Disney Atlantis, Sinks

Video games based on movies are rarely inspired and usually do not contain quality gameplay or production values. With Atlantis: Trial by Fire, Disney attempted to combat this legacy by licensing the popular LithTech engine and hiring Zombie, the developer of Spec Ops, to design the game. While it was an admirable effort on Disney's part to make a quality movie-based title, Atlantis: Trial by Fire cannot escape the factors that prevent movie-based games from succumbing to mediocrity. Atlantis' storyline assumes that you have already seen the movie, which could be problematic for those who have not. Those who have seen it will feel right at home, but anyone who has not seen the movie may be turned off by the game. The gameplay in Atlantis is inconsistent. Although most of the time it is easy, during other times it is fiendishly difficult and frustrating. The missions played on foot are basic, short and have simple puzzles. Enemy artificial intelligence is low too, consisting mostly of, "Run towards player, shoot at player" - the enemies are easily dispatched with a few shots from your weapons and some basic dodging. These levels seem more like a joyride than a game and can become boring shortly.

The vehicle based missions, however, are frustrating and difficult to play. The collision detection is way off, and the vehicles easily crash into the walls even if they are apparently at a safe distance. Worse, bumping into a wall or corner usually gets the vehicle stuck, and the damage starts to hammer rapidly into your vehicle as it rattles against the wall. I also noticed that enemies can attack the vehicle at a long distance due to the poor collision detection. In a submarine level I heard my ship being hit and turned around until I could finally see the enemy. The giant crab was several feet away and pinching nothing but water, but my ship was still taking damage. Although the regular levels are fairly easy, the frustrating vehicle levels are potential showstoppers that can leave a player hanging and unable to progress further. The limited save feature does not help, because losing usually means that you must restart the level from the beginning. It can become aggravating to have to replay the same sections over and over again because your vehicle got caught behind a wall and the damage piled up in half of a second.

The multiplayer layout of the game had good planning but lackluster execution. Setting up Internet games is fairly easy thanks to the GameSpy browser integration, but the games themselves are uninspired and boring. Refreshing the list yields a row of sparsely populated servers with a few other people trying the game out. Playing the games feel awkward, since it lacks emphasis on skill and the intensity of a Quake-style deathmatch. You cannot simply enter your name or nickname; you must select a combination from a preset list of names, which denies any sort of human relationship with the other players. I am assuming that Disney chose to limit options in order to prevent vulgar names from appearing in Internet games, but the overall experience suffers because of it.

Graphically, Atlantis captures the cell-style of the movie but suffers from a lack of detail. Although the 3D models are relatively low in polygon count, the textures preserve the animated look somewhat. I say somewhat because the low polygon count is still obvious in the characters and the flat environments which would fit in with the design of shooter games made five years ago.

Audio effects seem a little fuzzy, as if they were recorded at a lower frequency than the source. Although the sound effects are not bad, they won't make your subwoofer rumble or frighten you with ambient, atmospheric feeling.

Atlantis simply lacks the direction it takes to make a solid, enjoyable game. It tries to be too many things at once and doesn't excel at any of them. If you want an action-packed game, get Half-Life. If you want a driving storyline, try System Shock 2. Atlantis was a thoughtful attempt at branching out, but it does not contain vital elements of good gameplay.

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