Atlantis II , known as Beyond Atlantis in North America, is a 1999 graphic adventure game developed and published by Cryo Interactive . The sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Tales , it follows the story of Ten, a mystical being that travels across time to defeat the Bearer of Dark. Players assume the role of Ten and solve puzzles in locations such as Ireland, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and China.
19-522: Atlantis II was a commercial success, with sales of 180,000 units after fewer than two months of release. It ultimately sold 160,000 units in France alone, and became one of distributor Dreamcatcher Interactive 's most popular titles in North America. The game was followed by Atlantis III: The New World , Atlantis Evolution and The Secrets of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy . The game features
38-568: A "point and click" interface, full 3D panning, puzzles of varied difficulty, conversations with other characters and a fully orchestrated musical score. A young man named Ten journeys through the mountains of Tibet. Upon finding a ship, he meets a levitating mystery man, who explains that Ten is the Bearer of Light and has to restore balance to the universe by confronting the Bearer of Dark, who resides in Shambhala. To find Shambhala, Ten must gather
57-531: A beautiful world and solving puzzles, Beyond Atlantis is for you". Dreamcatcher Interactive DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. (also known as DreamCatcher Games ) was a Canadian video game publisher founded in 1996 by Richard Wah Kan. It was best known for its adventure games . In 2006, the company became a subsidiary of JoWooD Entertainment . In 2011, the company went into administration along with its parent JoWooD and all assets were purchased by Nordic Games Holding . The DreamCatcher Interactive brand
76-661: A best-seller in the United States. Atlantis II made up 15% of DreamCatcher Interactive's North American sales in 2000; Cryo Interactive reported more than 100,000 units sold in the region from June through the end of the year. Market research firm PC Data tallied 64,625 sales of the game in North America for 2000, of which 23,327 derived from December. This performance made Atlantis II one of DreamCatcher's top sellers that year—alongside Traitors Gate and The Crystal Key —and resulted in growth at Cryo. PC Data reported an additional 51,280 units sold in North America during
95-621: A publishing label of their subsidiary Nordic Games . Nordic Games Holding had previously acquired JoWooD and The Adventure Company in August also turning both brands into publishing labels of Nordic Games. All business operations of this brand are being conducted out of THQ Nordic in Vienna , Austria. Note: This list is for titles which DreamCatcher Interactive published. Releases of games under The Adventure Company banner are not included. Beyond Time Beyond Time aka Shadow of
114-527: A sense of a lived-in world, for instance a bird flying across the sky. A unique game engine was made for the title. Quandary thought the game's short length let it down. Just Adventure and Adventure Gamers described the game as a watered-down Timelapse - type experience. Game Revolution thought the graphics were underwhelming. Adventure Classic Gaming criticised the game's "plodding, chatty, confused storyline". Computer Gaming World said it "wants to be Myst " and fails at it. PC PowerPlay deemed
133-565: Is civil servant Wei Yulan, who helps defeat a shadow who has taken up residence before the gate of a Daoist monastery, saving the monks from drought. Finally in Shambhala, Ten meets Rhea, the last queen of Atlantis. After visiting the sunken isle, he ensures that the Bearer of Dark is imprisoned. According to the French newspaper Les Échos , Atlantis II was a commercial hit, with sales of 180,000 units by late December 1999. This number rose to 200,000 units by April 2000. The game went on to become
152-456: Is currently being used as a publishing label for THQ Nordic. DreamCatcher Interactive was founded in 1996 at Toronto , Canada. Its first published title was Jewels of the Oracle . The company gradually drifted into becoming a publisher focused on the adventure genre after finding that "customers really were hungry for" these titles, according to DreamCatcher's Marshall Zwicker. Beyond Time
171-574: The first-person shooter Painkiller developed with People Can Fly . Painkiller became a commercial success and was signed with the CPL World Tour 2005 . Dreamcatcher would also create another label, Silverline Software, around 2004 for the distribution of some non-core games and the publishing of utility software. Silverline Software would release the "Time to Ride" series of girl's horse games starting in 2004, which would later be acquired by Ubisoft. In 2006, JoWooD Entertainment announced
190-612: The Obelisk: Delve Into the Corridors of Time is a 1997 full motion video adventure game developed by Jones and Jones Multimedia and published by DreamCatcher Interactive . The background of Jones and Jones Multimedia employees included theatre, fiction, literature, and art, and the company's video game output (including this game) combined these aspects together. They aimed to include genuine art and historical information to make it appealing and long-lasting. They set
209-527: The first half of 2001, while combined global sales of Atlantis II and its predecessor topped 600,000 copies that October. By that time, Atlantis II had sold 160,000 units in France alone. It ended 2001 with 84,237 sales in North America that year, according to PC Data, and it moved another 9,317 copies in the region during the first six months of 2002. The following year, Ghislain Pages of DreamCatcher's European branch remarked that Atlantis II had become "one of
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#1732773111869228-464: The game in locations that had an air of mystery and fascination. The team spent more than a year doing art history research to have a better understanding of the architectural worlds which were being created in the game. They turned their research into 3D representations; while they didn't recreate existing structures, they incorporated elements that they observed. The team aimed to add 2D animation and sound effects to as many screens as possible to give
247-468: The leading products of DreamCatcher in the States", and a sign that European adventures could achieve popularity in the country. Worldwide sales of Atlantis II , Atlantis and their sequel, Atlantis III: The New World , surpassed 1 million total units by 2004. In Computer Gaming World , Audrey Wells wrote: "Steer clear if you're not a fan of developer Cryo's work, but if you like immersing yourself in
266-542: The pieces that make up the "road to Shambhala" from different time periods and locations: Ireland, the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and China. When Ten ventures into one of the places, he transforms into a different person on a unique quest. In Ireland, Ten is a monk named Felim helping the locals fulfill an old myth. In Yucatán, Ten is the young huntsman Tepec, a cousin of the king, who has to awaken sleeping god Quetzalcōātl to save his city from famine. In China, Ten
285-708: The purchase of DreamCatcher Games as a way of increasing their presence into the North American gaming market in addition to acquiring the company's key titles and licenses. Since the acquisition, DreamCatcher Games has continued to launch titles both under The Adventure Company and DreamCatcher labels including new games created by JoWooD like the SpellForce series. In 2011, JoWooD went into administration causing DreamCatcher to file for bankruptcy. In November 2011, Nordic Games Holding announced that they had acquired all DreamCatcher assets and would be turning it into
304-406: Was acquired by Ubisoft with Dreamcatcher retaining publishing rights to the games being created. The Adventure Company brand label under DreamCatcher has released many adventure game series' including series' based on Agatha Christie novels. They also recently signed to release a series of titles based on The Hardy Boys . Outside of adventure gaming, DreamCatcher is best known for publishing
323-654: Was among the releases whose reception drew the publisher to this field. Profit reported that DreamCatcher located such projects via "networking at tradeshows and reviewing unsolicited game proposals." In 1999, DreamCatcher pushed its corporate strategy by launching Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy , The Forgotten: It Begins and The Crystal Key . The latter went on to a major hit. DreamCatcher's top four titles for 2000 were Dracula: Resurrection , Traitors Gate , Beyond Atlantis and The Crystal Key . These games respectively made up 9%, 14%, 15% and 32% of DreamCatcher's sales that year. In March 2000, DreamCatcher
342-553: Was purchased by Cryo Interactive . Continuing the company's growth, in November 2000, DreamCatcher signed with Her Interactive to publish the Nancy Drew franchise. In late 2002, most of the assets and development teams of French-based publisher, Cryo Interactive were absorbed by DreamCatcher Interactive, forming the base for DreamCatcher Europe including key offices and a large internal studio. By early 2003, DreamCatcher
361-476: Was the United States' tenth-biggest publisher of games. After the acquisition of Cryo Interactive, Dreamcatcher created a publishing division called The Adventure Company in early 2003. The company also partnered with both Wanadoo Edition and Microïds , as well as other studios in the development and distribution of games including Syberia , Still Life and ObsCure . In 2005, the main Microïds studio
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