Atari ships Artifact Entertainment’s Horizons: Empire of Istaria
Highly anticipated online role-playing game innovates with playable dragons.
Atari and Artifact Entertainment today announced that Horizons: Empire of Istaria, one of the most closely followed and highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Available now for PC CD-ROM, Horizons will allow players to experience online gaming like never before in a massive, ever-changing, online world primed for exploration, brimming with adventure and rife with danger. For the first time in a MMORPG, players will have the opportunity to experience the power and might of ancient dragons as a playable character race. In addition, Humans, fiends, dwarves, elves, gnomes, as well as the cat-like Saris and the reptilian Sslik, round out the first nine playable races available in the game.
“Artifact Entertainment has spent the last few years making sure that Horizons will present MMORPG players with an experience like none other,” said Steve Allison, vice president of marketing, Atari Inc.’s Los Angeles studio. “Just imagine beautiful, massive, zone-free environments, epic level combat on a scale never seen before, an extremely intuitive, deep and self-sustaining trade skill system, extensive support for player-run communities and guilds within the game world and, for the first time in any MMORPG, playable dragons!”
Horizons takes place within the world of Istaria - filled with cities and towns, castles and strongholds, villages and mystical structures, in environments ranging from tropical jungle and arctic tundra to windswept plains and mountainous wilderness. Whether adventuring by themselves or questing with a group of friends, players are free to choose their own paths and encouraged to create their own stories. Fierce warriors, arcane spell casters and challenging combat will rule the frontier lands, but skilled craftspeople will play an absolutely critical role in overall character and world development.
“With Horizons we wanted to create a world where players would have a massive impact on their environment - a dynamic place where cataclysmic events could change the appearance and function of the world in real time right before your eyes,” said David Bowman, Creative Director and Co-President of Artifact Entertainment. “And, that’s exactly what players can expect. Our advanced world building capabilities, the seamless integration of changes into the Horizons universe and, most importantly, the inherently dynamic nature of extensive player-run communities are sure to deliver a level of immersion and interaction not seen before.”
“Artifact Entertainment has spent the last few years making sure that Horizons will present MMORPG players with an experience like none other,” said Steve Allison, vice president of marketing, Atari Inc.’s Los Angeles studio. “Just imagine beautiful, massive, zone-free environments, epic level combat on a scale never seen before, an extremely intuitive, deep and self-sustaining trade skill system, extensive support for player-run communities and guilds within the game world and, for the first time in any MMORPG, playable dragons!”
Horizons takes place within the world of Istaria - filled with cities and towns, castles and strongholds, villages and mystical structures, in environments ranging from tropical jungle and arctic tundra to windswept plains and mountainous wilderness. Whether adventuring by themselves or questing with a group of friends, players are free to choose their own paths and encouraged to create their own stories. Fierce warriors, arcane spell casters and challenging combat will rule the frontier lands, but skilled craftspeople will play an absolutely critical role in overall character and world development.
“With Horizons we wanted to create a world where players would have a massive impact on their environment - a dynamic place where cataclysmic events could change the appearance and function of the world in real time right before your eyes,” said David Bowman, Creative Director and Co-President of Artifact Entertainment. “And, that’s exactly what players can expect. Our advanced world building capabilities, the seamless integration of changes into the Horizons universe and, most importantly, the inherently dynamic nature of extensive player-run communities are sure to deliver a level of immersion and interaction not seen before.”