Gone But Not Forgotten Video Game Developers/Publishers Lost 2000-2017 - Attic Entertainment Software

Gone But Not Forgotten Video Game Developers/Publishers Lost 2000-2017

Attic Entertainment Software were a German based video games developer and publisher who were active in the industry for eleven years from 1990 until their closure in 2001, the company was headed up by Guido Henkel. The German born American who is known as a designer, programmer, and developer as well as a composer and novelist, in more recent years he has also worked as a presenter and speaker at industry conferences and award shows, Henkel formed Attic Entertainment Software with his high school friends Hans-Jürgen Brändle and Jochen Hamma.

In the early years the company was developing games for multiple platforms including DOS, Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64 with releases later in the companies life releasing on DOS and Windows. Back to their earliest title though which was Lords of Doom released in the same year as the companies formation it was an Adventure Role playing game with a fantasy theme.

Lords of Doom was an adventure role playing game from 1990

Set in a desert town of Vertic where werewolves, vampires and zombies have suddenly appeared and started feasting on the population, with only two people left as well as a professional monster hunter the trio must defeat the overlord of each species to stop the invasion, the game also featured survival mechanics such as hunger and thirst which the player must manage during the game.

Critically the game received mixed reviews the highs of an 88/100 from ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) for the Commodore 64 version while the Amiga version scored a high of 85/100, the game was not without critics though Power Play which reviewed three versions of the game the Amiga release, the Atari ST release and the Commodore 64 release giving the game a 57, 57 and 62 respectively.

The companies most successful title was the Realms of Arkania series even though the first game in the series Blade of Destiny proved to be a major flop with critics the 1993 review from Computer Gaming World criticised the game saying the awkward and confusing" magic system, discrepancies between the documentation and gameplay. Worst of all, she wrote, were the reduction in experience points for saving outside a temple, high failure rates during combat, and a bug that "won" the game by quitting during the final fight.

Amazingly the game even though highly flawed got a remake in 2013, developed by Austrian company Crafty Studios and published by United Independent Entertainment, it was released on Steam, the game received an even worse critical reception with the game currently sitting at an 18/100 on metacritic.

Even with this poor first title the Realms of Arkania would received two further games the sequel Star Trail was much better received with Electronic Entertainment giving the game a 4/5 while Computer Player gave the game a solid 8/10 with PC Gamer US writer Trent C Ward saying PC Gamer US, Trent C. Ward called Star Trail "a must for every diehard RPG enthusiast", and "a great title for those who're tired of adventure games masquerading as RPGs.

The game would receive the full remake treatment in 2016 when Crafty Studios would make up for their dismal remake of the original the game currently sits at a very positive review rating on steam it is not without critics though with spelling, grammer, clunky UI and general unpolished feel as well as technical issues mentioned in user reviews.

Shadows over Riva would be the final instalment in the Realms of Arkania series and one of the last games released by Attic Entertainment Software the game released on DOS and windows in 1996, the game is more focussed with it set around the small costal town of Riva and its surrounding area unlike previous games the prominent travelling related gameplay is stripped back with the town of Riva much larger than the settlements of previous games, Shadows over Riva was also the first game in the series to ship on CD-ROM and featured SVGA graphics and smooth scrolling 3D world other than these changes the gameplay stays very similar to previous games in the series.

Shadows over Riva would be the final entry in the Realms of Arkania series

The company become inactive in 2001 in an interview with PC Games magazine in Germany, Henkel said he had grown tired of making the same old types of games over and over while other members of the Attic team wanted to milk the popular Dark Eye series leading to disagreements and the eventual end of Attic, in 2005 Hans-Jürgen Brändle one of the original trio who started up Attic sadly passed away in Las Vegas.