.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Hooked on Atlantica: a free-to-play MMORPG
.AUTHOR Heather Wardell
.SUMMARY Atlantica Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game that Heather Wardell says has "utterly hooked" her. To find out why, you’ll need to read her review.
.OTHER
My husband is an avid player of role-playing games (RPGs), while I tend toward the "hack and slash" method of combat (also known as "hit anything that moves") and tend to get bored quickly.
When I saw him playing a game he’d discovered, Atlantica Online by Ndoors, I was surprised by its complexity and was also sure I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But then he said the magic word "free", and I decided to give it a try. I am now utterly hooked.
.CALLOUT I am now utterly hooked.
Atlantica Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and the first game I’ve tried with turn-based combat. You’re given thirty seconds to send your various fighters after opponents, and then your turn ends and the opponent attacks while you watch. Figure A shows a battle between my forces on the right and a group of starved snails on the left, with one of the snails in the process of poisoning one of my mercenaries.
.FIGPAIR A An Atlantica Online battle in progress.
During your turn you will direct your mercenaries to attack, use a magical attack, drink a health potion, read a scroll to perform an action, or pick up items from the corpses of your enemies.
Up to five of your maximum of eight mercenaries can fight on a given turn, depending on what they did last turn, and so every round is different. I much prefer this to the games I’ve played where every battle seems to be exactly the same.
At the beginning, I was frustrated because my mercenaries seemed to never be ready when I wanted to fight. I didn’t find that the game did a great job of explaining to me how the battles worked, and I was suspicious that it was unfairly weighted toward the enemy.
However, I now understand that different actions are unavailable after use for different amounts of time, and I am rarely bothered by a mercenary who won’t act when I want him to.
I’ve tried many other online games, and after about fifteen hours of play I always wish I’d picked a different character type because I am envious of the abilities my particular character doesn’t have. With Atlantica, that doesn’t happen, because my main character hires mercenaries to work with her, and so I can have one of every type of character if I choose.
I presently have mercenaries that fight with sword, spear, axe, cannon, and gun, as well as a shaman who can heal others and a monk who keeps me healthy and frees my mercenaries from enemy holds.
Atlantica has cleverly kept certain mercenary types unavailable for newer characters; at higher levels you can do quests to earn the right to hire those people. While on one level I wish I could hire anyone I want immediately, I think this will keep the game interesting for a long time.
The graphics are excellent, even on my non-game-optimized desktop computer. Figure B shows a close-up shot of my character riding a horse.
.FIGPAIR B Atlantica’s graphics are sharp and attractive.
I have the game’s detail settings turned down to ensure speedy play but even so, it’s beautifully done. What you can’t see is that both the horse and character move as they breathe, and during a battle, characters shift slightly or bounce up and down as they await their turn. From time to time my character even reaches down to pat her horse’s neck. It all adds a tremendous realism to the game.
The sound is well handled as well. There is background music whenever you’re in a town, and it varies depending on the area of the world, ranging from an Asian feel in Phnom Penh to soft classical music in Bucharest. There’s also battle music, which has a rock feel to it and is actually quite catchy. The non-player characters speak, repeating certain catchphrases, and monsters make a variety of sounds. One hideously realistic crunching sound is heard when I attack scorpions.
.H1 Quest for glory
As is typical for these games, you are guided through the world by a series of quests, which teach you how to use the various features and help you explore the vast world.
Atlantica is clearly designed to have a significant social component, and the quests incorporate that by requiring you to make a friend, join a guild, and learn how to use the chat system. I do find some of the quest tasks repetitive, though, such as several requests in a row to run back to town and buy things from the market, but this isn’t a significant annoyance.
Should you not be in the mood for questing, or if your current quest involves killing a monster that’s still too difficult for you (which has happened to me several times), you can wander around killing random monsters to improve your combat skills or you can work on your ability at one of over thirty different skill sets. My character is becoming an expert at crafting medicines, which I can then sell at the market for gold as well as use to heal my mercenaries.
Atlantica is typical in many ways, but it shines in the little details. If you’re shopping at the market and are short of funds, for example, you don’t have to leave the market window to withdraw money from your bank account.
As my Figure B (above) shows, the game has an option to turn off the user interface so that you can take a clearer screenshot if you choose, and when you do take a screenshot with your keyboard’s "Print Screen" button the game automatically saves it for you and then reminds you of where it’s saved. And the "auto-move" feature lets your character run to a location without your constant control, although you might accidentally start a battle with a monster if you run into it.
.H1 All your base are belong to us
The game was originally written in Korean, and some of the English translations read a little awkwardly. I haven’t found anything to be impossible to interpret, though, and since my character is currently exploring the Asian countries it just adds a little flavor to the game.
Atlantica Online supports itself by selling Gcoins, which are basically a penny each and can be used to purchase rare potions, costume pieces, or other items to be used in-game. I haven’t found myself restricted yet by not buying Gcoins, and the game doesn’t nag or pressure you to buy them, which I appreciate.
I would be willing to pay to play Atlantica Online but I am thrilled that it’s free. It’s by far my favorite of the online games I’ve tried (which include City of Heroes/Villains, World of Warcraft, and Lord of the Rings Online), and I’m sure I’ll be playing for a long time to come. If you decide to give it a try, look for MayaSapphira. I’ll be the one crushing scorpions.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Visit [[http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com|Atlantic Online]].
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
