Legends of Atlantis is a resource management video game developed by Legacy Games, in which you go from area to area trying to bring the mythical country to its former glory.
The story follows the decline of Atlantis, the legendary city that is said to have sunken to the bottom of the ocean. This seems to be an alternative story to said calamity, where you are trying to prevent it from ever happening.
Gameplay wise, you start every stage in a very similar manner. The old sage will brief you on your current mission, and what new dangers you should keep in mind.
You start with a single worker, and you need to send it on tasks in order to finish the level. You can have multiple tasks, but the only one that is always present is building a road.
Your workers can perform almost any task, as long as they have the required materials. The one material they need most to perform most activities (aside from simple collecting) is energy crystals. This works as the food element in other games, and it can be picked from the floor, mined or collected on a regular basis from villages.
This is true for all other resources, such as rock, wood and water. You will also find plenty of rubble blocking your path, and while they might be expensive to clear they always reward either wood or rock, depending on their nature.
The strategic aspect of the game comes into play with knowing when to do what, managing your early resources as to maintain a flow of production until you finish every task.
Buildings can be upgraded, making them produce more materials. The one exception is your main hub base, where improving it gives you more workers. This is incredibly useful, as you can imagine, but you should not rush this upgrade, since you might end up with more workers than you have things for them to do.
There are also special buildings that do not follow the same rules as the ones described before, and as you advance through the game you will encounter plenty of other surprises.
For example, in certain stages there is a watchtower that you can fix. Doing so gives you guards that are the only way to clear bandits, since your worker can do a lot of things but fighting is not one of them.
This changes the dynamic of the puzzles, since you might want to prioritize your access to guards before anything else, since there might be a bandit blocking an important resource.
The game’s art style is very cartoony and humorous, even if certain parts of the story are on the more serious side. Characters are small with exaggerated proportions on the arms and head, which is understandable when it comes to gameplay but they maintain this during cutscenes. In a sense, it gives the whole game a sense of consistency, so it works in its favor.
The color palette is mostly bright, aiming for high contrasts that help the player visualize their environment. All in all, it is a very up beat design that is maintained in all the different gameplay modes.
Legends of Atlantis is a great addition to the management genre, and it is certainly full of surprises. Many levels shake up the formula, some even changing gameplay altogether. This is a game that will keep you on your toes and hook you in like never before.
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