However, some fights can be
bypassed by solving puzzles, which in
turn earns you more IQ points.
ADVENTURE TIME
One of the game’s greatest strengths
is capturing the pulpy adventure feel
of the films, but within the fairly rigid
confines of a 1990s point-and-click
adventure. One of the ways it does
this is by never lingering in one
location for too long. In the first
couple of hours you’ll have visited
New York City, Monte Carlo, Iceland,
Guatemala, and the Azores. The
changing scenery makes for an
energetic, fast-paced game, helped by
the dynamic iMuse soundtrack,
which deftly incorporates John
Williams’ iconic score.
It looks fantastic too. The art is
pretty low resolution by modern
standards, and even compared to
other LucasArts adventures released
only a few years later. But each
country Indy visits has a rich and
distinctive atmosphere, tied together
by a tastefully understated color
palette. Whether you’re exploring the
frozen, overcast plains of Iceland, a
bustling Algerian marketplace, or a
Nazi U-boat, every location is rich
with detail and personality. The
character animation is wonderfully
lively and expressive too, perfectly
capturing the scrappy, rough and
tumble action of Spielberg’s movies.
But there are times when the
game slips hopelessly into 1990s
adventure game absurdity, which
dampens the feeling of being Indiana
Jones somewhat. One puzzle involves
peeling some chewed gum off a
school desk then sticking it to the
bottoms of your shoes. Why? To walk
up a coal chute, of course. I tried to
imagine Indy doing this in the
movies, but my brain simply couldn’t
process it. But for the most part the
puzzles are pretty logical and in
keeping with the tone of the source
material, particularly the ones
involving activating ancient, arcane
mechanisms and other such
archaeological antics.
As well as the aforementioned
fighting system, there are some other,THE CHARACTER ANIMATION
IS WONDERFULLY LIVELY
AND EXPRESSIVE TOOequally as maddening minigames.
One involves flying over the desert in
a balloon that is an absolute
nightmare to control, and if I never
have to play that part again in my life
I’ll be happy. Luckily these are used
quite sparingly and most of the game
is in the classic adventure game
mould: Exploring, talking to people,
combining items, and so on. This is
about as vintage as point-and-click
games get, with the classic verb
buffet taking up half the screen, and
an inventory that’s constantly filled
with seemingly useless items.
Fate of Atlantis is easy to get
running on modern PCs thanks to its
availability on digital platforms such
as Steam and GOG. Just make sure
you hit Alt+S when you start the
game on Steam to disable the pixel
smoothing filter, which is enabled by
default. If you’re into adventure
games you absolutely should play
this. The randomized elements, IQ
system, and multiple paths through
the story set it apart from more
straightforward adventure games of
the era. The story and characters are
engaging, the music is superb, it’s
brilliantly paced, and it’s better than
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.Indy is in his element at an
archeological dig site.EXTRA LIFE
NOW PLAYING (^) I MOD SPOTLIGHT I HOW TO (^) I DIARY I REINSTALL (^) I WHY I LOVE I MUS T P L A Y