Atlantis: The Lost Tales

Last updated
Atlantis: The Lost Tales
Atlantisthelosttales.jpg
Developer(s) Cryo Interactive
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Rémi Herbulot
Producer(s) Rémi Herbulot
Jean-Martial Lefranc
Philippe Ulrich
Designer(s) Johan Robson
Programmer(s) Éric Safar
Artist(s) Thomas Boulard
Writer(s) Johan Robson
Composer(s) Pierre Estève
Stéphane Picq
Platform(s) Windows, MS-DOS, Saturn, PlayStation
ReleasePC
Sega Saturn
PlayStation
  • EU: October 1998
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Atlantis: The Lost Tales [a] is a 1997 fantasy adventure video game developed and published by Cryo Interactive Entertainment. Interplay Productions published the game in North America, where it released on September 30, 1997. The game is set in the fictional land of Atlantis. Atlantis was a commercial hit, with over 300,000 copies sold worldwide by late 1998, and spawned a series of sequels, including Atlantis II , Atlantis III: The New World , Atlantis Evolution and The Secrets of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy .

Contents

Gameplay

Atlantis: The Lost Tales is a first-person perspective puzzle game. The game is in pre-rendered, panoramic 3D. The HUD is basically a window into the world of Atlantis, instead of moving a mouse around the screen, moving the mouse actually moves the screen itself. To interact with the world, the player must position the item, NPC or thing in the center of the screen.

Progression through the game involves solving puzzles. Some puzzles are extremely abstract and the solution is completely unexpected, whereas other puzzles are very simple. The player must react quickly to certain events happening in the game. For example, in one section guards chase the player away from a certain area. If the player hesitates in moving backwards and looking for shelter, then the player will lose and will have to restart from the beginning of the scene.

Plot

The game begins with Seth, the protagonist, joining the Queen's Companions, the personal guardians of the Queen of Atlantis. He discovers after he arrives that the Queen disappeared shortly before he joined. As the story progresses, Seth learns that a power struggle is taking place between the Queen and her consort, Creon. Creon wishes to supplant Ammu, the goddess of the moon, as the most worshiped of Atlantis' gods, replacing her with Sa'at, the sun god; he then wants to conquer the world in the name of Sa'at, using a new weapon he has developed.

The weapon is revealed to be half of a crystal that is capable of granting immense knowledge to its holder. Long ago, the crystal was split into Light and Dark halves, and the halves were hidden in Easter Island and Stonehenge, respectively. Creon found the Dark Crystal, which has a side effect of driving its holder mad.

Seth retrieves the Light crystal from Easter Island, then returns to Atlantis to face Creon. After Creon's defeat, the weapon he built causes a volcano on Atlantis to erupt. Seth and a few survivors are seen sailing away from Atlantis as it sinks into the sea.

Development

The game features a number of proprietary technologies developed by Cryo. One such technology is called OMNI 3D, which provides a smooth, panoramic 360-degree first-person view of the game environment. [5] This view tends to be less crisp looking than the movement clips that are pre-rendered in the game. All the character animations are motion captured and feature another technology called OMNI SYNC to ensure proper lip synchronization with audio speech.[ citation needed ] The PlayStation version lacks the movement clips found in the other versions.[ citation needed ] The Saturn version of the game supports the Saturn mouse, despite the fact that it was only released in Europe, whereas the Saturn mouse was only released in North America and Japan.[ citation needed ]

The soundtrack for Atlantis: The Lost Tales was composed by Pierre Estève and Stéphane Picq of Shooting Star and was released in 1998 as a two CD set (one of which is an enhanced CD containing wallpapers) on the Shooting Star label. [6]

Atlantis was released for PC in March 1997. [1] Cryo Interactive coded up a new game engine to replicate Atlantis: The Lost Tales on the Sega Saturn, in particular the "freelook" feature. Their demo of this engine convinced Sega of Europe to acquire the license to publish the game for the Saturn. [7]

Reception

Sales

Atlantis was a commercial hit. [8] [1] The French newspaper Les Échos reported it as one of the top 10 best-selling computer games of 1997. [8] By April 1998, its global sales had reached 250,000 units, of which 50,000 were sold in France. [1] The game totaled 300,000 units sold by that November. [8] According to Bob Mandel of Adrenaline Vault, the game "sold very few copies sold in the United States" despite its "smash hit" status in European countries. [9] The combined global sales of Atlantis and Atlantis II surpassed 600,000 units by October 2001. [10] With the games' sequel, Atlantis III: The New World , the series topped 1 million sales by 2004. [11]

Critical reviews

PlayStation Power gave the game a 52% rating, specifically finding that the game was marred by extended loading times. [15] Adventure Lantern gave the game 86 out 100 score largely due to the intriguing story, pleasant atmosphere and the fascinating locations. [16] Gordon Aplin of Quandary found the game annoying to play due to the lack of a useful cursor for navigation or actions and the unforgiving timed reaction sequences. [17]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "the game's rough spots are few. Most of the puzzles are pitched at the right level of challenge [...] and it takes about the usual 30 or 40 hours to finish. Nicely done, but not much new." [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Prisoner of Ice</i> 1995 video game

Prisoner of Ice is an adventure game developed and released by Infogrames Multimedia for IBM PC compatibles and Macintosh in 1995 in America and Europe. It is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, particularly At the Mountains of Madness, and is a follow-up to Infogrames' earlier Shadow of the Comet. In 1997, the game was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation exclusively in Japan.

<i>Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?</i> 1996 video game

Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's series of fantasy novels set on the mythical Discworld, and sequel to the 1995 video game of the same name. The story sees players assume the role of Rincewind the "wizzard" as he becomes burdened with the task of finding Death and coercing him out of an impromptu retirement and back into his regular duties. The game's plot borrows from a number of Discworld books, including key elements from Reaper Man and Moving Pictures.

<i>Discworld</i> (video game) Point-and-click adventure video game

Discworld is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions and published by Psygnosis. It is based on Terry Pratchett's novels of the same name. Players assume the role of Rincewind the "wizzard", voiced by Eric Idle, as he becomes involved in exploring the Discworld for the means to prevent a dragon terrorising the city of Ankh-Morpork. The game's story borrows elements from several Discworld novels, with its central plot loosely based on the events in Guards! Guards!

<i>Dune</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Dune is a 1992 adventure strategy game based on the 1965 science-fiction novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. It was developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Virgin Interactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryo Interactive</span> Former French video game development and publishing company

Cryo Interactive Entertainment was a French video game development and publishing company founded in 1990, but existing unofficially since 1989 as a developer group under the name Cryo. The company gained recognition for its adventure games, such as the commercially successful titles Dune, Dragon Lore and Atlantis: The Lost Tales, along with the racing series MegaRace.

Stéphane Picq is a French composer of video game music, primarily for ERE Informatique/Exxos and Cryo Interactive.

<i>Sonic R</i> 1997 racing game

Sonic R is a 1997 racing game developed by Traveller's Tales and Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. It is the third racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the first to feature 3D computer graphics. The player races one of ten Sonic characters in various Sonic-themed race tracks as they attempt to stop Doctor Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds and enslaving the world. Sonic R features single-player and multiplayer game modes, and while similar to kart racing games such as Mario Kart, it places an emphasis on jumping and exploration. By collecting items and completing objectives, players can unlock secret characters.

<i>Croc: Legend of the Gobbos</i> 1997 video game

Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is a 1997 platform video game developed by Argonaut Software and published by Fox Interactive. An early example of a 3D platform game, Croc was released for PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Windows. Taking place in the fictional setting of the Gobbo Valley, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos follows a young crocodile named Croc, who sets out to rescue his adoptive family from the evil magician Baron Dante.

<i>Cyberia</i> (video game) 1994 video game

Cyberia is a science fiction action adventure video game released for MS-DOS in January 1994, and released two years later on the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO and FM Towns consoles. A sequel, Cyberia 2: Resurrection, was released in 1995 for both DOS and Windows 9x formats.

<i>Ring</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Ring: The Legend of the Nibelungen, or simply Ring, is a 1998 point-and-click adventure video game for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS developed by Arxel Tribe and published in North America by Red Orb Entertainment and in Europe by Cryo Interactive. The game is based on Richard Wagner's four opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, and features music from various performances of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Georg Solti from 1958 to 1964, chosen in collaboration with PolyGram and Decca. French comic-book artist Philippe Druillet also worked on the game, providing much of the artwork.

<i>Tomb Raider</i> (1996 video game) 1996 video game

Tomb Raider is a 1996 action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive as the debut entry in the Tomb Raider media franchise. It was first released on the Sega Saturn, followed shortly by versions for MS-DOS and the PlayStation. Later releases came for Mac OS (1999), Pocket PC (2002), N-Gage (2003), iOS (2013) and Android (2015). The game follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft, who is hired by businesswoman Jacqueline Natla to find an artefact called the Scion of Atlantis. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes while fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress. An expansion pack subtitled Unfinished Business was released in 1997, containing new standalone levels.

<i>Baku Baku Animal</i> 1995 video game

Baku Baku, released in Japan as Baku Baku Animal, is a falling block puzzle arcade game released by Sega in 1995. It is Sega's first network compatible PC game. A Sega NetLink compatible version of the game was also announced, but never released. The Japanese onomatopoeia "Baku Baku" roughly translates to "Chomp Chomp".

<i>Atlantis II</i> 1999 video game

Atlantis II, known as Beyond Atlantis in North America, is a 1999 graphic adventure game developed and published by Cryo Interactive. The sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Tales, it follows the story of Ten, a mystical being that travels across time to defeat the Bearer of Dark. Players assume the role of Ten and solve puzzles in locations such as Ireland, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and China.

<i>Atlantis III: The New World</i> 2001 video game

Atlantis III: The New World,, is a 2001 fantasy adventure video game developed and published by Cryo Interactive, with Dreamcatcher Interactive publishing the game in North America. David Rhodes composed the musical score. It is the third game in the Atlantis series by Cryo, as well as the last one made before Cryo's closure. It was followed by Atlantis Evolution in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kheops Studio</span>

Kheops Studio was an independent video game development studio created in September 2003. Its games were published by Microids, which acquired the brand and intellectual property as insolvency assets of Cryo Interactive in 2002. The company was co-founded by Benoît Hozjan, who also served as the creative director for the studio and Stéphane Petit, who served as technical director. Kheops developed adventure games for the PC platform and released several major successful games. The studio is best known for creating games that have been described by the developer as "cultural entertainment", that is, games which are heavily drawn from historical or literary sources to include a mixture of history and fiction. After filing for bankruptcy, the studio was closed down in January 2012.

<i>The Crystal Key</i> 1999 graphic adventure video game

The Crystal Key is a 1999 graphic adventure video game developed by Earthlight Productions and published by DreamCatcher Interactive. A work of science fiction, it casts the player as an interstellar explorer on a quest to save Earth from Ozgar, a malevolent alien conqueror. The player uses portals to traverse multiple planets, including desert and jungle worlds, while collecting items and solving puzzles. The Crystal Key was conceived by John and Jennifer Matheson in the mid-1990s, and it underwent a five-year creation process hampered by problems with its technology. It was signed by DreamCatcher as part of the publisher's strategic push into the adventure game genre.

<i>Salammbo: Battle for Carthage</i> 2002 video game

Salammbo: Battle for Carthage is a first-person perspective adventure video game. It began development at Cryo Interactive, but the company went bankrupt during production. The Salammbo team was ultimately acquired by DreamCatcher Interactive, which finished the game's development.

<i>Illusion</i> (video game series) Series of platforming video games licensed by Disney

Illusion, known in Japan as I Love Mickey Mouse, is a series of platforming video games developed and published by Sega for its consoles Master System, Sega Genesis and Game Gear. The series follows the adventures of Disney's cartoon character Mickey Mouse between various fantasy worlds. The series includes Castle of Illusion, and its sequels Land of Illusion, World of Illusion and Legend of Illusion.

<i>Jewels of the Oracle</i> 1995 video game

Jewels of the Oracle is a 1995 adventure game developed by ELOI Productions and published by Discis Knowledge Research Inc. It was released on Macintosh, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Windows. A sequel developed by Bardworks and published by Hoffman and Associates was released in 1998 entitled Jewels II: The Ultimate Challenge.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mizio, Francis (April 10, 1998). "La société des multiloisirs. Jeu sur DVD, livre, disque et site: c'est sous ces quatre formes que sort, le 25 avril, "Atlantis". Quatre versions d'un même univers, par quatre sociétés françaises. Le tir groupé est une démarche payante qui attire les éditeurs. Tel Cryo, qui sort "Ubik", jeu tiré du roman de Philip K. Dick". Libération . Archived from the original on July 17, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Atlantis : Secrets d'un Monde Oublié sur PC". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  3. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1998-02-07. Archived from the original on 1998-02-07. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  4. ↑ "sega-europe.online". 1998-12-02. Archived from the original on 1998-12-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  5. ↑ "Traveller's Tales". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 23. Emap International Limited. September 1997. p. 8. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Stéphane Picq personal site (CDs section)". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Preview: Atlantis: The Lost Tales". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 19. Emap International Limited. May 1997. pp. 26–27.
  8. 1 2 3 Feraud, Jean Christophe (November 27, 1998). "Cryo entre en Bourse pour devenir un grand du jeu interactif". Les Échos . Archived from the original on 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
  9. ↑ Mandel, Bob (September 28, 1999). "Preview; Atlantis II". Adrenaline Vault . Archived from the original on 2000-05-16. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  10. ↑ "Atlantis 3, en 5ème position des ventes de jeux vidéo" (Press release) (in French). Cryo Interactive. October 17, 2001. Archived from the original on March 20, 2003.
  11. ↑ Bronstring, Marek (May 24, 2004). "Atlantis Evolution - E3 2004". Adventure Gamers . Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ Yans, Cindy (1997). "Atlantis". Computer Games Strategy Plus . Archived from the original on 2005-02-06. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  13. 1 2 "Finals". Next Generation . No. 35. Imagine Media. November 1997. pp. 199, 201.
  14. ↑ Pierce, Matthew. "Mystical". PC Gamer UK . No. 45. Archived from the original on 2002-03-19. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  15. ↑ PlayStation Power #33 (December 1998), p. 113
  16. ↑ "Atlantis: The Lost Tales Review - Adventure Lantern". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  17. ↑ "Atlantis Review". Quandary/Quandaryland. Archived from the original on 2006-04-02.

Notes

  1. ↑ (French: Atlantis: Secrets d'un Monde Oublié
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.