Atlantis Quest – PC – Review

I have
played this game before. Many times before. It was
called something else, and the clones were called yet even more different
names. They all had the same situation, though the appearance would vary
depending on the theme. The first time I played this type of game, it was
associated with a certain large Web site. It came with a payload of annoying
“reminders” of exciting products you could have. Aside from that, it was great
then, but even better now. Why buy something that’s “old” and available for
free? Because it’s worth it. Atlantis Quest
takes the good aspects of the historical inspirations and adds some more flash
to increase the overall appeal.

The first
time I played “this” game, the name was associated with “Jewels.” The board
was full of various gems on squares similar to the look of a chessboard. The
rubies and emeralds sparkle as you move a stone to make rows of three like
jewels. When three are in sequence, they vanish and the surrounding gems move
into the empty space in the same manner that a row is cleared in a hardy game
of Tetris. It is, in essence, a take-off of the legendary masterpiece as the
goal is to clear the board by strategy and making the maximum bang for your
moves. Whereas other games like this used jewels and such articles, this one
is set against the backdrop of Ancient Egypt — with History lessons along the
way (using historical factoids while new levels load). The intention is to
increase the reward for clearing a board — as doing so progresses you further
into the various lands depicted, here.  Did you know that Tennessee isn’t the
only place to find a city called Memphis? Sure — you can also make your
way through other points on the map such as Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon and
Hurghada. Keeping in the theme, the pieces you have to shuffle about resemble
ancient relics from that area.

In
comparison to the older previously mentioned versions of this game, this one
takes it – and increases the drive to succeed. There are bonuses, “power-ups”
and other such familiar incentives to make you want to return time after time.
Using the right moves, you can win a useful mallet, shovel, hourglass or cash.
Most of those come in handy, and it’s almost mandatory to use at least some
of them at some point. They are great for emergency situations where your
clock is about to run out, but you have a pesky locked piece blocking your
success. Steal some more time, break some pieces or use magic to alter their
locations, and you can propel yourself to higher
levels with minimal angst. This game, unlike the older ancestor games,
requires you to think much more, as well as plan moves way in advance. In the
very early stages, it may seem childishly simple, but after playing it a
while, you wish you could go back and play those boards again. If you do not
rush through those easy, early levels, you can rack up some points, which
gives you more lives and other benefits to sow in
later levels. It reminded me of finishing a Mario game — only to find
out that I could have gotten free lives/tools here and there — if I had slowed
down and explored a bit more. Little tricks like this make it a more enriching
experience.

The sounds
are simple yet elegant. There are some “odd” sounds in the music and
environments. Nothing distracting, but the tunes are nothing you’d hear in the
America’s Top 40 play list. I turned the music down, but kept the
effects UP. If you are knee-deep in the game, you will forget to check your
timer and get burned without the warning “Ding!”.
So, it’s worth putting up with the clicking and chiming of moving icons — just
to have the warning sounds in the final minute of play.

The graphics
are strong, but the game does not require much in that area. It is, at its
core, a board game. The pieces are sparkling and easy to recognize, but you
won’t tax your video card as it processes zillions of bits of data. Even the
maps and related level-transitions are subtle and focus more on content than
flash. That’s a pleasant change!

I found it
to be fun. Addictive, repeat-play kind of fun.
Sure … the look and concept are older and can be traced as far back as
“Othello” and other inspirations. Yet, they built on it and made it a bit more
fun—without pretending to hide the main skeleton of the game. I wanted to play
it for what I thought it was (a knock-off of the old game online), but what I
got was much more engaging and enjoyable. I let someone play it and they
became addicted the same way—playing what you think is the same old thing, but
getting hooked on what makes it different and stand out. There are no cheap
gimmicks like “hidden games”…. just a low-tech, attractive game with simple
goals and a short learning curve. You can’t teach strategy in this
game, but after playing it long enough, it dawns on you that you could do
more—here and there.

Gameplay: 8.5

The
amount of time to learn the game’s goals and rules is minor. That leaves you
more time to jump right in and start playing. I think such a thing is rare
these days. It is deceptively simple to play, yet engrossing enough to make
you think about it in your sleep. I seriously will not play the game within a
few hours of bedtime. I recall the old days of Rubik’s cube and Tetris — and
the sleep I lost from not being able to “unplug” myself from playing 24/7.

Graphics: 6.0

It’s
built for substance, not style. They could have bogged the game down with
snazzy videos between levels and animated pieces, but they chose to focus on
making an easy-to-see board with pieces that stand out and don’t make you
squint to know what is what. Even when playing in a smaller window, it remains
clear and easy to see.

Sound: 7.5

The
music is a subtle background accessory that enhances the play-time without
being distracting. It actually helps cool your nerves when things start coming
down to the wire. The music seems to change as your progress—keeping you
mellow when you might otherwise want to bounce off the walls as you watch the
timer run out of steam. Though I turned it down, the music (and pleasant
vocals) did not irritate me as many games like this do. The effects sound is
more crucial, and can be the difference to finishing a board or not knowing
your time is up because you didn’t hear the alarm-chime. The effects sound is
crucial unless you can condition yourself to watch the board and the
timer below. I’m just not that good!! The game envelopes you and you
don’t want to blink — much less multi-task yourself — visually.

Difficulty: Medium
Despite the way
the game’s difficulty increases as you progress, it does not get unreasonably
hard. You may spend the full amount of minutes playing a board — and still not
finish — only to play it on the restart of that screen and finish it in a
fraction of the time. It alls comes down to planning and learning the
objective. The boards change so they are not always square, nor predictable.
Unlike Tetris, although it gets more tense and complex as you progress, it
does not punish you by making the timer go unreasonably fast — like when the
Tetris pieces come down like rain and you get a cramp trying to shuffle them
into position. This game maintains a solid pressure without being unfair.

Concept: 6.0
I first saw this
game (in another form) more than five years ago. I became hooked on it then,
but not like the new rendition. The setup and objective is not new. The
graphics even look like clones. However, they added some educational elements
and made it more like a RPG. No, it is not like Link or some grand quest game,
but it has a mission that is bigger than just playing some boards. It
envelopes you and makes you want to keep coming back. The boards alter and
become trickier to keep it fresh and challenging. But, at its core, it is
still a modified game built on the back of a game that is familiar to anyone
that has spent a while on various online gaming sites. 

Overall: 8.0
It is not a
stretch to say this is one of my favorite all-time games. Even a few years ago
when I played it, I got hooked. Now, it has been altered enough to keep the
replay factor without making it something it is not. They don’t take the
shortcut and make it a gimmick game or something that makes you
cringe. It is like experiencing the rare occurrence
of seeing a movie sequel that is as good, or better, than the original. The
look and feel is comfortably familiar, yet fresh and addictively fun. Once you
learn how to better play the board and not try to finish it too quickly, it
makes you enjoy it even more. Depending on how you attack the game. Maybe you
want to draw it out and rack up points and gather power-ups. Or, get bonus
points from having a lot of time left. After a while, you find that the boards
can be attacked from many angles. The goal is always to get certain pieces to
drop off the board from clearing your rows, but there is enough twist to make
that not as simple as it sounds. The replay factor is beyond strong, and you
find yourself envisioning the boards and pieces throughout your daily routine.
The initial reaction may be to dismiss it based on the looks and feeling that
is nothing new. Why pay for something you can download or play online for
free? Because — it is a value beyond similar games.
There is no Adware or annoying ads for soft drinks as you play. Just a clean
board and no risk of a server glitch making you lose a game that you have
spent hours Mastering. For me, the hardest thing
about doing the review was taking enough time to stop playing long enough to
write about it. That being said, I now have to get back to playing it….