I’ve ranted enough about Deus Ex now. Although it’s amongst my favorite games, I think it’s time to take a look at some of Ion Storm’s other great titles...
In 2001 Ion Storm took a bold step, and instead of working on what they new best (FPS games), they released a role playing game. Unlike most RPGs of its time, Anachronox used a completely 3D environment fueled by a heavily modified version of the Quake II engine. However, the game’s visuals weren’t what made it stand out; it was the game’s subtle, sarcastic and witty humor and amazingly deep storyline that made fans out of many gamers. In Anachronox, the player was put in the shoes of Sylvester “Sly Boots” Bucelli, a washed up private detective. Sly Boots lived in a slum area called “The Bricks”, which was on an alien world called Anachronox. Being the social misfit that he was, Sly Boots had no friends other than his childhood Artificial-Intelligence controlled robot - PAL-18, and a digital simulation of his dead secretary - Fatima Doohan. Yes, I know, the story sounds rather vague and uninteresting for an RPG, but the way Ion Storm presented it, made it seem entirely unlike that. Thanks to some brilliant voice acting and the most incredible background scores I’ve heard in any game, the game formed a very surreal experience and pretty much drew you into it, making you itch to find out what happens further on in the game. In fact, each character in the game seemed to have more of a personality than half of the people you’d see in real life. For instance, the robot PAL-18, although not more than a tin-can to look at, was seemed kinda daft but lively and whacky, having a voice that matched his personality and quirks that fit his character perfectly, making him seem a real person; while on the other hand, the secretary Fatima seemed like a charming young woman who, like everyone else in the game, was fed-up with Sly Boots lazy ways. This was what stood out in the game – each character seemed like they had their own story to tell, and their own take on what was going on, making you feel like they’re real people. To add to it all, each and every bit of the game’s story and dialogues were so well written, that the game seemed somewhere between a great book and an epic movie.
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