The Odyssey: Winds Of Athena Review



Posted on Saturday, May 09, 2009

Save your fleet from every ghastly creature from Greek Mythology in this unique strategy/action game.

Main Screenshot

Let's face it, seafaring in Greek Mythology was a really lousy experience. Can you name a Greek myth involving a boat where it DIDN'T sink? In The Odyssey: Winds Of Athena, you take huge fleets past the perils of the ancient world and try to save, well, some of them.

Let's see how this is done.

The game starts with your fleet of tiny ships at one end of the screen and you're tasked with getting a certain number of them safely to the exit point. The first level isn't very tough since you only have an island in the middle to worry about. As with many games, the first level teaches you about the controls before giving you something challenging.

Wind gauge with arrow
Clockwise raises wind
Counter clockwise lowers it
 Wind is created
The gray circle
grows as the wind
increases. There are only two controls, wind and current so it's a quick study. To create wind, you place your mouse in the center of a circle, hold the left mouse button down, and rotate in clockwise quickly. The faster and longer you move the mouse, the stronger the wind is and the faster the boats will move. The wind dies down after awhile or you can slow it down yourself by spinning the mouse counterclockwise.

This is fine as long as you want your ships to move in the same direction as the wind but disastrous if the wind is blowing straight towards a rocky shore! This is where the second control comes in; current. To create a current, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the water. White lines will indicate a current. Creating a current in front of your ships will drag them away from danger and, hopefully, toward the exit point on the map. Your initial reaction is to create a huge current and drag all your ships to safety at once. Large currents, however, create eddies near the shoreline that will cause your ships to circle back where they started.

Watch the eddys
Currents cause eddies
that send your ships
the wrong way! You have wind and current on your side, what could go wrong? As the levels get higher, you start seeing more narrow passages and rocks that make navigation hazardous. Next come the monsters. What would a game about ships Greek Mythology by without the Cyclops or Harpies? There are often more than one cyclops per level and they make themselves obnoxious by throwing rocks at your ships. The cyclops have really bad aim and you can use the cursor to catch the rocks they throw and drop them away from your ships. The best place to drop them is on the cyclop's head which slows him down as he rubs his head for a few seconds.

The harpies come flying in, pick up your ships, and carry them off. If you hit them with your cursor and left click, they'll drop the ship; hopefully in the water. In later levels, you'll have to allow the harpies to grab your ships long enough to carry them over land bridges that block your exit before dropping them in the water. The last monster I'll mention is the whirlwind which blows your ship off course and, most probably, into the rocks. Below is a reduced screen shot of harpies and a cyclops attacking your ships.

Harpies and Cyclops

When first playing this game, I got the feeling it was sort of like Lemmings meets Odysseus. Instead of a bunch of lemmings to save, your now have ships to save. Unfortunately the similarity ends there. The challenge to Odyssey: Winds Of Athena is that the game controls are designed to give you marginal control over your fleet of ships. There isn't as much strategy as there is waiting for an opportunity. For example, when your ships have to go from left to right on the screen and have harpies grab your ships to carry them across a land bridge, you have to wait for harpies flying left to right. Harpies going the other direction carry your ships off and you'll never see them again.



This is how I rate The Odyssey: Winds Of Athena


Cost - Another under $10 game

Available Platforms - PC Only.

Gameplay - Even the most talented player of this game will have marginal control over the fleet which is my main problem with this game. The monsters and natural hazards do add some interest to the game but I found most of the levels fairly similar.

Graphics - Good for this type of game.

Originality - This is a really new idea and could have been much better if some more features were added.

Strong Points - The originality of this game is its strong point.

Weak Points - I think it could use a few more features to make it more interesting.

Boredom/Frustration Ratio: 4/1 - I quickly lost interest in this game due to the repetitive nature of each level. I like a strategy game that you plan your actions not one where you perform the actions and hope for the best. The game isn't frustrating at all to play. The controls are supposed to only give you marginal control over your fleet.

Overall Rating: 6 -

Conclusion: I feel the challenge of a game should not be based on lousy control. It is a new concept for a game that many may like - give it a try.


Download The Odyssey: Winds Of Athena from The Shareware Genie and try it for one hour free. The price has been reduced to $9.99.