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When we first started Microcosms a few months ago I spoke of paradigm
shifts and the rising tide of subscriptionless gaming. In the time
since those claims have been validated and reinforced on an almost
daily basis as the genre continues to grow and improve. In an effort to
better serve our readers’ interests we have repeatedly asked for
suggestions and requests in regards to content and subject matter, and
one of the most common requests was for more in depth looks at the best
games in the segment. With that in mind we are beginning a series of
reviews that summarize not only the games, but their relative value as
a free-to-play model. The first review will center on one of the most
popular titles – Atlantica
Online.



With the summer doldrums approaching and being further compounded by
pre-expansion hysteria, now has never been a time to ditch your AAA
title (you know the one) and check out one of the many free-to-play
alternatives. While I personally still enjoy the end game raiding
aspects of that other big name game, I find myself spending more of my
free time in subscriptionless games. My free-to-play gaming time used
to be mostly work related. Don’t get me wrong, I love free-to-play
games, and indeed all MMOGs on some level, but I have continued to fork
over my monthly fee to Blizzard. With each new title, however, it
becomes harder and harder to justify the recurring subscription of what
soon may be my former game.

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Kicking off our series of free-to-play game reviews is style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online, a
Korean import from Ndoors Interactive that has been among the highest
rated games in the segment since its launch in late 2008. Featuring a
robust living world that centers on powerful Nations made up of strong
guilds that battle for control of the lands, this PvP-centric game is
unique in many ways. From instanced combat zones to massive PvP battles
Atlantica Online
has content in spades. The game world is set in an alternate reality
Earth where players will explore the globe looking for the fabled lost
city we know as Atlantis

Graphics

The visual element of Atlantica
Online is a strong one, with crisp clean graphics that can
be cranked up to show off your system or tempered to work well on a
mid-range machine. If you can manage to run it in its full glory you
will find an attention to detail that helps set the game apart from
other less professionally designed competitors. While the overall look
here isn't Vanguard,
it isn't Kabuki
Warriors either.

Gameplay

One of the most distinguishing features of style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online is
its turn-based combat system that transports players from the game
world into an almost instanced-like environment where the battle plays
out until completion.

Players in Atlantica
Online are never alone, even when soloing. The game uses a
mercenary system that allows you to control three NPCs in addition to
your character. These hired guns will greatly enhance combat as well as
provide a much need increase to inventory space at low levels. Grouping
with other players allows you to tackle even greater challenges, from
instanced dungeons to larger groups of world mobs. Party size is
limited to 3 players and their NPCs, while raid content is open to
larger groups and comes in the form of Guild dungeons and Nation
dungeons. All of the instances are timed encounters with kill-based
objectives. There isn't a lot of encounter variation here or unique
boss scripts, but the killing isn't mindless and skill is required to
advance and succeed.

UI

Among the most crucial elements to long term success in MMOGs, the User
Interface, is often times one of the most overlooked by developers. style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online
once again passes this test with flying colors as the UI is both simple
and unobtrusive. The overall layout is familiar enough to most western
players and follows an intuitive pattern of hotkeys and menu bars that
keep the screen fairly clutter free. Western gamers will have to learn
some new habits, however, as the spacebar is now your inventory hotkey
and not the jump key many of us have become accustomed to.



Perhaps my favorite feature in the game was one that I initially
resisted – Auto Move. Have a quest NPC, quest mob or other objective to
get to? Click on Auto Move and your avatar will travel to the spot
automatically via a series of way-points that keep you from getting
stuck in the environment. The game will even keep track of the amount
of time the traveling is estimated to take, perfect for the much needed
bio breaks.



The biggest drawback to the UI at this time is a lack of integrated
Item Mall; clicking on the in game button will minimize the client and
open a browser window for you. While it is a minor inconvenience it is
certainly an annoying one as players with older machines have
experienced everything from massive system lag to total game crashes
when this occurs. Even on my fairly beefy system I have the occasional
game crash when attempting to switch back to the game client after
tabbing out.

Endgame Content

One of the main complaints from folks who come to free-to-play gaming
from the AAA titles is “What is there to do in this game?” Which when
dissected comes out to actually mean “I hit the level cap, now what?”



Atlantica Online
is a PvP focused game and as such has many offerings throughout the
game, with PvE dungeons starting at level 90. As I stated in the
Gameplay section the instance raiding here is  time-based,
objective-based and has several levels of participant size involvement.
The loot that comes from these dungeons is mostly viewed as
underwhelming, with Nation loot being the most sought after, but it is
tradeable so some players won't see much of a need to engage in these
encounters for the sole purpose of loot. The real upside to raiding is
that it is a great way to amass gold and make new friends as well as
challenge your abilities as a player and a teammate. Plus, as I have
stated time and time again, if you want to solo exclusively then you
may want to rethink your game choices.

Value

Perhaps the brightest spot in the glow of style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online is
that it has successfully managed to have an Item Mall that has
desirable items but none that are mandatory in order to enjoy the game.
The conversion rate is $1.00 USD = 100 GCoins, the Item Mall currency.
With items ranging from 10gc foodstuffs to 3900gc 90-day game
enhancement packages, there is a nice variety for players who wish to
spend money on the game. The 3900gc packages give several nice perks to
players for a 90 day period including the ability to use any
teleportation portal, gather critical mob or enemy player detail by
inspecting them out of combat, automatically loot enemy bodies during
combat, see an enemy’s remaining health in combat (hidden by default in
AO) and an Auto-Battle feature that allows the AI to control your party
for you so you can AFK during combat if you desire. The Item Mall also
features things like mounts, outfits, crafting items and other
periphery that can help enhance your character’s look or to give
players with minimal playtime and maximum return on the hours invested.
You could spend an average of $13.00 a month here and have some very
nice upgrades to your overall game experience.

Score

Atlantica Online
has garnered many awards since its launch and they are indeed well
deserved, as it succeeds in being a terrific free-to-play MMOG. With
fun and engaging combat that rewards strategy, a robust game world with
all the standard activities that MMO gamers desire and a solid look and
feel with a great fit and finish, Atlantica
Online receives 4.5 out of 5 Hammers.

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(4.5 / 5
Hammers)

Check back with us next week to see which game goes under the
microscope at Microcosms and, as always, be safe and keep it free.







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