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Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion

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4.6 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
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Based on 3 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Funcom

Developer: Funcom

Genre(s): Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

Players: Thousands

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: August 31, 2004

Summary

The new alien menace threatens all of the citizens of Rubi-Ka as the planet is suddenly invaded. A massive call to arms is sounded across the planet as the players rally to defend their own cities against the alien hordes. The players can also fight their way into the heart of invading spaceships, gaining riches, fame and power. [Funcom]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Anarchy Online Anarchy Online: Lost Eden Anarchy Online: Shadowlands Anarchy Online: The Notum Wars

Also On The Web: GameSpot Preview GameSpy Hands-On IGN Preview Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

GameZone

Expands the entire world, though the focus in this one is on community involvement. Players not part of organizations can still participate in the invasion scenarios, but this is definitely targeted toward in-game organizations.

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Pelit (Finland)

Another solid add-on for one of the best MMORPG's currently on the market. This time the content is clearly aimed at organisations, but newbies and lone wolves are not totally forgotten either. [Feb. 05]

Gamezilla!

If you’re looking for lots of new, flashy graphics or big updates to the original AO, this expansion might be a big disappointment. But for my money, Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion is an excellent addition to the Anarchy Online multiverse.

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My Gamer

It adds an invaluable community aspect to the game, which was badly desired by the AO faithful and includes a special new kind of epic battle that gives veteran players an entirely new challenge in the land of Rubi-Ka.

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G4 TV

But what Alien Invasion does so well is offer existing players a solid reason to keep playing. Those of you who left AO a while ago might want to pop back in to see what the fuss is about.

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Game Chronicles

While it may not do much to attract the new players, the more than welcome addition of player created cities will give wealthy Organizations a new way to flaunt their power.

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IGN

From the majestic scope of the new buildings to the impact of seeing an alien mother ship dwarfing them from above ala Independence Day, all you are really missing is a few Will Smith wisecracks and you have the recipe from the late summer movie blockbusters: fast action, lots of eye candy and a good old fashioned sci-fi story best enjoyed with friends.

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PC Gameworld

The latest expansion gives existing players a good reason to keep playing, but hasn’t brought the game up to the standards of the latest generation of MMORPGs.

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GameSpot

Alien Invasion adds what seems like a lot of intriguing new content, but in practice, it's mostly for advanced players.

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Gaming Nexus

Rather than adding another landmass to explore or a new job class to bat around, this pack puts players on a united defensive—a rarely explored concept for an MMO expansion. If you’re not alienated from a guild, then Alien Invasion is an inviting option.

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Gamer's Hell

Overall, the expansion boasts great new content, cool weapons, fresh looking monsters, the massive cities and insane perks. However, all the old content is getting a bit aged, especially the graphics, and it still boils down to killing hecklers for your main way to gain experience.

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GameSpy

The aliens are as challenging as anything the game has to offer, and the rewards have kept the game fresh for many. It goes without saying, though, that if you're a solo gamer who prefers to hunt alone, there isn't much here to make the investment worthwhile.

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Cheat Code Central

Injects enough of a dose of excitement to boost fans' adrenaline levels for a while. You're bound to get a few more months out of the game.

PC Gamer

AO addicts should buy this add-on - solo-ers and MMO noobs, not so much. [Jan 2005, p.97]

Adrenaline Vault

Overall, this release tries to add a fresh spin to the Anarchy Online universe and succeeds to a certain extent, though it would have been better to open the doors of the expansion a bit wider to let more kinds of gamers through to experience it all.

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PC Format

Overpriced, under-content and thoroughly disappointing all around. [Dec 2004, p.102]

Computer Games Magazine

The insanely high upkeep costs involved in maintaining new cities, coupled with the dubious payoff of repetitive alien attacks, will probably drive more than a few entrepreneurs back to the friendlier phantasmagoria of "Shadowlands." [Jan 2005, p.67]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 4.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sven gave it a 5:
As an unguilded, primarily solo player, I find that AI has little to offer me. AO itself is still a fun game, but for my play style, this expansion is lacking.

Julian von A. gave it a 0:
After 2yrs enjoyment of Anarchy Online, myself and my in-game guild were eagerly awaiting the release of this new expansion. Upon it's release however, we found that as a small organization none of our needs have been catered for by this release. Quite the contrary, it seems, little or no thought was given to the average player with limited in-game resources, instead this expansion was set up so that only a certain sector of the AO community would be able to benefit from it, while penalising smaller guilds and completely excluding the solo player. That coupled with the numerous bugs that ruin gameplay have made this expansion a dissapointing and frustrating experience for all of my guild. Non of the promised game content has been made available to us and as the in gameadvisors and bug hunters are mostly new volunteers the line from them is "put up or shut up". No prizes for FunCom this year and definately no pre-orders for future expansions from us. Demonstrations that game site reviewers see often take place on controlled servers with GM supervision, something that in no way reflects the practical realities that ordinary players experience. We will all stick with the game as the previous expansion still has lots to offer but I would advise others without so much experience of Anarchy Online to give the Alien Invasion expansion a miss as it will taint your enjoyment of the wider game. Score 0 out of 10, waste of money.

Jaded gave it a 9:
Awesome. It's the best of EQ, CoH and DAOC in sci fi form. The guild houses are too expensive, but Funcom is fixing that. The alien attacks roxxor.

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Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion

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