Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

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Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Developer(s)	LucasArts
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Designer(s)	Hal Barwood, Noah Falstein
Engine	SCUMM v5
Release date(s)	1992
Genre(s)	Adventure game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (E)
Platform(s)	DOS, Amiga, FM Towns, Apple Macintosh
Media	3½ inch Floppy, CD (1)

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (sometimes also referred to as Indiana Jones 4) is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1992 and published by LucasArts. It was the seventh game to use the SCUMM adventure game engine.

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Trivia
4 Sequels
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

[edit] Prologue

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It's 1939 - the eve of World War II.

Dr. Indiana Jones and his friend Marcus Brody are asked by a certain Mr. Smith to find a particular strange idol from the College museum to match a strange key which he possesses. When Indy returns with the item, they find a small metal bead inside the statue. Immediately Smith points a gun at Indy and Marcus, takes the statue and its contents, and prepares to escape. He succeeds eventually, but not without losing his gun and a fist fight with Indy.

From the documents found in the coat that Smith lost in the fight, it is revealed he's really Klaus Kerner, an agent of the Third Reich. He is interested in excavations that happened many years before in Iceland. It was there that Indy found the now stolen statue, the origins of which he was never able to identify. Kerner's second target is Sophia Hapgood, Indy's assistant from the Iceland expedition, a spoiled, rich kid, according to Indy's description. She has lost her interest in archaeology and started presenting herself as a psychic, giving seminars about Atlantis and communicating with the Atlantean god-king Nur-ab-sal, all which made her quite a celebrity.

Indy rushes to New York to one of such currently held seminars to warn Sophia and maybe protect her if necessary. When he finally gets to her, she reveals she has stolen some of the most valuable artifacts from their expedition, all of which are lost now - her apartment has been ransacked by Kerner. All artifacts are lost except the most prized one - a certain mysterious necklace, which she keeps always on herself. Sophia is also able to explain what are the Nazis after - the power of Atlantis. The knowledge she gathered about the Lost City through many years of obsessive searching will make her an indispensable companion for Indy on his quest, whether he likes it or not.

The race begins between Indy and the Nazis to find the mythical lost continent of Atlantis, which may contain technology vital to the future of the world, since the metal bead Kerner found in the statue was Orichalcum, a legendary metal that holds far more power than Uranium, without any harmful radiation. The German Army would utilize the element as an unlimited source of energy to machines and the base for unequally potent bombs.

The key to finding Atlantis is a lost dialogue of Plato, called the The Hermocrates, in which Plato supposedly discussed Atlantis much further than in his previous works (In two dialogues: Timaeus and Critias). Or is this legendary dialogue just a hoax?

[edit] The Search for the Lost Dialogue

In the Labyrinth of Knossos.

Indy and Sophia head off to the remnants of the archeological site in Iceland, where they meet Doctor Bjorn Heimdall. He tells them that two people can help them on their quest for Atlantis - one is doing research in Tikal, the other is an elderly gentleman living in the Azores. Heading first to Guatemala, traversing the jungle, they reach the ruins of the Tikal temple. They meet there Doctor Charles Sternhart, who claims that he translated Plato's 'Hermocrates' in English, but is reluctant to give any further information about it or his researches of Atlantis. Inside the temple Indy discovers a hidden tomb holding among other things a stone disk with strange markings, which Sternhart recognises as a Worldstone. He quickly grabs it and flees by a secret passage.

Meanwhile, Kerner brings the bead and the statue to the Nazi behind the whole idea of seeking Orichalcum, Dr. Hans Ubermann. The scientist tests the potential of the small sample delivered by Kerner and when most of the laboratory equipment explodes in effect, both men are very pleased.

Trading with Philip Costa from Azores, Indy and Sophia learn that a copy of the Hermocrates should be in one of the book collections at Barnett College - the school where Indy teaches. Indy recovers the dialogue and learns from it about three peculiar stone disks which are vital to discovering Atlantis: the Sunstone, the Moonstone and the Worldstone. Sophia reveals that one of two old associates, she has indirectly done business with, had claimed to own a Sunstone, but she can't remember which one: Alain Trottier from Monte Carlo or Omar Al Jabbar from Algiers.

Fate of Atlantis featured three different paths to choose for completion of the central part of the game. At this point, during a dialogue sequence, the player can choose between: The Wits Path (Indy has to use his brains to solve problems), the Fists Path (lighter puzzles, lots of fist fights and action movie-like solutions to problems), and the Team Path (features Sophia Hapgood as a reluctant sidekick and part of many puzzles). Each path includes some new objects and locations, different characters and dialogue lines and alternative ways to progress through the adventure to reach Atlantis. The player who finished all of the puzzles in all three paths and all of the alternative solutions received the 1000 full IQ (Indy Quotient) score. At this point in the game, through dialogue with Sophia, the player is presented with a choice of three different paths to take through the game. The next section details the plot if the player follows the Team Path.

[edit] The Team Path

Indy and Sophia go to Monte Carlo and trick Trottier out of the Sunstone, before heading to Algiers, where they confront the great Omar Al-Jabbar, who is pretending to be a simple shopkeeper. Omar reveals that there is a dig by the Germans going on somewhere in the desert. He gives Indy and Sophia a map and camels, but they find nothing and the animals run away. Indy steals a touring balloon and they have more luck with it, but the balloon is shot down by one of the Nazis, guarding the dig. Falling, they manage to land on the impolite soldier. At the digsite they discover a mural that gives Indy directions for Crete, the Palace of Knossos as an Atlantean colony. They steal a truck and head for their next destination.

At the ruins of Knossos, using the hints from Hermocrates, Indy and Sophia dig out a hidden Moonstone. Working with both disks on a pedestal they open an entrance to the famous Labyrinth. There they find the body of Doctor Sternhart, who starved not being able to get out from a certain chamber. Indy takes from him the Worldstone. After a lot of searching they reach a map room containing a detailed model of Atlantis.

Meanwhile, a Nazi submarine surfaces off the island, and the Nazis enter the labyrinth. They kidnap Sophia and Kerner locks Indy in a small chamber. After escaping, Indy manages to get on the submarine and even impersonate a crew member. He quietly frees Sophia and gets the stolen disks back. Then he steers the ship towards an underwater entrance and dock. They're in Atlantis at last. But the Nazis were first and already roam most parts of the city.

[edit] Atlantis

Sophia is again kidnapped and Indy is left alone in the dark in a sealed chamber. After activating the lighting he opens a passage and begins to explore.

Atlantis has a cyclical structure (three homocentric rings around a central 'capital') with the most important part in the centre, in the old times locked away from the public districts from all but a few chosen. Many places resemble giant industrial factories, some of which can still be activated. The most mysterious thing, he encounters, are the disfigured human-like skeletons scattered on the streets; the nearer the centre of the city, the more of them. The skeletons are not only disfigured, but have horns.

Before entering the central ring, Indy finds Sophia being held in some kind of ancient dungeon, kept under guard by a Nazi guard. After rescuing her from the prison and entering the second ring, it is revealed that Nur-Ab-Sal somehow guided Sophia to Atlantis through the medallion, in order to reach his old kingdom again and reclaim it. Near the centre of the city his ghost posseses Sophia completely and Indy has some difficulty with getting rid of him. He had to put an orichalcum bead in the mouth of Sophia's necklace, which then became hot, forcing her to take it off. Indy takes the opportunity to snatch the necklace from her and hurl it into a lava pit, destroying the spirit of Nur-Ab-Sal for good.

In the very centre of the city Indy and Sophia find the Colossus - a huge machine which was supposed to give the Atlanteans god-like powers. Immediately after accidentally activating the machine, they are ambushed by Ubermann and Kerner. Convinced of his racial perfection, Kerner, without any second thoughts, decides he is the most worthy one around to transform into a god. At his order Ubermann starts the machine, which turns the man into a grotesque goat-like creature, after a few awkward steps falling into a deep chasm. Ubermann is not so blinded by enthusiasm and proceeds more carefully. He orders his soldiers to force Indy to stand in the machine, so Ubermann can use him as a guinea pig for the Colossus. In the last second Jones manages to convince Ubermann that Indy indeed wishes to become a god--and he will immediately use his new-found power to destroy the poor scientist. In consequence, any sense the Nazi had is overpowered by anger and his own lust for power. He replaces Indy in the machine using the setting that he believes to be the right one--ten times the alleged transformation requires. He turns into a being of pure energy, laughing and flying in the air. Suddenly the luminous creature explodes, activating the volcano that has been asleep for millennia. As the city is crumbling to dust, Nazis dying all around, Indy and Sophia make their way to the Nazi submarine and take it to the surface of the sea. The city collapses deeper under the water, while Indy and Sophia watch the sun set on the scene of the catastrophe. And then they kiss.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Production

The project was led by Hal Barwood; Barwood wrote the story and designed the game together with Noah Falstein.
The music for the game was composed by Michael Land, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnell. In addition to the original music the game uses the Indiana Jones theme composed by John Williams.
The cover art for the game was designed by William L. Eaken, the Lead Artist on the project, trying to emulate the style of Drew Struzan,^{[citation needed]} who painted the artworks for all three Indiana Jones movie posters.
The game was re-released on CD-ROM with a full voice-over soundtrack in 1993.
The adventure game was released simultaneously with Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game loosely following the same storyline and belonging to the arcade-adventure genre. It never gained much interest.
A four-issue comic book mini-series based on the game's storyline was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1991 written by Lee Mars before the game was released. The following years, there were rumours that the Fate of Atlantis storyline was taken from a fourth IJ movie concept. Whether this is true or not, the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie probably won't have any relations with the game at all.
LucasArts had planned on developing this game for the Sega CD, but canceled the game after its Sega CD edition of The Secret of Monkey Island failed to be much of a commercial success. It also canceled the Sega CD version of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.

[edit] Trivia

The game is also significant for breaking with the long-established LucasArts adventure game tradition of not allowing the player to die (though it was also possible to die at some points in their earliest adventure titles: Last Crusade, Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken). After the player's death, a short "what happened" summary and a score appear. To the player's advantage, most of the time the game conveniently alerts the player of impending danger so that he or she can play more cautiously.
Game resource editing programs like ScummRev have revealed that there is an unused room in the game code that didn't make it to the final version. This room is Sophia's bedroom, and lies next to her ransacked office. In the final version, all that takes place in Sophia's apartment is an extended dialogue in her office. In the bedroom, some objects can be identified with ScummRev; this indicates that the programmers intended some puzzle or additional action to be solved by the player, apart from the office dialogue. One of the usable objects is labeled as Chuck the Plant, which is an inside joke at LucasArts and a nod to several previous LucasArts games.

[edit] Sequels

The ending credits include announcement of a near-future appearance of 'perhaps much younger' Indy, apparently refering to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, a TV series that aired after the game's production.

The planned sequel, Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix, was discontinued by LucasArts in 1995. A few fan groups have been developing their own adventure games featuring Indiana Jones as the main hero. As of November 2006 none of these games had been completed. However, demos are now available for the fan-games Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth and Indiana Jones and the Crown of Solomon (see the links below).

LucasArts also released two 3D action titles using the Indiana Jones license: Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (which also features Sophia Hapgood) and Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. A third as of yet untitled game is in development currently for the PS3 and Xbox 360 [1].