Reviewed by: DNM
Developer: Mythic
Publisher: Wanadoo

Mythic have bestowed upon us the second of their expansions for their ever-popular MMORPG 'Dark Age of Camelot'. Having been spoilt with the new content of 'Shrouded Isles', Mythic have taken a slightly different route with 'Trials of Atlantis'. Okay, yes you have three new races to play as (one for each realm) and there is a lot of new content, but you won't really get to appreciate much of this unless you are level 40 or above. Essentially Mythic are giving the higher level chars more than just the Realm vs Realm combat to get their teeth into.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Mythic have cheated somewhat by making all the new zones virtually identical for each realm, but ToA was never meant to lead you on into Player vs Player combat via the Frontiers found in the normal game. ToA however expands upon the simple bashing of monsters, by luring the player into the Trials themselves. The Trials are various tasks that the players are set to complete before they can take on the main 'boss' for each region. There are four regions to Atlantis too, these being the underwater world of Oceanus, where you will end up facing a very familiar mythical foe in Medusa. The desert region of Stygia is next, with some of the expansions most beautiful locations, which are Egyptian in style. Volcanus is the fairly self-explanatory lava stone and sulphur based region. The strange region of Aerus is your last port of call in the Trials, with floating vistas and ruins of a once thriving civilisation.

The actual big bosses for the regions aren't just a simple case of getting a group together to take down either. To kill these critters requires a lot of other key elements to be in place, and will need a big group of players to accomplish. One boss for example will run and hide in his den if he gets too low on health, and it is the job of other members of your group to keep this from happening via other means. That's all I will say so as not to spoil the game too much for those that will be taking the trials.

The new races are welcome, and allegedly they will have special abilities over the normal races in the ToA regions once you get them to that level. Albion has the Half-Ogre, Hibernia get the Shars, while the Midgard crew get the Frostalfs, the natural choice for me!! Which leads me to the one rather noticeable difference in ToA, and that's with the graphics, in particular the water effects and textures are of a much higher quality now. Watching the water on the surface, is absolutely nothing compared to the superb light refraction effects witnessed under it! Creatures also look very nice, but it's a shame the same quality isn't found in the existing world. I suppose it makes the newer worlds look that much better looking, but I'd still like some of the old world graphics tweaked. Especially if you're not likely to see the ToA regions until you reach level 40 and above!!! Travel by boat is also now achievable either by the on-the-rails style which visit each port one by one, or if you enough wonga you can buy your own boat to charter!

I can't fault the design of the new regions, from the elegant halls of the Necropolis (your first port of call in ToA), through to the gorgeous Egyptian buildings found in Stygia. The floating vistas of Aerus are also very nicely done, with an almost Roger Dean style quality to them. Fans of the band 'Yes' will know what I mean. I can't help feeling that this ground has already been trodden very well by Anarchy Online's expansion 'Shadowlands' though, and the likeness of ToA to it is uncanny. Probably coincidence!

So who should buy Trials of Atlantis then?! Well, if you're completely new to Dark Age of Camelot then you can pick up the complete box set of DAoC and its two expansions .. a very nice presentation set in itself by the way! If you already own the game, but don't currently have any high level chars to field then steer clear of ToA for now. If you are curious however, you can still venture into the regions, but won't be able to do a whole heck of a lot. High-level players beware though, some stages of the trials require a large group of players to achieve. As you can imagine, achieving this and finding those with a modicum of sense is going to be a frustrating experience at times. The European servers are also rather scantily populated, so this might have an affect on proceedings.

All in all a good expansion, but you will seriously have to think whether it is worth shelling out your pennies for. This simply depends on what type of player you are - if you're a realm vs realm junkie, then this really isn't for you unless you desperately want the artefacts that ToA affords. Oh, as an afterthought, quite what Atlantis has to do with medieval times, Mythic only knows! I guess it's all lumped into the mythology category! Hmmm!

Presentation	8
An overall upgrade to the graphics engine makes the new content look splendid. Character models still basic looking.
Gameplay	8
Character run speed is a little slow. New transportation methods in Atlantis welcome.
Value	7
RRP of £19.99 I feel is a little steep. Fairly good value for the high level player.
Benchmark	5
Fairly well-trodden ground here.
Score	7
For high level players only, avoid if you're just starting out.