For over three decades, a single paragraph from a gaming manual has remained ingrained in my mind. It reads, “We believe that you buy games to be entertained, not to be punished for every mistake. So we don’t bring the game to a screeching halt when you explore uncharted territory.” This quote comes directly from the original manual of the beloved point-and-click adventure game, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, developed by LucasArts and released in June 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Macintosh systems.
While the game designers may have deviated slightly from this philosophy, as a seven-year-old, I often struggled to progress. It became one of the few games from my childhood that I couldn’t conquer, yet I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Many people still hold it in high regard as one of the best Indiana Jones stories that never made it to the big screen. As the world eagerly anticipates the release of the fifth and final Indiana Jones film, “Dial of Destiny,” let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit Atlantis.
Throughout the years, there have been numerous Indiana Jones video game titles. Some are direct adaptations of the films, while others, like Atlantis and its successor, Infernal Machine, feature original narratives. Currently, Bethesda and MachineGames are working on a new original game, but little information is available. Atlantis, on the other hand, is widely recognized as one of the studio’s greatest achievements. It received numerous ratings of 90% or higher upon its release. In his review for Computer Gaming World in September 1992, Charles Ardai referred to Fate of Atlantis as an “exuberant, funny, well-crafted, and clever game” that lives up to the Indiana Jones name with its compelling storyline.
Decades later, it’s hard to argue with Ardai’s assessment. The game encompasses everything fans love about the movies – thrilling globetrotting adventures, complete with the iconic world map transitions and Indy’s versatile whip, which proves useful in disarming Nazis and navigating treacherous terrains. Additionally, the script is both humorous and intelligent. The story delves into the myth of Atlantis, tracing its origins back over 2,000 years to Plato’s writings in 360 BCE. Within the game’s timeline, it is 1939, on the brink of World War II, and the Nazis are on the verge of acquiring a weapon more potent than an atom bomb – a weapon hidden within the fabled lost city of Atlantis. Indy, having just embarked on his final crusade in “The Last Crusade,” must thwart the Nazis’ ambitions. His journey takes him from Barnett College in New York to Monte Carlo, Iceland, the Azores, Algiers, Crete, and ultimately (spoiler alert) the lost city itself. Accompanying him is Sophia Hapgood, a former archaeology student and love interest, who possesses psychic abilities and claims to communicate with Nur-Ab-Sal, the last Atlantean king, through an amber necklace.
For me personally, this game is pure nostalgia. It belongs to a genre of point-and-click adventures that utilize the publisher’s renowned SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) game engine, originally developed for “Maniac Mansion” in 1987. Players navigate the game world by clicking on items and using a set of verbs to interact with objects and characters on screen. Various items can be collected in an inventory display and used multiple times, while others have limited use. The game’s pixelated graphics evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of the era when game visuals were less realistic and more reminiscent of cartoonish art styles, employing a limited color palette of 256 shades. This pixel art style has since become popular among modern games, appealing to gamers’ nostalgic sensibilities.
Although the search for Atlantis serves as the primary objective of the story, it is what lies within the city that the Nazis truly desire. According to the game’s lore, Atlantis was an advanced civilization approximately 1,600 years BCE, thanks to the intervention of enigmatic “great horned beings” who provided them with sophisticated technology. One such technology was orichalcum, a real metal, created from lava and fashioned into pearl-sized beads that powered their society. After Atlantis’ disappearance, some of these beads were scattered across the ancient world, and by the late 1930s, the Nazis began scouring the globe in search of them. They believed that orichalcum possessed the destructive power of an atom bomb but in a compact form that could energize tanks, planes, and create more devastating weapons. Additionally, the Nazi scientist Dr. Hans Ubermann believed that harnessing this power would elevate him to godlike status.
While Fate of Atlantis is fondly remembered by many, it also gained notoriety for its challenging puzzles. These puzzles ranged from whimsical and entertaining to downright frustrating. For instance, at one point in the game, players must open the back of a bookshelf by fashioning a makeshift screwdriver from an arrowhead and an old rag. Later in the game, after infiltrating a German U-boat bound for Atlantis, players distract a hungry sailor by assembling a submarine sandwich from food items discovered in the galley. Nonetheless, despite the occasional frustration, successfully solving puzzles and combining items in unexpected ways provided significant dopamine boosts for players. One notorious aspect of the game was its mazes, which left many gamers stuck for hours or even days, often only finding a solution through sheer luck. When I downloaded Atlantis on Good Old Games around a decade ago, I did a speedrun of the game to finally witness its conclusion. It was undoubtedly worth the two-decade wait.
As we anticipate the release of “Dial of Destiny” and hope for a worthy conclusion to the Indiana Jones saga, Fate of Atlantis remains a cherished piece of gaming history.
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Alex Smith is a writer and editor with over 10 years of experience. He has written extensively on a variety of topics, including technology, business, and personal finance. His work has been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, and he is also the author of two books. Alex is passionate about helping people learn and grow, and he believes that writing is a powerful tool for communication and understanding.
