Beyond Atlantis

Rating:
Summary: Where do I go from here?
Review: Granted, I am a novice gamer and don't have a great deal of experience, but...the graphics are great and the worlds are intriguing and the frustration level is right up there with them. There seem to be unlimited arenas in which you get caught in a loop with no way of backing out. I am hoping future experiences are more rewarding.

Rating:
Summary: At least it looks good
Review: I agree with the reviewer that said that. This game gives you very little to work with in way of clues. You wander randomly through locations and try to figure out what to do. I don't know, maybe I'm just not as smart as some people are, but the puzzles seem very hard to me. The concept is very intriguing though, and the graphics are beautiful. All together it is not a bad way to waste your time. I liked the mayan place, and how they incorporated in China and Tibet and Ireland. And I love games with good graphics, so this game is very nice to look at.

Rating:
Summary: Puzzles are not intellectually challenging
Review: I bought this game because the reviews said the puzzles were as interesting and intellectually challenging as the 7th Guest; but it is far less so. Too many of its puzzles require guess-work and don't require logical analysis. Also there are too many "jump-though-hoops" steps, i.e. completely random use of an object, not based on any clue or information from any of the characters. In fact, to get the 5th level, I had to go to a hint guide to find that I had to go back through all four previous levels and click on one completely random place in each level. Yeah I want to waste my time, but I'd at least like to use my brain while doing it.

Rating:
Summary: Puzzles are not intellectually challenging
Review: I bought this game because the reviews said the puzzles were as interesting and intellectually challenging as the 7th Guest; but it is far less so. Too many of its puzzles require guess-work and don't require logical analysis. Also there are too many "jump-though-hoops" steps, i.e. completely random use of an object, not based on any clue or information from any of the characters. In fact, to get the 5th level, I had to go to a hint guide to find that I had to go back through all four previous levels and click on one completely random place in each level. Yeah I want to waste my time, but I'd at least like to use my brain while doing it.

Rating:
Summary: It's ok...on a rainy day and you have nothing else to do...
Review: I enjoy adventure games, but since I'm so busy I can only play a few of them a year, and so I choose only to play the best. Unfortunately this game does not fit into what I call "QT with my PC" This game incorporates annoying voice acting where the words do not match with the speakers mouthes, and I found that transitions to be slow and boring. The puzzles were alright though they were not very informative and there wasn't much humor in the game. Overall, I just thought it was a good concept that could have been a better game, but just wasn't exciting enough. ...

Rating:
Summary: An "E" Rating?
Review: I found this to be an average puzzle-solving adventure game, much like many of the other games of the same caliber that are out there. I did, however, question the rating on the game. The game holds an "E" rating which states that it is suitable for any person age 6 and older. I believe that a young child would not be able to solve many of the puzzles and challenges in the game, unless they purchased a cheat book or went on the internet (like I did) to get hints for the puzzles. Plus, some of the creatures encountered in the game may frighten younger audiences, and a scantily-clad priestess in the Maya scene may not be suitable for younger eyes. You can use your discretion on this, but I gave the game a two-star rating.

Rating:
Summary: This is a miss.
Review: I have liked every game Dreamcatcher has ever released, but this one was a little tough to swallow. In typical Dreamcatcher fashion, the graphics are wonderful and the music is very relaxing and laid back. I think the reason for the calming music was the fact that this game is very annoying. Now. I consider myself to be pretty good at solving puzzle games, and if I get stuck, I call a couple of friends and we work these out together. But neither of us liked this game very well. the clues aren't detailed enough and many of these puzzles are repititious. You don't know if you have done the puzzle right until the end of that sequence. Very annoying. when they speak to you, it's like your speaking to Confuscious. Very hard to discern the clues they are giving. My suggestion is spend your money on another Dreamcatcher game: Traitors Gate. That is a game worthy of all point and click puzzle solving game players.

Rating:
Summary: It's a great game... If you can get it to work!
Review: I loved the graphics and music in the game... until it timed out. Dreamcather's website has a list of things to do if this happens(So it must happen quite a bit), but not one worked on my machine. Beware of this problem, I have heard that a few of the other Dreamcather games also do this.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Atlantis
Review: I loved the music in this game. As far as the game play goes you actually learn a little cultural history while at the same time having fun. The beaurocratic minitar is rather amusing in his lackluster attitude towards visitors to Hell. However, I found the constant motion of some of the charactors while speaking to be anoying.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Atlantis is like a mini-vacation!
Review: I recently finished playing Beyond Atlantis (called "Atlantis 2" in Europe) and want to tell you some of the things I liked most about this game.

In general, what I like about DreamCatcher adventure games are the beautiful worlds and the immersive experience they offer. Their games are like a vacation-on-a-disk. Playing them leaves me feeling refreshed.

I bought Beyond Atlantis because I wanted a mini-vacation, and I wasn't disappointed! Setting the game in three very different locations -- Ireland, Maya, and China -- and including the unique cultural elements of each place made the game a lot like a real vacation. I got to experience many of the benefits of traveling with none of the stress!

In addition to the beautiful sights, the sounds enhanced the whole game play experience tremendously. The voice acting was very well done. I particularly appreciated the excellent music, which fit each cultural setting perfectly. Saving the most beautiful and moving music for the end of the game made for a very effective and satisfying conclusion -- I even replayed the ending a couple of times just to hear the music again.

The game's puzzles were both challenging and satisfying to solve. I appreciate all the research that went into creating some of these puzzles. Using the Mayan base-20 number system and the cycles of creation and destruction for the five elements from Traditional Chinese Medicine as the basis of puzzles in Maya and China was a wonderful idea. It made for some great puzzles, and it was also very educational in a very enjoyable way. (Unfortunately, some reviewers have unfairly criticized the game's puzzles as illogical; the logic was definitely there -- they just didn't see it.)

I enjoyed the game's parody of Hell, which I thought was quite clever. For many of us, the endless paperwork we must complete, with exacting precision, according to incomprehensible instructions, at the demand of not-very-helpful government officials, is indeed Hell! (To underscore this point, the administrative offices at my university are in Needles Hall, which the students have aptly renamed Needless Hell!)

The reason I didn't give the game a full 5 stars for fun was that I did have a few frustrating moments. For example, I was frustrated that I had so much difficulty moving in the giant spider web in Xibalba, the Mayan Land of the Dead. Afterwards, I realized that this wasn't a bug -- it was a feature! The game designers wanted to simulate the stickiness of the web. At the time, I felt they did their job only too well -- but now I can appreciate this touch of realism.

Recording the journeys in the crystal globe was the only puzzle I felt wasn't reasonable. Fortunately, there are good hints and walkthroughs available for free on the web which overcome this minor problem. The Universal Hints System (UHS) file by Jeanne Muse is particularly good, and really enhanced my game playing experience.

In conclusion, I found Beyond Atlantis to be a wonderfully well-made game that provided me with many hours of enjoyment and satisfaction (over 20 hours, in fact). It makes me look forward to playing Beyond Atlantis 2 (called "Atlantis 3" in Europe) all the more.