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Do you get lost easily?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Beyond Atlantis has kept me on my toes since I bought it. I've enjoyed this game to the max, and I can't help but sit in awe of the difficulty of some of the puzzles, and the care taken on the graphics boggles my mind. I would recommend this game to anyone who's willing to sit down and get some exercise for their mind in more ways than one. Some of the sentences can be described as cryptic, but isn't that the way they're supposed to be in puzzle games? If what you're looking for is fast play and bloodshed, look somewhere else. You don't swing swords in this game. You pump neurons.

Great, absorbing game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I thoroughly enjoyed Beyond Atlantis. It was one of those games that had me eager to get back to it, night after night. The puzzles were challenging and inventive, requiring you to use multiple levels of thought. I really liked how the nature of the puzzles changed with each area you visited. For example, many of the Mayan puzzles were math-based, where the Celtic puzzles were more intuitive.

The scenery was beautiful. And the dialog was exceptional. This is the only game I've run across with a Celtic setting that has not completely mangled Gaelic words and names. I also liked that you were given the option to replay all the dialog, so that you could pick up on things you might have missed the first time around.

This game used mythology especially well, particularly in the Mayan and Celtic settings. Being something of a student of Celtic myth, I was really excited to see how well some of the characters and concepts were integrated here.

Beyond Atlantis ran very smoothly. I've had a problem with some of Dreamcatcher's other games crashing for no apparent reason, but that, I'm happy to say, was not an issue with this one.

The character animations were not to the level I would have expected, however. Characters often looked like bad claymation, and range of movement was limited. Also, the music, though lovely, consisted of short tape-loops that got a little crazy-making with repetition, particularly when you had to visit certain areas over and over to solve the puzzles.

Though most of the puzzles were of the thinking variety, there were a few that just required you to "muscle" through, either by pixel-hunting or by repeating an action or series of actions until you got it right. I found the "charging the crystal" puzzle particularly annoying, as well as confusing. It was hard even to know where to begin with that one without resorting to a hint page.

Still, for humour, integrated story, beautiful settings, and puzzles that will really keep you working at them for days, Beyond Atlantis is hard to beat.

awesome! awesome! and awesome!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

While most people will say this game is entirely difficult, I would say it lets you use your noggin. You know you have one.Travel to different worlds and explore clues given out to you. The settings are beautiful and the music is enticing! I would get up each morning and play for a while. its one of those games that takes some work but its totally worth it. You'll crack cases and use key items to get you to a different world. It does take some time I'll admit but the excitement you get when you suddenly solve a puzzle and end up in some foreign land with wonderful settings is worth every penny I guarantee!

Beautiful imagery, flawed game play

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Typical of Dreamcatcher games, the graphics in this game are stunning. The game play, however, is not very smooth. With several of the puzzles I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing (and this wasn't part of the puzzle) or the basic instructions for the puzzle. For instance, one puzzle had me construct a landscape by moving squares around. After 2-3 hours I finally logged on to a hint board and found out that by right-clicking on the pieces I could rotate them. A basic piece of instruction not highlighted anywhere in the game or the manual. Other puzzles were illogical. Animation sequences are somewhat entertaining. Game stability is excellent. Plot is a bit tired--you're the chosen one, travel to four exotic locales to fix the wrongs of ages ago.

Annoying!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Everything in this game is confusing, especially with no instructions. The game almost expects you to know what to do and how to solve clues. I struggled through this game for a long time and could not understand what was going on. The only thing I give this game credit for, is the graphic's and exotic and ancient soundtrack, otherwise, this game is needle in a haystack!

Good for the whole family!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

We really enjoyed Beyond Atlantis. It's relaxing to play, with beautiful graphics and puzzles that are stimulating, but not so mind-bending that we'd get bored. I enjoyed playing the game as an after-work mental exercise, and our ten-year-old was spot-on with comments, clues and solutions to the puzzles, although he didn't have the patience for some of the map and maze explorations. We ended up playing the game together as a team and had a wonderful time. I highly recommend it for adults who enjoy a little computer fun, but also like to play with their kids.

Kewl game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I started out playing this game the usual way, playing a bit, saving and walking away. Then somehow I couldn't leave my seat and finished the game in two days. The graphics are pretty good and I enjoyed traveling to vastly different areas, even your character changes as your scenery does. I had the most difficulty in the pyrmid trying to solve the ball puzzles and in China trying to walk around the room on the patterns correctly. In the China room you must listen to the old man very carefully and look at the machine before each step. Save your game before you go in that door because you might be trying to that solve a couple of times. One thing I really liked about this game is that you get a nice reward scene at the end, not all games provide you with that when you win and you walk away feeling like "all that for that ending". If you let your seven year old play this game, he may be asking you some rather interesting questions! I ran this game on Windows 98 without difficulty.

Ancient lands and adventure

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I should say that I have not finished this yet.I am a novice at computer games.I enjoyed the graphics-they were very well done.I especially enjoyed Ireland. The scenery looked real. The rocks looked like you could touch them.However, the sheep need to be made more lifelike! There were some action scenes that were impressive, such as riding the horse through the water.
I got stuck at one part, but my 12 year old nephew and his brother were able to play. However, we all needed walkthrough instructions. I would find it impossible to do without walkthroughs.
This is definitely not for young children. The E rating should be changed to teenager or adult. I appreciated the fact that there was not much violence. A couple of monsters were killed but that was quite lowkey. There was one brief reference to rape,and the mention of human sacrifice could be frightening to young children. There was some blood shown in a couple of scenes but little actual violence shown. Also, no profanity was spoken.
I was very frustrated at times but this certainly is a challenge. This is appropriate for kids over 12 and adults.

Beyond Atlantis is like a mini-vacation!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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, the Yucatan, 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. I later learned that the entire soundtrack consisted of original compositions by the very creative and talented musician Pierre Esteve, and I even bought the soundtrack on CD.

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 the Yucatan 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.

Surprisingly Good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Bought this game about a year before I actually played it. Too "Mystisized". Now I have played and I'm sorry I didn't play it sooner. I'd give it 5 stars in both categories, only I found that end was kind of hokey. Doesn't take away that much from the fun of playing it overall, though. The puzzles are totally in context with each world - not a common thing these days, and you just have to realize that to get through them. What it should be about, right?

There are certainly parts of the game that ARE frustrating, but that's the fun of a challenge. Each world - and each is pretty complete - was a new adventure, and that IS what an "adventure game" is supposed to be about.

Graphics are surprisingly good, given that it's not a new game, and the details in each world were truly and delightfully surprising. I'm a graphics freak. Other thing I am is a music freak. IF you ARE going to provide music, then please make it worth MY while. This game does it.

Given that this is an older game, there is the usual disc stitching - mildly annoying, but not THAT much. I'm constantly searching for adventure games, and one that works is not to be blown off. This one does.

I'd consider it well worth the money - which isn't that much now.
Truly recommended, and worth the money.

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