Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

aka: FoA, Indiana Jones IV, Indiana Jones et le Mystère de l'Atlantide, Indiana Jones i Sud'ba Atlantidy, Indiana Jones y el destino de la Atlántida, Indy IV
Moby ID: 316
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Indiana Jones is back! The great archaeologist and adventurer has to solve a grand mystery once again, aided by his trusty whip, his sharp wit, and his courage. A man who calls himself Mr. Smith is interested in a certain ancient statue. When the unsuspecting Indy hands it over to the client, he finds out that Mr. Smith is in fact a colonel in the Nazi army! Why was he so interested in that statue? A young woman who had once worked together with Indy, the pretty red-haired (and a bit troublesome) Sophia, tells him the whole thing must have a connection with the legendary lost continent Atlantis. Gathering clues from all over the world, Indy and Sophia embark on a grand journey across the globe.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a puzzle-solving adventure game conceived in the spirit of Indiana Jones movies; however, it is not based on a specific movie, introducing a new, independent story. The game utilizes LucasArts' SCUMM system, with action verbs the player chooses from a menu; objects that can be interacted with are highlighted. The game contains many puzzles of various kinds (mostly inventory-based) and dialogues with multiple choices. There are also a few simple hand-to-hand fights against the Nazis, some of which can be avoided.

The middle part of the game can be played in three "modes": co-operation (Indy and Sophia), adventure (Indy alone), and action (Indy alone, with fewer puzzles and more action). In each mode, there are different locations to visit, different puzzles to solve, and different characters to meet. The CD version of the game adds voice-overs to all the conversations.

Spellings

  • Индиана Джонс и Судьба Атлантиды - Russian spelling
  • אינדיאנה ג'ונס: בעקבות סודה של אטלנטיס - Hebrew spelling
  • インディ・ジョーンズ アトランティスの運命 - Japanese spelling
  • 印笫安那.瓊斯系列:亞特蘭提斯之謎 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

127 People (125 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 91% (based on 47 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 438 ratings with 17 reviews)

I wish they could make movies with a storyline of this quality.

The Good
I like the whole idea of Indiana Jones in a game. Every since watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom I thought it was very exciting to live as Dr. Jones. So I would give a definite thumbs up to the story line which has Dr. Jones research the Lost City of Atlantis. The graphics at the time were quite fabulous. The game had voice acting that sounded pretty good at the time.

The Bad
There was not anything I really disliked about the game. Even though the game is pretty old in computer years I still play it occasionally.

The Bottom Line
The Fate of Atlantis puts you in the shoes of Dr. Indiana Jones as he investigates the Fate of Atlantis. This adventure sends you all over the globe investigating a variety of clues that you acquire. In the tradition of all LucasArts games the goal of the game is to tell a story and do it in such a way as the player has fun. If you get a chance to play a real adventure game then this is your chance.

DOS · by Seer (55) · 2000

Another of LucasArts' classics, perhaps one of their most overlooked?

The Good
What can I say? This game is the epitome of the classic Adventure game genre. Great story, great graphics, great sound, great puzzles there is hardly a misstep in sight here. From New York to Iceland to Crete you'll find yourself swept along by the fast passed story and skillfully integrated puzzles. It seems LucasArts here has found the perfect balance, even by their standards, between the difficulty of the puzzles and the momentum of the storyline. This is quite an achievement as any adventure player can attest to having played many other otherwise good games marred by either impossibly difficult puzzles or childishly easy ones, on an uneven mix of the two.

Oh did I mention it has 3 endings?

The Bad
There isn't much to dislike about this game so I'll have to resort to nit picking :-).

Some may find the story line a bit melodramatic at times, but hay that's to be expected from a game based on Indy. Despite what I said about the puzzles being very nicely balanced with the story line they do fall on the hard side at times, an example being the three pivotal puzzles involving the stone discs. Sophia, Indy's companion, can get on your nerves at times.

The Bottom Line
Another must play LucasArts adventure.

DOS · by Locut0s (654) · 2004

Excellent LucasArts adventure with a unique twist

The Good
Indiana Jones is a very suitable character for an adventure game, but only one adventure was produced by LucasArts (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) since the company didn't exist when the first two movies were screened. So, one day the good guys in LucasArts came up with the idea of INDY IV, and we had the chance to experience another Indiana Jones adventure (and a movie to some extent).

The game features a new story combing the best elements of the movies. There are three possible endings, and you have the chance to play the role of Sophia, your partner too. There are plenty of exciting places to explore and authentic characters to meet, both of which bring the game to life.

All the graphics are beautiful examples of pixel art, and the soundtrack simply fits the game very well.

The Bad
The city of Atlantis is kind of disappointing. It should have been more impressive.

The Bottom Line
A wonderful adventure game based on the best elements of the Indiana Jones movies.

DOS · by IJan (1971) · 1999

[ View all 17 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

CD-ROM version

There are two versions of this game: a floppy version (11 disks) and a CD-ROM version. The floppy DOS version features talked interactions for only the introduction, while the CD-ROM one is a full "talkie".

LucasArts Logo Easter Egg

On the island of Crete while exploring the caverns, there are several rooms which have LucasArts logo etched in stone, to look as if they're something that came from Atlantis.

Comics

A Fate of Atlantis comic book series with four issues was published by Dark Horse in 1991. It was based on the story created by Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein, but only loosely followed the game's storyline.

Development

The original script for the game was written by Hal Barwood who also wrote movie scripts for The Sugarland Express (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Dragonslayer (1981). He later created the story for Star Wars: Yoda Stories (1997).

For a short period, lead artist Bill Eaken worked at Sierra On-Line, and he hated every second of it. When he did the evil ghost animation at the end of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, where it swirls around and comes right up to the player and speaks, he made it say "F**k Sierra."

Fights

You can press Insert during fights to "sucker punch" your opponents and win immediately. Some enemies which can be circumvented by solving a puzzle are immune to this move. To this day this is being reported as a cheat, even though it is a feature of the game and clearly pointed out in the manual (page seven).

This is either a sign of how widely this game was pirated or of how few people actually read manuals.

German version

In the German CD-ROM version a small swastika in Kerner's pass was removed. It is still there in the disk version.

Plot

The story line of this game is fairly accurately based on history. Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler attempted to rewrite history in an effort to prove that the Aryan race in fact descended from the Atlanteans. To this end he instigated archaeological digs in Iceland, the Middle East and Tibet. Similar occult/Nazi material appears in Raven Software's Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

More information about this can be found in the book Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race.

References

  • When you are trying to sell the mask to Omar-Al-Jabbar, one of the things he gives to you is a baseball ball "signed by Lou Gherigh", as he says. But if you look at the ball, it's signed by "Ron Gilbert". Ron Gilbert worked for Lucasarts and was the creator of Monkey Island.
  • Several Harrison Ford movies are referenced in FoA. For Example, Indy complains that when he was in school, the principle would always send letters home to his father that began with "Regarding Henry..." (Regarding Harry is a 1991 drama which Ford starred in)
  • When Indy plays with the flashlight in the Monte Carlo hotel, one of the shadow puppets is the comic book character Max known from comics and the later Sam & Max Hit the Road.
  • In the CD-ROM "talkie" version, when Indiana strains physically he lets out a Wookie roar.
  • Many of the street names in Monte Carlo are insider gags. Among other things there is an "Avenue des Troi Bois" and a "Boulevard des Guerres des Etoiles". "Trois Bois" is French for "three wood", which is obviously a reference to Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island. "Guerres des Etoiles" translates as "Star Wars".

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #93 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time”
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #4 Most Memorable Game Hero (Madame Sophia)
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #14 Most Memorable Game Hero (Indiana Jones)
  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1994 – Best Game in 1993 (Readers' Vote)
    • Issue 02/1994 – Best Adventure in 1993 (Readers' Vote)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #37 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • PC Gamer
    • November 1999 - #42 Best Game of All Time
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1993– Best Adventure in 1992
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1993 – Best Adventure Game in 1992
    • Issue 02/1993 – Best Presentation in 1992

Information also contributed by Agent 5, ClydeFrog, game nostalgia, Garcia, Istari, James1, PCGamer77, Rupert Breheny, St. Emydius, Swordmaster, Terrence Bosky and William Shawn McDonie

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Related Sites +

  • AmberfishArts - Fate of Atlantis 2 Fangame
    Founded in 1998, IndyProject set out to create a sequel to the 1992 LucasArts adventure Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. FoA2 will resume where the original game ended, and tell its story to the end. It will be a faithful recreation of the feel and atmosphere of the original.
  • Game Nostalgia
    Provides extensive background info for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, pictures of the cast and examples of voice-overs, full credits with shots and info about the design team, demos of the game, specific details about the game, various goodies, all musical themes, shots of every location in the game, saved games, a list of reviews, including a "nostalgic" review and tech specs.
  • Hints for Indy - Fate of Atlantis
    Jason does it again with wonderful hints for this game.
  • Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis wallpaper (archived)
    A desktop wallpaper for the game. It seems to be a close-up scan of a section of the box cover or manual.
  • ScummVM
    Get "Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis", as well as many other adventure games, to run on modern systems by using ScummVM, a legal and free program.
  • The COMPLETE Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Walkthrough!
    The only 100% complete guide on the web!
  • Wikipedia
    Talks about technical details of the game, it's history, the making of it, and more.
  • iMDB: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
    General information about the game, including user reviews, ratings, and a message board.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 316
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Olivier Masse.

Windows added by Picard. Amiga added by POMAH. Antstream added by lights out party. FM Towns added by Terok Nor. Macintosh added by Jason Savage. Linux added by me3D31337.

Additional contributors: MAT, Istari, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Johnny "ThunderPeel2001" Walker, Michael Zöller, CubbyKatz, DarkDante, martin jurgens, Ricky Derocher, 6⅞ of Nine, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Ingsoc, FatherJack.

Game added October 20, 1999. Last modified March 13, 2024.