Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Review
Rediscovering the brilliance of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Scout a video version of this commodity to a higher place.
Few take chances games really feature much take a chance. It'due south a curious proper noun for this, the most languid and cognitive of genres. Simply Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a rare exception. Like the movies that inspired it—and the take a chance serials that inspired them—it'south an heady adventure in the truest sense. And it's remarkable how they managed to squeeze this much free energy out of a pretty standard betoken-and-click risk game.
The myth at the heart of this original Indiana Jones story is, as the title suggests, the fabled lost city of Atlantis. In 1939, on the eve of Earth War Ii, Indy finds a mysterious Atlantean artefact in the vast, unorganised collection of the college he teaches at betwixt expeditions. The discovery of the object serves as the game'due south comical prologue, where a bumbling Indy stumbles through the college archives and leaves a trail of destruction backside him.
But, equally is often the case at the outset of an Indiana Jones story, the artefact is cruelly snatched abroad from him past Klaus Kerner, a pistol-wielding agent of the Tertiary Reich. The Nazis take taken a special interest in the Atlantis myth, in detail a mystery metal called orichalchum that is said to generate an incredible corporeality of free energy—energy the Nazis want to turn into a nuclear weapon. And then Indy embarks on a dangerous quest to stop them, considering equally nosotros know from The Final Crusade, he really hates Nazis.
Despite coming out well before some of LucasArts' nigh famous games, Fate of Atlantis is one of the most innovative indicate-and-click adventures it e'er released. There's the IQ scoring system, which awards y'all bonus points if your solution to a puzzle is peculiarly imaginative. And some of the puzzle solutions are randomised as well, making the game surprisingly replayable. But my favourite feature, which besides adds to its replayability, is how the game is split into three distinctly flavoured paths: Fists, Wits, and Squad.
Early in the game Indy teams upwardly with Sophia Hapgood, a selfprofessed psychic medium who claims to be in contact with the spirit of an Atlantean king. The pair were romantically involved once upon a time, and their relationship is similar to those of his female companions in the movies—more than playful and sarcastic than romantic. Sophia has definite echoes of Marion Ravenwood. She'south tough, resourceful, and quick-witted, regularly putting Indy in his place. Information technology'south refreshing (and surprising) to see a strong female character like this in a game, especially i from the early 1990s.
If y'all cull the Team path you'll spend the residuum of the game with Sophia, solving puzzles together, trading barbs, and occasionally taking command of her. For me this is the almost enjoyable way to play the game, simply because the interactions between the two characters are so much fun. The dialogue is sharp and funny and some of the puzzles involving both characters are well designed. But if you lot'd prefer to go solo, the Wits path sees Indy chasing Atlantis on his own, with trickier puzzles and, of grade, less dialogue. Yous'll visit many of the same locations in both paths, but they feel quite unlike.
I of the most entertaining puzzles is found on the Squad path, where Indy and Sophia try to steal an artefact from a snooty French professor by staging a séance. While Sophia conjures up the spirit of her Atlantean king, Indy combines a bedsheet, a flashlight, and a creepy mask to scare the professor out of the room, leaving the object behind. Meanwhile, on the Fists or Wits paths, you go involved in a car chase with some Nazis to recall the item. That's more exciting, granted, merely the séance is a corking grapheme moment.
Then, finally, in that location's the more action-focused Fists path, which is the i I would avoid—if only considering it forces y'all to suffer the game's abysmal fighting minigames more than frequently. While the opportunity to punch Nazis in a game is always welcome, really beating someone upwardly in Fate of Atlantis is a task. You use a combination of key presses and mouse clicks to cake and strike at different angles, but enemies are difficult to read and the controls just feel clunky and unsatisfying. Notwithstanding, some fights can be bypassed by solving puzzles, which in plow earns you more IQ points.
One of the game'due south greatest strengths is capturing the pulpy adventure feel of the films, but within the fairly rigid confines of a 1990s point-and-click adventure. 1 of the means it does this is by never lingering in one location for besides long. In the first couple of hours you lot'll take visited New York City, Monte Carlo, Iceland, Guatemala, and the Azores. The irresolute scenery makes for an energetic, fast-paced game, helped by the dynamic iMuse soundtrack, which deftly incorporates John Williams' iconic score.
It looks fantastic also. The fine art is pretty low resolution by modern standards, and even compared to other LucasArts adventures released but a few years later. But each country Indy visits has a rich and distinctive atmosphere, tied together past a tastefully understated colour palette. Whether you lot're exploring the frozen, clouded plains of Iceland, a humming Algerian market place, or a Nazi U-gunkhole, every location is rich with detail and personality. The character animation is wonderfully lively and expressive too, perfectly capturing the scrappy, rough and tumble action of Spielberg'south movies.
But there are times when the game slips hopelessly into 1990s hazard game applesauce, which dampens the feeling of beingness Indiana Jones somewhat. One puzzle involves peeling some chewed gum off a schoolhouse desk then sticking information technology to the bottoms of your shoes. Why? To walk up a coal chute, of course. I tried to imagine Indy doing this in the movies, only my encephalon just couldn't process it. But for the most part the puzzles are pretty logical and in keeping with the tone of the source material, particularly the ones involving activating ancient, arcane mechanisms and other such archaeological antics.
Besides as the aforementioned fighting system, there are some other, equally as maddening minigames. One involves flying over the desert in a balloon that is an absolute nightmare to control, and if I never take to play that part again in my life I'll exist happy. Luckily these are used quite sparingly and most of the game is in the classic gamble game mould: exploring, talking to people, combining items, and then on. This is virtually as vintage as point-and-click games become, with the classic verb cafe taking up one-half the screen, and an inventory that's constantly filled with seemingly useless items.
Fate of Atlantis is easy to get running on modern PCs thanks to its availability on digital platforms such every bit Steam and GOG. Simply make sure y'all hit Alt+S when you start the game on Steam to disable the pixel smoothing filter, which is enabled by default. If you're into run a risk games you admittedly should play this. The randomised elements, IQ system, and multiple paths through the story set information technology apart from more straightforward take chances games of the era. The story and characters are engaging, the music is superb, information technology's brilliantly paced, and it'south better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/rediscovering-the-brilliance-of-indiana-jones-and-the-fate-of-atlantis/
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