Mini-review of Atlantis II
Murray Peterson
characters, since there are lots of extant reviews where you can get
that sort of information.
Atlantis II is a Cryo game, so I expected excessively dark screens
where I had to find my way around almost by trial and error. In this
game, they have improved a lot, and it has made this game much more
enjoyable to play.
Graphics:
Bright and beautiful, almost felt like I could walk into the
screen. This game should be played just for its beauty and
innovative internal worlds. I found it a joy to wander around
inside.
Music:
Sometimes irritating because of the small snippets that were
repeated over and over. I kept wishing for complete songs,
or at least longer musical phrases.
The music was appropriate the the place and mood.
Character animation:
Extremely good. About the only quibble I have is that the mouth
movements didn't look right, mostly because they never opened
very far. I think the designers were ashamed of their
character's teeth, since we never saw any. Other than that, I
would call them almost perfect.
Plot:
You have to save the world/universe by going on a quest to get
the missing pieces of a mystical path. In other words,
same old, same old. However, it worked to drive the game,
so I won't complain.
Voices:
Excellent. I could point out inconsistencies, but I would
be quibbling.
Characters:
Very good. Considering how little interaction with other
characters that occurs, I am impressed at how fully fleshed out
many of them seemed. Nice design work here.
Puzzles:
Mostly good, with a few real stinkers.
Ugly puzzles:
Tone deaf people will have problems with one puzzle.
One set of puzzles with real-time portions (but not too bad).
Three puzzles in China which seem to be insoluble.
Even after the walkthough, I still couldn't see any clues in the
game which would help me to solve them. Get a walktrhough for
this game, you will need it.
Puzzle Difficulty:
Wide range of difficulty, from easy to impossible.
Controls:
Mouse-based, easy to use.
Bugs:
None.
Pros:
Realistic graphics, amazingly beautiful.
A final puzzle sequence where you visit each world in rapid
succession was a really nice touch. It felt like going back
to see old friends.
With a few exceptions, pretty good puzzles.
Cons:
Some puzzles required hand-eye coordination.
One puzzle required good hearing.
Three puzzles weren't soluble without a walkthrough (or trial
and error).
Final Score:
Flawed, like all games, but its flaws were easily outweighed
by its good features.
It goes into my top ten list. Definitely recommended.
--
Murray Peterson
Email: murray_...@home.com (remove underscore)
URL: http://www.members.home.net/murraypeterson
debbie b
Mini spoiler in here.
--
Deb
"Murray Peterson" <m...@home.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:8F48CE8...@24.64.2.57...
> As usual, I don't cover too much about the game's plot and
> characters, since there are lots of extant reviews where you can get
> that sort of information.
> the missing pieces of a mystical path. In other words,
> same old, same old. However, it worked to drive the game,
> so I won't complain.
> Tone deaf people will have problems with one puzzle.
difficulties (I am slightly deaf-legacy of working in loud places and going
to heavy metal concerts) . Game designers make allowances for sight (bright
colours, large scenes) but not for sound.
> One set of puzzles with real-time portions (but not too bad).
> Three puzzles in China which seem to be insoluble.
Which ones? I found the Maya section the hardest.
> Even after the walkthough, I still couldn't see any clues in the
> game which would help me to solve them. Get a walktrhough for
> this game, you will need it.
> Puzzle Difficulty:
> Wide range of difficulty, from easy to impossible.
> Controls:
> Mouse-based, easy to use.
> Bugs:
> None.
Can't agree there. Packard Bell systems keep getting stack dump
errors(system-related I know) and I had to get an update from Cryo Tech Help
because of a fault with the .exe file.
>
> Pros:
> Realistic graphics, amazingly beautiful.
> A final puzzle sequence where you visit each world in rapid
> succession was a really nice touch. It felt like going back
> to see old friends.
Pixelated confusion abounded here (dizziness not good)
(CHEAT:- The bit where you go back the match the red lines in the crystal
can be done in the worlds before you leave for the ship at the end of each
game, instead of going back , saves time.)
> With a few exceptions, pretty good puzzles.
> Cons:
> Some puzzles required hand-eye coordination.
> One puzzle required good hearing.
Definitely.
> Three puzzles weren't soluble without a walkthrough (or trial
> and error).
That's the point -trial and error.
Murray Peterson
>
>Mini spoiler in here.
>> One set of puzzles with real-time portions (but not too bad).
>> Three puzzles in China which seem to be insoluble.
>Which ones? I found the Maya section the hardest.
I had no problems with Maya or Ireland. The puzzles I had real
problems with (trial and error required) were:
On which square do you start in the "Way of the Dragon" puzzle?
How do I figure out what order the disks go in the drawbridge puzzle?
Which way should the arrow point on the golden door?
The lines on the crystal -- if that was a hint, then I will never
make a good adventure gamer.
I never found any clues which would help me solve those puzzles
without lots of trial and error. I just used the walkthrough.
>> Bugs:
>> None.
>Can't agree there. Packard Bell systems keep getting stack dump
>errors(system-related I know) and I had to get an update from Cryo
>Tech Help because of a fault with the .exe file.
Maybe I got a later version of the game? Anyway, it certainly worked
flawlessly on my machine.
>(CHEAT:- The bit where you go back the match the red lines in the
>crystal can be done in the worlds before you leave for the ship at
>the end of each game, instead of going back , saves time.)
I never even knew that I had to match the lines up with anything, and
certainly would have never figured it out without help.
>> Three puzzles weren't soluble without a walkthrough (or trial
>> and error).
>That's the point -trial and error.
I'm not willing to try over 100 posible combinations to solve a
puzzle. To me, that's not fun, it's just tedious.