Giveaway of the Day - The Rise of Atlantis Premium

The Rise of Atlantis:

The Rise of Atlantis has been given away four times previously; once on New Years Eve 2007 when it received a good 86% thumbs up out of 441 votes and 177 comments, which you can read HERE, and then it was given away again Easter 2008 when it received a positive 76% of 701 votes. You can read the 115 comments made that day HERE. Also it was given away again Sept 2009 where it received a positive 88% of 60 votes (the gamegiveaway had been offline for some months, which would explain the low number of voters) and you can read all the comments posted that day HERE. Finally it was last given away back in September 2010 where it received a positive
81% out of 499 votes with 65 comments which you can read HERE

That said today’s game is advertised as the ‘Premium’ edition so there is a possibility that there has been extra content added. Whether this is true I cannot say as I’ve not played through this version. Ptrvious ‘Premium’ versions given away do seem to have had no difference according to several community members, but the differences may only be minor so could easily be missed.

The downloaded zip file is 23.7MB in size which is 5.5MB larger than the previous time this was given away. Part of the increase could be the Themida security that’s been added, but part may also be extra content. The previous giveaway was 18.2Mb in size. The zip file unpacks to a readme and a dual activation and setup module. The game is installed to the following path:

C:\Program Files\Playrix Entertainment\The Rise of Atlantis

and shortcuts are placed on the desktop (for a change) and also in the start menu (look for Playrix). You can delete this game using add/delete programs or via the uninstall link found in the Playrix entry in start menu programs list. The game works in both XP Pro, Vista Home Premium and Win 7 Ultimate and Pro. (not got a home edition).The installed game is 26MB in size. I don’t have a comparison from the last time this was given away as the last installation was lost via a HDD failure.

Introduction & Game:

Find a way to bring the legendary continent of Atlantis back to the surface and restore it to its might. In this extraordinary puzzle game with spectacular new features, handy bonuses and explosive power-ups you set out on an adventurous quest around the ancient lands of Greece, Troy, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt, Carthage and Rome to gather the seven greatest powers of the patron god of the Atlanteans – Poseidon. With 77 captivating levels of fantastic game play, truly unique twists never seen before and the ability of continuous replay this game will keep you entertained for weeks!

Reference: http://www.playrix.com/rise-of-atlantis.html accessed April 09

Features:

• Storyline with introductory animations for each civilization
• 77 levels with the ability of continuous replay
• 7 magic artifacts to assemble in ancient lands
• Includes power-ups and bonuses
• Excellent graphics and soundtrack
• Includes an animated Atlantis 3D screensaver once the game has been completed

The Rise of Atlantis is a match three or more game that is similar to Atlantis Quest, with similar game tiles and similar bonuses, thought there are enough differences to make it a worthwhile addition to your match three games library. (You can get both The Rise of Atlantis and Atlantis Quest for free from Gametop now. I’ve included a link to the forums where you’ll find links to download these games if you either missed today’s giveaway, or want more match three games). There’s now a sequel to this game called Call of Atlantis. It’s basically more of the same, but with additional bonuses and I think a new screensaver. I’d put The Rise of Atlantis in the same playability range as Atlantis Quest, both of the Age of Japan games, The Cradle of Rome, The Secrets of Olympus, Heroes of Hellas, The Cradle of Persia and both of the Big Kahuna Reef games. This game has a similar addition to the latter two games in that you get a fish screensaver once you’ve completed the game, though the Big Kahuna Reef screensaver has more options but doesn’t include manta rays, sharks and dolphins in the species that you get with this screensaver.

I originally only gave this a 6.5 out of 10, but that was based on only a few levels of play. I’ve played a lot more levels since and found that the game was worth more than what I’d originally given it as it almost gave me as much pleasure as Treasures of Montezuma, which is still in my opinion one of the better of this genre; though there has been a trend towards more interesting match three games such as 4 Elements and Finding Doggy.

The Rise of Atlantis is definitely a game I’d consider buying if I needed to, but I found that this particular game could be transferred between computers, which was a pleasant surprise. I’d now give this game 8 out of 10.

You can see quite a few screenshots (see link below) of ‘in game’ tips such as the use of the sun bonus, which is activated by creating several matches of four or more tiles. The bonus is not transferable between levels though so when you’ve collected enough multiple tile matches you should utilize this bonus which acts similar to the electro bonus in that a large number of random bricks are destroyed. When the sun bonus is activated the sun will glow for a few seconds telling you that it is ready for use. You can check on how near to completion the sun bonus is by either looking at it or clicking on it which will bring up a message telling you what percentage the sun bonus is to completion. The electro bonus destroys all bricks on the board of one type, which you can select when activating the bonus. Other bonuses include an extra life bonus, a time bonus, a tile shuffle bonus and a bomb bonus that destroys several tiles in the vicinity where you activate it. All these can be carried forwards to the next level. You also get locked tiles that require at least two passes at making sets of three or more to get rid of them. If you pause for a while you will be prompted by a yellow glow around a prospective match, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best to use.

Each board set comes in a different shape, which become more complex as you progress through the levels of each stage. The screenshots also show the story line and the various menus, and level maps that can be found throughout the game. There are several stages to progress through, each with its own distinctive story and images, thought the tiles appear to remain the same there was a new tile added to the four that were present from the first stage. I am presuming that a new tile will be introduced at each stage to make the game a little harder to play, but this is just a thought as I’ve not quite finished the second stage yet. As you progress through each level you collect pieces of an artifact. At the end of each level you will be given the level statistics that include the number of tiles you’ve destroyed, the number of matches, the number of artifact pieces the time it took to complete the level the time bonus and the level score as well as a game tip. From here then you proceed to the level map.

Each level gives you information about the Mediterranean civilizations that you visit. These include the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Carthage, Rome, Greece and Troy, You can replay any level that you wish to enable you to either improve your score or collect any of the bonus items you may have missed the first time, though if you managed to collect all of the bonus items on the first attempt, you wont get anymore and this won’t give you any new pieces of the artifact that you are collecting. Each time you replay a level the tiles are arranged randomly, which gives this game a lot of re-playability. If you run out of time (indicated by the gold bar under the playing field) you lose a life, though apart from the life bonus, which first appeared in level three of the second stage, Babylon you can also earn extra lives every time you earn 100 000 points. (Which works out about every second stage). On leaving the game your progress will be saved, though if you were in the middle of a level, the tiles are randomly placed on returning.

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Music:

If you don’t like the music you can change it by exchanging the files found by following the path:

C:\Program Files\The Rise of Atlantis\Base\sound\Music – Assuming you allow the game to be installed to it’s default location.

You do have to convert the music you wish to use to the ogg format and change the name to the same as the file that you are replacing. There are some free audio converters in the freeware library if you missed last week’s audio converter. Just follow the link below to find them:

Get Free Audio Converters HERE

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Images (over 50 images)

See all images on one page HERE

See slideshow HERE

See Googled Images HERE

Video:

See video of Rise of Atlantis Gameplay HERE

See another video of Rise of Atlantis Gameplay HERE

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System Requirements

Operating System………………….Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista
CPU……………………………….…….500 MHz
System Memory (RAM) ………… 128 MB
Video Memory…………………….…32 MB
DirectX 8.0 or higher

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Conclusion

In my opinion this is well worth downloading despite it’s similarity to loads of other match three games. The graphics are excellent and the bonuses and in game story line add to the playability of this game. They may even impart some interesting historical facts about these ancient civilizations. I also like the addition of a screensaver that you can only use once you’ve completed the game.

Thank you to the Giveaway project team and Playrix Entertainment for a marvelous game that is ideal for a rainy day or if you have several moments to spare, though I reckon if you get hooked you could be playing this for hours at a time

You can find around thirty free match three games that include The Rise of Atlantis, though all the games mentioned come from Gametop and Freegamepick so every time you shut your game down your browser is opened to the home pages of either of these game distributors, though it is innocuous. You can find links and details of some of the games via the following thread in the forums. There’s a good variety of match three games available including bubble shooters, Luxor clones, and Rise of Atlantis clones:

Get around thirty Match Three games for free HERE
or pop over to MyPlayCity for 47 match three games
HERE

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For those having problems running this game, the following are some ideas that you could try that may allow the game to work:

1) Delete the program manually (or save the game file to a disc, external hard drive or flash drive) then defrag your computer, following this, reinstall by manually placing the saved file or re-downloading it before the giveaway is finished

2) Clean out your computers temporary folders, internet cache etc then re-download and reinstall the game (or use the one you saved) you can do this by right clicking on your internet icon and selecting internet options (for internet explorer). From the window that pops up you can delete temporary files etc.

3) Install the game to a custom location as opposed to the default location. Also try installing to a different hard drive.

4) Temporarily turn off all your security software (that includes adware, spyware, anti –virus software and firewalls) until the game has been installed and tested. Though always ensure that it is turned back on before you start browsing the net again.

5) Turn off as many background programs (from the task bar – next to the clock as you can, and also use the task manager to turn off unnecessary hidden programs – generally if it says system you should leave it, but if it has your name or the name of the account you are using next to the process then it ‘usually’ can be shut down. If you do make a mistake, the only thing you need to do is re boot the computer.

6) Download the game from Playtrix and install as normal. You must have installed the giveaway one first. Do not use an uninstaller to delete the giveaway one from your computer though; manually remove it; (though this may not matter as I don’t think the game requires registry entries to work)

7) Give your computer a good going over with any software you have that improves the performance of your computer and/or cleans your hard drives etc. We have been given quite a few software packages that may help such as Glary utilities (one of the packages that I was able to save before a format – though I’m not allowed to say how)

All of the above are only suggestions. One or more of them have in the past helped me solve a particular problem running a program. Someone mentioned memory access violations above. There was a post last year in the games comments section that gave a possible fix for this, but I can’t remember exactly how to do it or when it was posted. Sometime around the time Arcon Toys was posted, though I think it was a week or so before that.

If you’re getting a failed to connect or some such message, or it says it wont register, I find unplugging the router for a few minutes then re-booting as well as right clicking on my internet icon selecting internet properties then deleting cookies and other files more often than not, fixes a lot of the problems I’ve been having with giveaways.

I do hope the suggestions above help someone get this excellent game running, (assuming they have problems, and to Playtrix, thanks for releasing a sequel to this excellent game. .Thank you again for the give away.

I’ve not bothered posting my usual extras section today, but if you were not aware there has been a Steam sale on for the past 10 days, with over 2000 games on sale. you’re bound to find a bargain. Today is the last day of the summer sale:

http://store.steampowered.com/

Also there’s still Indie Bundles available including a new one from Groupee’s. to find then go to the Game discussion forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17

You’ll also find the FAQ’s section in the stickies via the above link.

Just to say that I downloaded Call of Atlantis from here a few weeks back. This is the only ‘proper’ match three game I’ve played, although I suppose I must have played something very light-weight at some point.

There is clearly a connection between Call of Atlantis, so I think my long-term experiences of this might be relevant today. They are also the reason I will be downloading this game today.

I found the overall experience quite engaging – the movement effects, sound effects and music all really enhanced the game to make progress and completion feel rewarding. Playing to collect the special tiles/spells for later rounds adds a layer of challenge to just completing each puzzle, especially as you have to get them before the last basic puzzle piece. The ‘find the pieces in the picture’ and ‘place the pieces’ levels make good interludes and add variety. As you go up the levels, you get locked and frozen pieces to deal with. I upped the challenge by trying not to use any special tiles/spells I had collected.

The informational interludes are quite well done, and perhaps might engage your kiddies, but I was too impatient to watch them as I wanted to play the game (a 51-year-old with ADD??)

Once you have completed all the puzzles, you can go round again. Although this doesn’t sound enticing, the second time through you get some rubble tiles that just get in the way until you drop them off the bottom or blast them in some way. They up the difficulty considerably, and completing the whole sequence of levels is therefore a good challenge.

I am now beginning to tire of the game, having played considerably more than I expected – I am on the third or fourth time round all the levels, and I don’t think that there are any new elements introduced after the second. The interlude ‘find the pieces’ and ‘place the pieces’ levels are the same at all levels. The rubble remains a challenge to deal with at higher levels, but somehow using the spells seems like cheating, and the rubble just becomes a pain.

SO I have really quite enjoyed this game, and played for perhaps 15 hours. I’ve gained enough pleasure out of it that I can be bothered to share all these thoughts with you, and the current download look sufficiently similar and different to give it a try.

My thanks and praise to the developer, then, although I can’t imagine ever parting with cash to play a game of this type. Sorry. Well, perhaps as part of a package of different games for kiddiewinkies – some presumably would find the higher levels too difficult and run out of lives and spells.

Not sure I’ll get time to try it today though – its Sunday, the first dry weekend in 397 years and the garden needs doing!

…………………………..Moderator Comment…………………………

Thank you for your excellent feedback Stephen. Have you tried the Puzzle Quest games. they are a combination of match three and RPG. Brilliant games. Also the Bejewelled series is an excellet Match 3 alternative as is the Fishdom games.