As you trudge up the snow-covered mountainside,
somewhere in Tibet, you have little sense of the mysterious mission that awaits
you. If only you knew that, if successful in accomplishing the arduous tasks that
lie before you, you will not only restore the balance of order to the world but
find a very unexpected kind of personal peace and pleasure.

But for the
moment, you have been “summoned” to meet with an old Shaman, who sits
in an old Atlantean airship, waiting for your arrival. You are Ten, a descendent
of Seth, the original hero of Atlantis: The Lost Tales (the first Atlantis
adventure game from Cryo). What happens next is that the old Shaman will explain
to you what has transpired in the centuries that have passed since the time of
Seth and the halcyon days of the Atlantean culture under the rule of Queen Rhea
and how your destiny is linked to the past.

It seems that the development
of the civilization of Atlantis with its unique technologies and skills can be
attributed to a power that came from outer space and was represented by “the
Cube.” At some point in the distant past, the people divided the power of
the Cube into two parts, one “the Light” and the other “the Dark.”
Subsequently, a war between the two partisan camps resulted in the conquest of
the Dark, which was then captured and locked away in a metal head. The people
decided in keep the Dark and the Light separate. While the majority went to live
on the island of Atlantis, a smaller group bearing the Light portion of the Cube
settled in Shambhala.

Centuries later on Atlantis, Queen Rhea’s royal consort,
Creon, did the unthinkable: he freed the Dark from its containment and unleashed
the struggle between Light and Dark once again. It was at this juncture that Seth,
the hero of Atlantis, took the Light within himself and vanquished the Dark once
more. The people of Shambhala would have liked to have joined together the Light
and the Dark halves of the Cube, but they were afraid that the Dark might overcome
the Light, so they chose to keep the two halves separated. The people of Shambhala
then became the keepers of the Dark, hiding it away, while the Light passed down
from Seth through the generations until it now resided with Ten, who became the
“silent” Bearer of the Light.

Now … the Super Nova of the Crab,
a bright star that shines day and night, has appeared in the sky and has awakened
the Light half of the power of the Cube. Has it awakened the Dark half also? Will
the balance of order and chaos that was established hundreds of years ago be upset?

It
is here that the old Shaman explains to Ten his destiny as the Bearer of the Light
and teaches him about how to use triangular stones and the power of a crystal
ball to embark on journeys that will take Ten on quests, filled with mysteries,
enigmas, and revelations, which when accomplished will build a road to Shambhala
and ultimately provide the opportunity for the Bearer of the Light, Ten, to confront
and capture the Dark, which turns out to be a vastly different experience than
you might suspect.

Thus, the journey and the story begins …

The
Story’s the Thing

Once you have acquired the knowledge that the Shaman
imparts to you and have located three triangular stones, along with the crystal
ball, you are ready to embark on one of three journeys that you will need to take
in order to ultimately reach Shambhala.

Along the way at each of three journey
locations, you will uncover mysterious events from the past, which have links
to the unusual happenings that are occurring around you. You will take on the
identity of someone from the world and time period that you have journeyed to
and meet interesting and sometimes bizarre characters and strange creatures that
will either help you or hinder you in your quest to resolve the problems that
are before you. For only by solving the puzzles that you are presented with can
you restore order to the lands that you are visiting and ultimately capture the
next triangular stone that will allow you to progress down the road to Shambhala.

The
three worlds that you must travel to are:

• The Mayan World of the
  twin gods, Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent) and his brother, Tezcatlipoca
  (the Jaguar), where you become Tepec, a warrior, who sides with the reigning king,
  a follower of Quetzalcoatl. You discover that the king is very ill and is facing
  the prospect of being sacrificed to the God, Tezcatlipoca, because the king’s
  God, Quetzalcoatl, is “sleeping” and unable to provide the “chulel”
  or energy that is required to support the growth and harvesting of a good crop
  of corn, which is needed for food. If you don’t help or are unsuccessful in getting
  the “chulel” from Quetzalcoatl, then the king will die and the power
  will be taken over by Tezcatlipoca’s followers, who are basically evil-doers who
  believe in and depend on bloody sacrifices to satisfy their God, Tezcatlipoca.
  What follows is an exciting journey through the Mayan world that will take you
  inside the secret temples and out to the surrounding jungles in search of the
  Land of the Dead, Xibalba, where you will encounter strange creatures and challenging
  traps and puzzles, as you try to find Quetzalcoatl. If you are successful, the
  fourth stone on the road to Shambhala will be yours.
• The Ireland World,
  where as Brother Felim, a monk, you are confronted by your superior, Brother Liam,
  who asks for your help in analyzing the strange affliction that has affected Finbar,
  another brother at this remote religious retreat location. As you search for answers
  to the predicament of Brother Finbar, you become involved in an unusual juxtaposition
  of past and present events that lead you to undertake side trips to a nearby island,
  where you encounter the strange character, Birdman, and to the “Sky World”
  inhabited by characters from the previous millennium (I knew I’d get to use that
  word again), all of whom have unusual connections to the present time. How do
  the happenings from a thousand years ago, which were affected by the influences
  and conduct of the Dolmen, Ailill, and the Goddess Aine become tied to the events
  that are occurring now? Many mysteries must be resolved for you to lay the fifth
  stone on the road to Shambhala.
• The China World, where as Wei Yulan, a
  government official who has been collating records for the imperial archives,
  you are unable to leave the Abode of the Purple Deposit, because its gate is being
  guarded by a strange Shadow. Because there are many other ghosts haunting the
  countryside, all of the exorcists are busy, and Wei Yulan is being given the task
  of exorcizing the Shadow. Wu Tao Shih, the Master of Directions at the Abode,
  has offered to guide you on a “magic path” leading to the Grand Master,
  Tan Yun, who has been gone from the Abode for 317 years and is thought to have
  attained immortality. If you are successful in finding Tan Yun, you may be able
  to convince him to teach you or give you the power to exorcize the Shadow. Your
  long and difficult journey from the Ceremonial Room to the Dragon’s Den and eventually
  to a search for the Mushroom of Immortality in Hell must be completed in order
  for you to return to the Abode, exorcize the Shadow, and retrieve the sixth and
  final stone needed for the journey to Shambhala.

Now that you
have the six triangular stones that are needed to travel to Shambhala, you may
think that your journey is nearly ended, but actually you still have a long way
to go and many difficult trials and puzzles to solve. In fact, I found that the
game became quite abstract at this point, and what had been a very logic-based
game became somewhat illogical.

Suffice it to say that I do not deal effectively
with abstract story-telling, so that I will admit to needing some assistance in
getting through the rest of the story. The purpose and use of the markings on
the crystal ball, the escape from the Lotus Flower, the gathering of articles
from the places that had been previously visited in the three worlds, the underwater
search for Atlantis, the encounter with the octopus, and the travel through celestial
bodies all seemed very abstract to me, so I suffered through those parts of the
story right up until the end.

The ending itself, however, was most enjoyable
and somewhat of a surprise, so I’ll not say anything more, except that I think
that you will appreciate the interesting conclusion to what, by this time, will
have been an entertaining and very challenging series of arduous journeys.

On
the whole, I thought that Atlantis II was better than the first Atlantis,
and the story kept me involved and interested in the characters, except for
the abstract parts near the end, which accounts for some deduction in my rating.
The story receives an A-.

The Gameplay

When the game
starts, the start-up screen appears, and you can select to play as one of up to
five players that can be playing the game simultaneously. Embedded beneath the
start up screen is the general menu, which contains three detailed sub-menus:

• Display options (subtitles, display resolution and the use of the Omni-3D
  features).
• Adjustment of the sound volumes (music, speech, and sound effects).
• Management
  of saving and loading games.

The game uses the familiar point-and-click
interface, where you find hot spots identified by a change in the cursor icon,
then use the left mouse button to move to another area, speak to a character,
or pick up/manipulate an object. The movements of the mouse are used for rotations
within the scenes in Omni-3D, which I found to be a very comfortable system for
exploration. The move to icon (arrow) sometimes moves to the next location/scene
instantaneously, and sometimes the movement is accomplished by walking to the
next place in the same scene.

When an object is picked up or taken, one
click of the right mouse button will open the inventory and place the object in
it. To use an item from inventory, simply right-click to open the inventory screen
and then left-click on the desired item to select it and to close the inventory
screen. Very simple and convenient.

Dialogues with characters in the game
are initiated by left-clicking on the character. The character then may speak
directly to you or pictorial icons will appear that will suggest certain topics
for discussion. Left-clicking on these icons will start the appropriate dialogue
for that icon.

Regrettably, you will need to get used to disk swapping during
the game play and you can only start the game with disk 1 in your drive, all of
which can be a little annoying. The game comes on four disks, which load reasonably
fast.

Overall, the game interface should be comfortable for any novice or
experienced adventure gamer and all of the features seemed to function well with
no problems or bugs, so I will give gameplay a rating of A.

The
Graphics

This is a Cryo game, so you know that the graphics will be
the strong point of the game presentation. In this case, the graphics for Atlantis
II are simply stunning with beautiful, vibrant colors and the best use to
date of the Omni-3D modeling system to provide gorgeous scenery and locations
coupled with life-like 3D character presentations and magnificent animations.

The
reconstruction of the Tibet, Mayan, Ireland, China, and Shambhala worlds, right
down to the most minute detail, is always breathtaking and realistic. You are
in for a real visual treat when you explore the scenes that make up the worlds
that you will visit and travel through. As for the animations, there are so many
beautiful representations to experience and remember that I had to think about
my favorite for a few minutes, but I’ll select the exhilarating ride on the white
horse across the water to the Birdman’s island and back again, which by the way,
you get to do several times during the game.

The movements of the characters
are reasonably good and seemed even better to me than what I had seen in the recent
Cryo game, Aztec.

The new Cryo technology used for the synchronization
of every character’s facial expression and speech, called Omni Sync, was excellent
and perhaps among the best that you will experience in a typical adventure game.

The
graphics are indeed the strength of any Cryo game, and Atlantis II shows
that Cryo has continued to focus its efforts on improvement in this area and they
continue to succeed, which makes it appropriate for me to give the graphics
a score of A+.

The Music, Sounds, and Voice Acting

Sometimes,
it may seem to be most appropriate that the best thing that you can say about
the music is that it supported the evolvement of the story, without distracting
your attention away from the enjoyment of the game play. The music compositions
for Atlantis II always seemed appropriate and supportive of what was happening
in the story and the environment (worlds and events) in which the characters were
interacting. I was able to experience the music in a way that not only developed
the proper moods and feelings for the interactions that were taking place in the
story, but also enhanced the overall experience and enjoyment of the game.

In
a very similar way, the sound effects were very good and provided just the right
balance of sound and effects that were necessary to give me a more complete feeling
of immersion in the game environments. For example, the realistic sounds of various
animals, running water, and the celestial movements in the sky all contributed
to the game’s presentation in a very positive manner.

The voice acting,
which has not always been a strength of Cryo’s games, this time is excellent.
Atlantis II seems to have use trained, English-speaking actors and actresses
that were able to convey the right emotions at the right time and use English-language
expressions that are appropriate for the English-speaking gamer.

The disappointment
that I had experienced in this part of the gameplay in Aztec was not evident
in Atlantis II, which was a very pleasant surprise, although not up to
the extremely high standards set by Faust in this category, perhaps because
Faust also involved Arxel Tribe, but for the reasons mentioned above, the
music, sound effects and voice acting deserve an A.

The Puzzles

Simply
put … Atlantis II has some of the best puzzles that I have ever experienced
in an adventure game. Except for the puzzles that accompany those “abstract”
portions of the story that I described earlier in this review, the vast majority
of the puzzles require logical thinking to solve and are integrated nicely into
the progression of the storyline.

However, because there is such a wide
variety of the traditional puzzle types, even though they may be presented in
some unusual formats, I’m certain that you are likely to encounter your least
favorite puzzle type in this game. For instance, for you maze haters, there is
the trek through the jungle paths in the Mayan world. Not to be left out, for
you music puzzle types, there is the Birdman puzzle on the island in the Ireland
world, and for you math freaks there are the Mayan number system puzzles.

In the category of unusual puzzles and among the most memorable for me are the
Rainbow Bridge puzzle that provides you with access to the Mayan jungle (this
one is a slider-type puzzle, but a really fun challenge) and the Spider Web puzzle,
also in the Mayan jungle, where you will need to outwit big, bad “Mama Spider”
(again, loads of fun) in order to obtain an important object.

In general,
the puzzles are moderate to difficult, and you will not breeze through too many
of them. But the challenge will always be rewarding both in your ability to sustain
your progress in the game and in your enjoyment of the chance to apply your best
thought processes and put some strain on the old gray matter.

If puzzles
are an important reason why you play adventure games, then you will rejoice at
the logical, thoughtful, and often complex puzzles that you will find throughout
Atlantis II. I know that the puzzles were a highlight for me. The puzzles get
a rating of A+.

My overall rating for Atlantis II is an A+.

As
one who appreciates the commitment that Cryo has made to the proliferation of
the adventure game genre and a believer that Cryo is making strong efforts and
investments to continue to improve the development of their total adventure game
package (story, interaction, graphics, music, sound, acting, and puzzle elements
are all included), I am putting Atlantis II on my list of the five best
adventure games of 1999, along with Faust, which I reviewed earlier.

This
is a relatively long game in terms of the time that it will take to play, especially
if you minimize your use of a walkthrough, but if you enjoy traveling to ancient
civilizations and becoming immersed in an engrossing storyline, supported by excellent
graphics and integrated, logical puzzles, then you will be both thrilled and challenged
by the mysteries of Atlantis II.

System Requirements:
Pentium 200 MHz processor
32 MB RAM
8X CD-ROM
drive
2 MB video card
65,000 colors
Soundblaster-compatible sound
card
70 MB available on hard drive
DirectX 6.0 compatibility (supplied
with game)