My favorite DLC content for any game was the Shivering Isles expansion for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. The environment provided a perfect analogue to the central plot, somehow managing to extend the boundaries of a fantasy game. It introduced the crafting mechanic, offering a greater degree of customization that would serve as a precursor to the more extensive crafting options available in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Shivering Isles forever cemented my view on the role that DLC should aspire to fulfill, which is to enhance the gameplay of the underlying game and/or take the player somewhere the original game could not suitably venture.

对于任何游戏， 我 最喜欢的DLC内容是《上古卷轴：Ob灭》的《颤抖的小岛》扩展。 环境为中央情节提供了完美的模拟，从而设法扩大了幻想游戏的范围。 它引入了制作技工，提供了更高程度的定制，可以作为《上古卷轴：天际 》中更广泛的制作选项的先驱。 颤抖的小岛永远巩固了我对DLC应该追求的角色的看法，这是为了增强基础游戏的玩法和/或将玩家带到原始游戏无法适当冒险的地方。

Now, several years later, I’ve found the closest thing to a spiritual successor. A year after initially completing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, I finally got around to purchasing its accompanying season pass while it was half-price, which includes the Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis DLC. Legacy of the First Blade takes place in the existing Odyssey map, adding an additional story line for our protagonist Alexios/Kassandra. But my focus is directed toward The Fate of Atlantis, which introduces the player to three new (simulated) realms: Elysium, The Underworld, and (you guessed it) Atlantis.

现在，几年后，我发现了最接近精神继承者的东西。 在最初完成《 刺客信条：奥德赛》的一年后，我终于购买了它的附带半价通行证，其中包括第一剑的遗产和《亚特兰蒂斯命运》 DLC。 《第一把剑的遗产》在现有的《奥德赛》地图中进行，为我们的主角阿历克西奥斯/卡桑德拉添加了新的故事情节。 但我的重点是《亚特兰蒂斯的命运》 ，它将玩家介绍到三个新的(模拟的)领域：极乐世界，黑夜传说和(您猜到了)亚特兰蒂斯。

极乐世界 (Fields of Elysium)

The first stop in your journey is Elysium, a floral expanse with mesas overlooking the plains below. Intended to serve as a paradise for certain mortals, Elysium was crafted and is ruled by Persephone, who is trapped here by her husband, Hades. You can see in the design of the landscape that she wants her denizens to find comfort, but more importantly she wants their accolades and undying gratitude. Not only has she placed statues in her image across the map, she even has a dedicated fan club — Persephone’s Devoted Followers. With no control over her own circumstances, she has little sympathy for anyone with the audacity to complain in spite of her generosity, let alone those who rebel.

旅程的第一站是Elysium，这是一处充满花香的花园，其台面可俯瞰下面的平原。 Elysium旨在作为某些凡人的天堂，是由Persephone精心制作并统治的，Persephone被她的丈夫Hades困在这里。 您可以在景观设计中看到，她希望她的住户能找到舒适的地方，但更重要的是，她希望他们的居民获得称赞和不朽的感激。 她不仅在地图上的图像中放置了雕像，还拥有一个专门的粉丝俱乐部-Persephone的虔诚追随者。 她无法控制自己的处境，尽管她慷慨大方，但她对任何有胆量的人都没有同情心，更不用说那些反抗者了。

The environmental design of Elysium is incredibly balanced, offering plenty of room to ride your horse between locations and excellent vertical depth for climbing cliff sides. You’ll dive blindly through fog when leaping from the various peaks. The environment is crafted so naturally that you’d never guess that Persephone molded this realm herself.

Elysium的环境设计令人难以置信的平衡，为您在各个地点之间骑乘马提供了足够的空间，并且出色的垂直深度可用于攀登悬崖两侧。 从各个山峰上跳下来时，您都将迷失在雾中。 精心制作的环境使您永远不会想到Persephone自己塑造了这个领域。

In the first chapter in The Fate of Atlantis you are introduced to a brand-new set of enemies — the Isu soldiers. The adrenaline bar is a fundamental combat mechanic of Odyssey, which allows the player to activate special abilities unlocked through the development tree. These soldiers mix things up by using their own abilities which freeze or drain your adrenaline, requiring you to be quicker on your feet and less dependent on your special abilities. To compensate for this downside, you gain a new special ability which hits your target with a string of attacks that rapidly fill your adrenaline bar. Additionally there are enemies called the Kolossi, which are inert statues that animate upon nearby combat. These enemies require additional strategic planning and place greater emphasis on stealth.

在《 亚特兰蒂斯的命运》的第一章中，您将了解到一系列全新的敌人-伊苏士兵。 肾上腺素棒是《 奥德赛》的基本战斗机制，它使玩家能够激活通过开发树解锁的特殊能力。 这些士兵通过使用自己的能力冻结或消耗肾上腺素，使事情杂乱无章，这要求您更快站起来，并减少对自己特殊能力的依赖。 为了弥补这一缺点，您获得了一项新的特殊能力，可以通过一系列攻击Swift击中目标肾上腺素。 此外，还有名为Kolossi的敌人，它们是会在附近战斗中活跃起来的惰性雕像。 这些敌人需要额外的战略计划，并更加注重隐身性。

This chapter also provides three additional enhancements to existing special abilities, as do each of the following two chapters. Some fundamentally change the underlying ability, while others make minor modifications. There were only a few new abilities that I found especially useful, but given Odyssey’s exceptional combat customization there’s bound to be at least one option players will find to their liking.

本章还对现有的特殊功能进行了三项额外的增强，以下两章中的每一章也是如此。 有些从根本上改变了基础能力，而另一些则做了些微修改。 我发现只有几项新功能特别有用，但鉴于奥德赛出色的战斗定制功能，玩家肯定会发现至少一个选择。

The quests in this chapter are fairly interesting. Persephone, Hermes, Hecate, and Adonis all rope you in to their own agendas, but you are given ample opportunity to choose your allegiance. You have to complete all the quests given by each party, but the quests often have mid-points where you can deviate from your instructions to complete the quest in a manner favorable to your preferred faction. This chapter offers the greatest deal of latitude over how you wish to complete the missions, which is always a welcome experience in RPG-style games.

本章中的任务非常有趣。 Persephone，Hermes，Hecate和Adonis都将您吸引到他们自己的议程中，但是您有足够的机会选择效忠。 您必须完成每一方给出的所有任务，但是任务通常有中间点，您可以偏离指示以对您的偏好派系有利的方式完成任务。 本章为您如何完成任务提供了最大的自由度，这在RPG风格的游戏中始终是受欢迎的体验。

冥王的折磨 (Torment of Hades)

The next chapter takes you to The Underworld, where you’re immediately greeted by a mighty foe that sets the stage for the chapter’s plot. The land of the dead is oozing with desolation, overseen by the devious Hades. While he sends you running around completing errands for his amusement, he wagers back and forth with Poseidon over your handling of the situation. The haunting endurance of consequences is apparent in this realm and tributes to the domain’s acclaimed late guardian contribute to this sense of gravity. Characters from Odyssey’s main story find their way into The Underworld to delightful, if tragic, effect.

下一章将带您进入地下世界，在那里，您将立即被强大的敌人招呼，这为该章的情节奠定了基础。 死者的土地正被荒芜的黑德斯所监视，荒芜弥漫。 当他派遣您到处跑路以娱乐时，他与波塞冬来回打赌您对情况的处理。 在这个领域中，后果的缠身困扰显而易见，这要归功于该领域广受赞誉的后期监护人对这种引力的贡献。 奥德赛主要故事中的角色进入了黑夜传说，带来了令人愉悦的悲剧效果。

One fascinating new mechanic introduced in this chapter are the Tartaros Rifts. To engage certain enemies, you must first enter their respective rift; but inside these rifts, you’ll find you only have half your health bar at your disposal. Making matters more challenging, these rifts are often found in pairs, meaning you can only attack enemies from one of these at a time. If you’re not careful, you may find yourself fighting enemies from one rift while enemies from the other rift attack you with impunity.

本章介绍的一种引人入胜的新机制是Tartaros Rifts。 要与某些敌人交战，必须首先进入他们各自的裂痕； 但是在这些裂痕中，您会发现只有一半的健康值可供使用。 使事情更具挑战性的是，这些裂口常常成对出现，这意味着您一次只能攻击其中一个的敌人。 如果您不小心，可能会发现自己与一个裂痕中的敌人作战，而另一裂隙中的敌人却毫无惩罚地攻击了您。

The Underworld also features the Hounds of Hades. Combatant animals are one of the fun minor additions of the more recent Assassin’s Creed installments, so I was glad to see that they built on this element for an extra layer of environmental immersion.

黑夜传说还以冥王猎犬为特色。 战斗动物是较新的刺客信条系列中有趣的次要添加之一，因此，我很高兴地看到，它们以这种元素为基础而增加了一层环境沉浸感。

Personally, I found this to be the most compelling of the chapters in The Fate of Atlantis. The plot is straightforward, but not predictable, and your motivation is clear in every quest: there’s unfinished business and you’re here to sort it all out. The combat brought an incredible amount of ingenuity to the table, both challenging and suitable for the flavor of The Underworld. It’s The Fate of Atlantis at its most cohesive.

我个人认为这是《 亚特兰蒂斯的命运》中最引人注目的章节。 情节直截了当，但不可预测，而且在每个任务中您的动机都很明确：生意还没有完成，您来这里就可以解决所有问题。 这场战斗为桌子带来了令人难以置信的独创性，既具有挑战性又适合《黑夜传说》的味道。 最有凝聚力的是《亚特兰蒂斯的命运》 。

亚特兰蒂斯的审判 (Judgement of Atlantis)

Last is the famed city of Atlantis, before it went for a deep sea swim. Poseidon has tasked you with a monumental role as the Dikastes, his right-hand man who enforces judgment over humans and Isu alike. You begin the chapter atop the central hub of Atlantis, with an overwhelming vista that draws you further outward through the city. The design features a dense concentric structure, with canals dividing each segment. Domesticated lions roam the city beside their human counterpart. Cavernous gardens contribute provide life to a city comprised largely of stone fabrications. The aesthetics here are nothing short of marvelous.

最后是著名的亚特兰蒂斯市，之后才去深海游泳。 海神波塞冬(Dosekastes)扮演着举足轻重的任务，这是他的得力助手。 您将从亚特兰蒂斯中心枢纽顶上的一章开始，以压倒性的远景将您吸引到整个城市。 该设计采用密集的同心结构，并在每段之间划分了运河。 驯养的狮子在人类的陪伴下漫游城市。 海绵花园为这座主要由石材制成的城市提供了生命。 这里的美学非凡。

Unfortunately, from a gameplay perspective I found the city’s design fairly stale once I fully dove in. Once you’ve seen 20% of the map, you’ve seen it all, more or less. Perhaps the most jarring experience was the lack of scalable environments. I couldn’t climb the city’s structures with sufficient reliability, especially frustrating for such a vertically integrated city.

不幸的是，从游戏性的角度来看，一旦我完全融入其中，就会发现这座城市的设计相当陈旧。一旦您看到20％的地图，便或多或少地看到了全部。 也许最令人不快的经历是缺乏可伸缩的环境。 我无法以足够的可靠性攀登这座城市的建筑，尤其是对于这样一个垂直整合的城市而言，实在令人沮丧。

Additionally, the quests were a bit of a letdown. You were supposed to serve as the judge of Atlantis, bridging the relationship between Human and Isu by contributing the best of each group’s qualities. Instead, the quests offer far less opportunity to exercise freedom than initially suggested; the outcomes of many quests feel predetermined, and the choices you do have bear no consequence. I wouldn’t have minded so much if the impetus for this chapter’s plot weren’t predicated on that prospect. As the namesake of the entire DLC, I was a bit disappointed.

此外，这些任务令人失望。 您应该担任亚特兰蒂斯(Atlantis)的法官，通过发挥每个小组的最佳才能来弥合人与伊苏之间的关系。 相反，这些任务提供的行使自由的机会比最初建议的要少得多。 许多任务的结果都是预先确定的，您所做的选择没有任何后果。 如果本章情节的推动力不是基于这种前景，我就不会那么介意。 作为整个DLC的同名人物，我有些失望。

However the city of Atlantis did have several redeeming qualities that aren’t to be neglected. The legendary armor in this chapter was easily the most useful armor in the entire saga, providing you temporary, recurring immunity to the Isu soldiers’ adrenaline-draining abilities. Not only that, but in order to obtain each piece of that armor you must defeat the polemarchs found across the city. These are perhaps the toughest battles in the DLC, as each enemy fires a barrage of adrenaline-draining lightning bolts, followed by a flurry of 360-degree spear swings. There’s no good plot reason why you’d be fighting these guys, but at least you walk away feeling like each piece of the armor is hard-earned.

但是，亚特兰蒂斯市确实具有几种不可忽视的品质。 本章中的传奇盔甲很容易成为整个传奇中最有用的盔甲，为您提供对Isu士兵肾上腺素引流能力的暂时性反复免疫。 不仅如此，而且为了获得每件盔甲，您必须击败在整个城市发现的掌权者。 这些可能是DLC中最艰难的战斗，因为每个敌人都发射一连串的肾上腺素引流的雷电，然后是一连串的360度长矛挥杆动作。 没有好理由要与这些人作战，但至少您会走开，感觉每一件盔甲都是来之不易的。

Further, you can collect material to forge three legendary weapons, with the ability to enhance them to suit your preferred play style. They aren’t wildly overpowered, but having the option of customization makes them incredibly robust and deserving of at least one weapon slot (would have been nice if one of the weapons had been a bow though).

此外，您可以收集材料来锻造三种传奇武器，并能够根据自己喜欢的游戏风格对其进行增强。 它们并没有被强大地压倒，但是拥有定制选项可以使它们变得异常坚固，并且至少应拥有一个武器插槽(如果其中一个武器是弓箭，那将是不错的选择)。

But the greatest asset Atlantis has to offer is the lore embedded throughout the map. In order to access certain restricted areas, you must find several Isu data caches and codices, providing you with insight into the ancient civilization. Where most Assassin’s Creed games offer little tidbits about the Isu, this chapter takes the opportunity to flesh out some of their history, character dynamics, and conflicts in greater detail. For the Assassin’s Creed devotee, you’re bound to have a field day with this material.

但是，亚特兰蒂斯提供的最大资产是遍布地图的知识点。 为了访问某些禁区，您必须找到几个Isu数据缓存和抄本，以带您深入了解古代文明。 在大多数刺客信条游戏中，有关Isu的知识很少，本章借此机会更详细地介绍了其历史，角色动态和冲突。 对于刺客信条的奉献者来说，您一定会对这种材料充满兴趣。

结论 (Conclusion)

Creating DLC that expands the game in even one direction makes for a great experience. What The Fate of Atlantis manages to accomplish in each chapter individually is fantastic, but when taken together it is even more exceptional. Each new realm was unique, and the developers (for the most part) took full advantage of the special opportunities that each realm presented. While imperfect, the DLC got the most important elements right. There’s plenty of good material here to guide the next Assassin’s Creed iteration.

创建DLC可以在一个方向上扩展游戏，从而带来绝佳的体验。 《 亚特兰蒂斯 的 命运》在每一章中分别设法完成的事情真是太棒了，但是将它们放在一起，则更为出色。 每个新领域都是唯一的，开发人员(大部分情况下)充分利用了每个领域带来的特殊机会。 尽管不完美，但DLC正确地配置了最重要的元素。 这里有很多好的材料可以指导下一个刺客信条的迭代。

The game play experience, the story, and the design elements in The Fate of Atlantis all vary considerably from the original game. Simultaneously, this DLC could not exist as it does alongside any other installment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Greek mythology, customizable combat, and personal story arcs that underpin Odyssey provide the perfect framework for the exploration of the in-game universe that this DLC achieved. The underlying game and the DLC are inextricably linked and distinct all the same — just as I hoped.

《 亚特兰蒂斯的命运 》中的游戏体验，故事和设计元素与原始游戏大不相同。 同时，这个DLC不可能像刺客信条系列的任何其他部分一样存在。 奥德赛的希腊神话，可定制的战斗和个人故事弧为探索该DLC实现的游戏内宇宙提供了理想的框架。 正如我所希望的那样，基础游戏和DLC之间有着千丝万缕的联系，并且各有千秋。