Previews

Atlantica Online First Impressions

I'm not a fan of RTS games. There, I said it. Shoot me now. *grins* Now that I've said it, however, I've got to admit that I've had a good time playing Atlantica Online and I am pleasantly surprised.

Atlantica Online is one of the first MMO games aspiring to be a true hybrid between the real-time strategy genre and role playing. It's a lofty goal that in many ways is accomplished. There are, however some niggling frustrations that will hopefully be cleared up during the next ten days' beta testing.

Emblem 3 Found!

Logging into Atlantica Online has been an experience I could do without ever again. Reaching the log in screen is quick and efficient and packed with great looking images. Every time I hoped it would be better and I excitedly plucked out my name and password. But hopes were dashed every time and I found I could watch a 100 yard dash in the local snail Olympics, come back and the game would still be sitting there 'trying to connect to the server'. Admittedly, this will be a must do bug fix for developers and it's probably a small thing but not a good thing to have happen to players trying to get in and see what Atlantica Online is all about. (Editor's Note: The Atlantica Online team has fixed this issue at time of posting.)

Once in, however, things improve quickly. Players can choose from several generic-sounding archetypes: Sword, Spear, Axe, Gun, Bow, Cannon and Staff. Character classes are non-gender specific and there are several different customizations available for the toon's look and, of course, names are totally up to the character. Equipping items changes a character's look which leads to hundreds, if not thousands, of different appearances.

Once a character is created, you're thrown into a dream world, sort of a tutorial, where players are met by several NPCs who hand out basic information and quests to get you up to speed on how things work in Atlantica. Quests range from hiring mercenaries to learning some of the interface options.

But the most important aspect of any MMO is combat and one of the first things characters are assigned is to enter a battle sequence to learn the basics of combat. After receiving the quest, one looks around and sees enemies quite literally littering the local landscape. Simply left clicking on an enemy opens an alternate 'battle' screen. Players can also right click on the enemy and receive information about the number of foes and the battle's relative difficulty for a character of your level.
After left-clicking on the chosen target, your character and any hired mercenaries are in battle formation. Combat is turn-based and timed. Mercenaries have to have a certain level of "battle readiness" in order to fight but Atlantica makes knowing who's ready easy by circling them in green. Clicking on a ready fighter initiates their attack against the enemy. Camera angles change if the attack is a 'combo attack' that will deal out high levels of damage.

Combat is limited to ~30 seconds and then it's time for defense as the enemies attack. They can dish out big hits but players have defensive options as well. Once their turn is over, combat swings back to your side.

If you're feeling particularly lazy, you can initiate 'auto attack' and allow the mercenary AI to take over. However, this isn't something that can be done constantly. Players have to engage in enough manual attacks to gain auto attack points. It's a delicate balance.