Originally slated for an Early Access release last week, then delayed until today, pirate MMO Atlas (from the makers of dino survival game Ark: Survival Evolved) has been pushed back a few more days, according to the description under the extended launch trailer posted today (which you can see above). A message in the official Atlas Discord confirms the delay as well: the new Early Access launch date is now Friday, December 21.
Steven got to play a bit of Atlas two weeks ago, and barring any further delays, the rest of us will get our chance before Christmas. We hope!
There’s a pirate MMO on the horizon, and its sea-farers look ambitious. Atlas is being made by Ark: Survival Evolved devs Studio Wildcard, and sets sail on early access today. It plops 40,000 players into the same fantasy world, where they compete to govern territory and can fire at any ship on the sea.
I spoke to project director/lead programmer Jeremy Stieglitz and creative director Jesse Rapczak over Skype. We chatted about singing to stave off boredom on voyages, player politicking, ship combat as a team sports game – and a plan to save every player before they die of old age.
The year is almost over so it must be time for our Game of the Year awards. After lots of deliberation, spreadsheets, gushing and proselytising, we’ve put together our list of the very best games that came out in 2018, along with some personal faves.
We also sent Pip out into the ocean to look at Atlas, the pirate MMO from the makers of Ark: Survival Evolved. It’s a huge nautical sandbox that can be shared by thousands of players, fighting in naval battles, conquering and ruling islands and, like Ark, getting chased by giant monsters.
It’s been 20 years since Baldur’s Gate came out, cramming the Forgotten Realms into our PCs, so Paul Dean, Rick Lane, Richard Cobbett and Andy Kelly get a bit nostalgic, writing about their love for the epic isometric romp.
Previews this month include Civilization 6: Gathering Storm, Resident Evil 2, Tropico 6 and more. As for reviews, we’ve got Hitman 2, RimeWorld, Fallout 76, Darksiders 3 just to name a few. This month's free gifts are a copy of Cook, Serve, Delicious and a 2019 calendar featuring the best gaming levels.
Issue 326 is on shelves now and available on all your digital devices from Google Play, the App Store and Zinio. You can also order direct from My Favourite Magazines or purchase a subscription to save yourself some cash, receive monthly deliveries and marvel at our exclusive subscriber covers. This month's has some kick to it: