets. If you don't have a cable modem, forget it. 3) Many bugs leave characters stuck in zones and unable to move, stuck in shops, stuck in missions. 4) Funcom does not provide phone support. The only way to get help is via e-mail or to /petition in game. I have yet to receive a reply to either method. Save your money. There are other games coming out soon that are worth waiting for. (Shadowbane, Horizons, and Dark Age of Camelot are all in Beta.) Also, both Everquest and Asheron's Call do not experience any of the problems listed above. They are both stable and cost a LOT less. Save your money on this one, it's simply not playable at present.
Rating:
Summary: Do NOT buy this bugfest
Review: Please note that the glowing reviews below were written well before the actual release of the game. It has been released and is an unbelievable mess. The underlying game may be fun, but due due the severity of the bugs, it is, sadly, an unplayable piece of garbage. 90% of the users reporting on various messageboards are having constant (as in every 5 minutes) disconnects or crashes. And these are only the users that can connect, because there are thousands right now that can't create an account because of faulty or missing CD keys, a registration site that keeps crashing or the bugged updater (There are 12 megs of patches to update your CD before you can even think about playing). And even that's not the end, because thousands of the CDs shipped are faulty and will not install on your computer due to the poor quality pressing. And this doesn't even scratch the surface of in-game bugs, such as incompatibility with ATI cards, horrible AI, pathing and duping bugs. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: worst game launch ever
Review: The game is the worst game I have ever seen launch. It has been out for several days and the bugs are numerous. It takes up to an hour to log on even with a extremly fast internet connection. The game crashes constantly, Lag is horrible, game play is terrible. After attempting to play the game for several days i have found that the probems are not being fixed but are getting worse.
Rating:
Summary: "Anarchy" it is. "Online"? Not quite yet.
Review: As a long-time EverQuest player who habitually criticized the stability of it, I can say that Anarchy Online makes EQ look like one of the Seven Wonders of the software and network engineering world. After an arduous and multi-hour installation and patch process (2 of the 4 patches are over 10MB each), Anarchy Online is so plagued with instability, connectivity lossage, and garden-variety bugs that it is virtually unplayable. Connecting into the game takes on the average around 10-15 attempts, and once in, the average time you can actually "play" in the super-laggy zones is about 3 minutes, at which time you are dumped back to the login screens to start all over again. Zoning within the game is a 50-50 (and worsening) proposition; I was just recently stuck in a small shop with 15 other people for 20 minutes, unable to zone out. If you are lucky enough to zone, it's likely you'll be dumped back to the login screen. Even within the game, silly bugs such as mobs hitting through walls, graphics glitches, rogue pets, missing inventory items, and getting trapped behind objects still crop up in great abundance. To be fair, the gameplay is inventive and creative, and attempts to solve the agonizing long hours of camping for items EQ players know so well. Quests, or "missions" are created for you (or your team) on the fly, and you go to a quest zone made especially for you, and you know the reward in advance so you can work for specific items you need. However, to add insult to injury, these quests are real-time based instead of game-time based, so with 80% of your "play" time centered around trying to actually play, it's nearly impossible to ever finish a quest in the allotted time. Out of 6 attempted 1-hour quests I only had time to finish one; I have since attempted two 10-hour quests and have not been able to make any headway on them either simply due to to connectivity problems (i.e. the quests themselves are not unreasonably hard, and you can even pick the difficulty yourself relative to your level). I really hope Funcom gets it together and fixes the problems, but it seems that most current players chatting on the boards feel betrayed and are quite angry with Funcom for releasing what is at best a beta-quality product for 50-some-odd-dollars plus paying 6 months of online time in advance ("lock in now for the lowest rate!"). Even if AO solves its substantial technical problems, I would never again purchase a product from Funcom.
Rating: 
Summary: The Real thing...
Review: So far all the reviews for this product have been from people who have only played the beta version. Anarchy Online just went live on June 27, 2001, anyone who wrote a review posted before that date is talking about the Beta version. I have played the full and complete version for a few days now, and it's a great game!! BUT, and a big BUT, this game is very faulty. Funcom still has many bugs to work out, and it will take quite some time before they fix everything. Many people can't even get online, and the technical support is very bad! The first day i had the game, i crashed probably 20 times, and i have great computer. Everyone is crashing. And Funcom is shuting down the servers every night for patches. Once you install the game you have to spend about 2 hours downloading patches. As far as the actual game goes, if you like online games, this is like nothing you have ever played. You could play this game for a year and never see and do everything. The playing field and layout is huge. And it's only going to get bigger. The bottom line....... If you are willing to put up with all the hassles (and there is a lot), and have lots of patients, then this game is great! But if you are not in any rush, I would wait another month or two until Funcom has worked out all the bugs.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Example of a Poor Game Launch
Review: Shame on Funcom for ruining so many players first impressions of a brand new online game. Shame on Funcom for not learning anything from past mistakes. Shame on Funcom for promising so much and delivering so litte. Since AO's launch 2 days ago, the game has been nothing but problems for the majority of the people who have tried it. Funcom promises fixes, promises improvements... but beta testers have received these same promises since day one. Many of the bugs that currently infest this game were known about in the beta, reported, and then promptly ignored. Shame on Funcom.
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