Atlantica Online Preview
Saturday, October 11, 2008 – by Ryan Lodata, Executive Editor

Welcome to the world of Atlantis. You have been charged with the task of saving the world and will travel to locales located throughout Earth. The ultimate question will be what sets Atlantica Online apart from the massive flood of MMOs that are hitting the market?

Atlantica Online is not your typical MMO game. Most MMOs give you a single character to control that must destroy the enemy in real time. Atlantica breaks this mold and has players hiring countless mercenaries in a turn-based style that creates what has, so far, been a unique experience. 

The main draw to Atlantica is their mercenary system that allows players to recruit a large number of mercenaries to help them defeat the NPC’s throughout the game world. From day 1, players are allowed to recruit a mercenary that acts much like another character that you can control, equip and level up. These mercenaries are then each given a turn in battle to try and take down their opponents with the various forms of attack that are given to players. So far, Ndoors Interactive has been able to pull this off in an extremely easy manner that even beginners will be able to quickly get the hang of. 

In-game mercenaries also add a whole other level to combat that can only be found when with a large group of friends. The potential for large scale and almost war-like combat is great in Atlantica. As you progress to higher levels and gain even more mercenaries, you could find yourself controlling a tiny war that pits you against the evil forces in Atlantica. With all of these battles comes a variety of NPCs that you have to keep track of. 

Ndoors has included a “Tome of Knowledge” that gives players a large directory of the various monsters, items and more that they can find throughout the game. This feature has been implemented very well and is extremely easy to use. The Tome of Knowledge is a definite plus in games that can quickly overwhelm new and casual users. Personally, this is one of the most important features to me in any game and it has been pulled off very well by the developers.

The in-game environments in Atlantica are a force to be reckoned with in the MMO world. Yes, players are in a fantasy themed world, but they will also find themselves travelling across various real world locales. Egypt, China and North America are among the list of places that you can visit. If even more locales are added, players can expect to see a wide variety of places that they can visit and kill creatures in.

Overall, the Atlantica Online experience has, so far, been extremely pleasurable. However since the game is still in open beta, there is a lot that can change between now and launch. Hopefully Ndoors sticks to what they have already provided in the form of an excellent, unique and fun experience. We will find out if this holds true this November.