Review: Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis
by Fyrn

Trials of Atlantis is the newest expansion to Dark Age of Camelot, originally released end of 2001 Dark Age of Camelot has been the first 3D MMORPG to offer massive PvP battles in form of their Realm versus Realm system. The Game has since been focused on these Realm versus Realm battles. It however has not been the only focus for the developers at Mythic Entertainment; from the start you could take part in large scale events and epic raids. In 2003, Trials of Atlantis has set a new standard for team encounters in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

How does it look?

Trials of Atlantis comes with a huge amount of graphical improvements, and unlike the first expansion Shrouded Isles those are not only noticeable in the new content. The new reflective water is probably the most impressive addition; it is by far the most realistic water that I have ever seen in any MMOG, reflecting surrounding trees and even the moon for example. Along with that came the usual rising numbers of polygon count and other detail, as you can easily tell by comparing Screenshots.

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What’s new, and who benefits from it?

Apart from the graphical improvement, there are 3 new races in Trials of Atlantis (1 per Realm) along with tons of new monster encounters, and the Master Levels. The Master Levels are a set of trials set in a variety of ancient myths including Greece and Egypt. They range from fighting an underwater minion as solo encounter to large scale battle group encounters that need several groups consisting of high level players to beat. One example is the 9th Trial, a giant Phoenix high above the clouds. This Trial requires at least 4 groups of players who have to work together. The Master Levels allow players to progress further, gain better abilities, mighty spells and more.

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Those who benefit most from these new features are probably the long time players, newbie’s will need a lot of time to reach the trials or even complete them. However, there also is a lot of new content for the casual player as well, new quests, new areas to explore including under water areas.

Another new addition in Trials of Atlantis are boats that players can own and use to travel the oceans, one astonishing fact about that is that you are actually able to sail out with your vessel, jump right into the ocean, and dive. The underwater area is not a new zone which requires loading; you can seamlessly dive in and out of the ocean at will.

Conclusion.

Trials of Atlantis is a somewhat weird addition to the already weird Dark Age of Camelot. The original game, even though the name might lead to that impression, is not solely based on the Arthur Saga. It is a mix of various Norse and other myths. Now Trials of Atlantis again adds a set of mythology that is not solely based on the Atlantis Saga, but also adds for example Egyptian and Greek mythology. However, the blending is very well done, if you are not a complete mythology fanatic that would be annoyed by travelling from Camelot to Necropolis you will probably like it.

The improved graphical quality and the large scale group based encounters add a lot to the game. While some of the landscape has left some sort of plastic impression on me, most of the game world is crafted nicely. From the wonderful water system to sticks and stones covering the ground of a forest, there is a lot of detail to be seen anywhere in the world including the older areas.

Final Words.

Trials of Atlantis is a great expansion to a great game. Whether you are a Player versus Player fan, or more for socializing, Trials of Atlantis can be fun for any type of player and Dark Age of Camelot is easy to get in to. If you are on the look for a game that you can affect though, then Dark Age of Camelot is probably the wrong one. To my knowledge it is not possible in any way to achieve changes in the world, except the RvR achievements that are only temporary.

- Marian 'Fyrn' Rudzynski.