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Mixed bag with Beyond Atlantis

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's currently March 2004, and this game shows its age a bit - not that it could do anything else. I played it this past week using Windows XP and it ran equally with and without dropping it into 95/98 compatability mode. Sometimes the pauses between steps/movements got to be irritating; by today's standards, it needs polish. Motion is guided and limited, the progression leans heavily toward the linear, and there's a fair amount of disk-swapping.

That being said, the brilliant dialogue and characterization this game has won't be bested for years to come, if ever. On top of that, the graphics are wonderful, and the music (both beautiful and appropriate), has a definate part in the role play. These advantages more than make up for the limitations of the mechanics.

My hat is off to the writers and voices - an extended conversation with the Mayan bat is a treat not to be missed, the entire Chinese section is undertoned and hillarious, and the Irish birdman is perfection.

I bought the jewel case version used for under $4. I'd happily pay the current game rate of $50 if that's what it would take to replace it.

The ending I did not care for. For that, I deducted one star - the story quality took a definate nose dive right at the end - and even the fantastic artwork couldn't save the last two cut-scenes.

But they aren't part of the game.

Buy it soon, folks. They aren't making this one anymore.

Typical Dreamcatcher...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The only saving point for this game is the graphics...I have to admit that some of them were absolutely astonishing. That out of the way, THIS GAME WAS A WASTE OF TIME! Far too many of the puzzles were either too pixel-sensitive or too obscure to grasp the concept without tearing one's hair out! There was WAY too much backtracking to accomplish tasks, having to talk to someone on the other side of a world to finish a particular puzzle, with no hint whatsoever of having to do so. Necessary objects to complete puzzles often just blended into the scenery, almost as if they were not even objects. Also, vital clues to solving puzzles were stashed away in one, little, unobtrusive graphic that could have been easily missed. Cryo and Dreamcatcher seemed to spend all development time on the graphics, but relied too heavily on them instead of integrating the puzzles into them. Much like some of Dreamcatcher's games, The Crystal Key (just as maddening), The FOrgotten (the first in a series that seems to have been forgotten, thankfully), and others. I just finished Myst : Exile, and was thoroughly impressed that I solved it without the need of a walkthrough. Much more satisfying.

Excellent game, some technical issues in XP.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

In regard of the storyline and reasoning behind the puzzles, I would like to refer to the gamespot review under editorial reviews.
Overall, I would recommend this game,due to the beautiful graphics and the very efficient game control.
However, I did encounter some problems playing the game in XP (the game is pre-XP). In XP the game would skip the beautiful films that are thrown into the story. When running it in 95/98 compatibility mode (via properties) it would sometimes freeze up, due to lack of memory according to the message. Switching back to XP would then solve that problem. Anyway, the game was worth switching between XP and 95/98 compatibility mode ocassionaly (for the newbies: this is much easier than it may sound!).
Another problem I encountered was that the game did not want to start up with player 1. But chosing player 2 solved that problem.
Excellent game, but definitely surpassed by Atlantis 3 (Beyond Atlantis 2).

Running in XP tip

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've only begun this game, but wanted to share a tip for anyone else who is having trouble running this in XP. It seems the game cannot handle large memories, thus the "disk full" message even though you have over 200G left. This worked for me:

Load Beyond Atlantis onto a thumb drive and run it in compatability mode . I used a 1G and it works fine. So far, 1G is more than adequate.

As for the game, I think this one will be great fun. Lovely graphics and atmosphere are what I look for first and Beyond Atlantis seems to have just that. I love the tinkling bells in the background. If it turns out disappointing, I'll revise my review. But, I wanted to post this tip and save someone else 3 days of frustration. Hope this helps!

Now, if I can only get Myst and Riven to run.... )-:

Beautifully done, but quite tedious.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Don't expect to finish this game in a day or two. It's very long and can be frustrating if you don't know what to do. The graphic quality is excellent although it freezes a bit and is obviously outdated. The story itself is beautiful and some of the scenes are quite breathtaking. Don't even try to finish it without at least a few online hints. I wouldn't go near this game without a walkthrough. However, it's definitely worth all the time and effort put into it. A fantastic game that has yet to be upstaged.

Good work, Cryo

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I waited several months for this game to be published in US (it sells since November in Russia) and I am not disappointed. Puzzles are challenging, graphics is amazing, music is beautiful (especially in Ireland). Regarding drawbacks: manual is just tiny and changes in cursor's color are not described in it. Some dialogs are not repeatable.

It's a great game... If you can get it to work!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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.

player

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

It has a good beginning... but is hard to go anywhere because the clues do not lead any particular direction. The player must go back and forth between locations but the player simply ends up in a loop with no solution. The graphics and pictures are nice, but that is the best thing about the game since no direction is given from the clues.

Waste of time & money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

What a dumb game. The beatiful graphics can't cover the fact that the puzzles are vague and more than a little frustrating,(even with a walkthrough!) and that so-called selling point of 360 degree movement gave me motion sickness. The characters are peculiar looking and some of them undulate in an odd fashion, which, along with the corny dialogue, makes it hard to take seriously. In particular the Mayan women; what is up with the British accents? Had I known this was a Dreamcatcher game I would not have bought it. I was so wowed by the graphics I didn't even notice. I'll never make that mistake again. I don't recommend this game; save your money.

It's ok...on a rainy day and you have nothing else to do...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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. ...

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