The book is split into six chapters, the first being primarily devoted to an overview of the planet and the system it is in. I have to say I was impressed by the science in this chapter with regards to the planet's ecology, as the authors put a great amount of detail into it. The planets that share the Eos system with Atlantis are average, with adventures involving them most likely to occur only if you're playing a campaign focused on the war with the CEF.

The second chapter of the book covers the history of the planet, from the time of its discovery in 5392 to its modern day battle against the CEF. This chapter is as well-detailed as the history sections found in the other colony books. The authors have put some nice twists into the history of Atlantis, such as the CEF's woefully outdated knowledge of Atlantis, and how that has severely hampered their efforts to conquer the planet. Also amusing is the way the various factions of Atlantis put their differences on hold (for the most part) to defend their world against the newcomers; it's very reminiscent of 50s horror movies where Earth would unite against alien invaders.

If this chapter has a problem, it would be the lack of information that can easily be used in a campaign as anything other than background data. In the Utopia colony book there was a plethora of information that could be used as the basis for adventures in the modern time period of the Heavy Gear universe, or that could be used as set-ups for historical adventures on the planet. In Atlantis a lot of the information is not very exciting, and the events in the past that do lend to roleplaying opportunities are so integral to the planet's history that if the GM runs adventures involving them he risks his players changing the planet's development to the point of making this book unusable for his campaign.

Also, I'm unsure why some of the information in this chapter is not found in later chapters on resources and society instead of here.

Chapter three covers the many factions that are active on Atlantis. The CEF's presence, the Atlan Corporate Hegemony (the main political force that the city-states of Atlantis defer to), the Waveriders (nomadic spiritualists), Atlantian resistance groups, and powerful visitors to the planet are detailed here. Each group is given excellent coverage, as are the prominent members of various groups that are deemed important enough for individual write-ups.

The fourth chapter covers an assortment of inhabited areas found on Atlantis, with examples given of island, shoals (communities in the shallower depths of the waters of Atlantis), deep-water communities, and nomadic cities which roam the oceans. In the course of the descriptions the authors do an excellent job of showing how the war with the CEF has affected life on Atlantis in ways both major and mundane, such as the island where the tourist trade has been shattered by the CEF's presence, resulting in the majority of its inhabitants turning to begging and prostitution to survive

Another nice touch is how power plays and differences of opinions among CEF forces have resulted in some CEF-occupied areas being understaffed. The detail given to the individual cultures and peculiarities of the inhabited areas is also noteworthy, as many of them have interesting twists that lend themselves to gaming.

I do have a complaint about this section. A group of pirates preys upon both the CEF and the planet's natives, though the former are by far the greater enemy to them. While the CEF knows the location of their base, they have not eradicated the pirates, inhibited in the effort by the water hazards around the pirate base. I guess the CEF is unfamiliar with the concept of an air strike . . .

The following chapter covers the culture and technology of Atlantis, and as I read through it I came to realize the Atlantians have one of the most alien cultures that I've ever seen an Earth colony have in a sci-fi RPG. Honor is an integral part of Atlantian society, so much so that it is not uncommon for family members who are seen to be tarnishing the family honor to be locked away in a form of house arrest for an indefinite amount of time, with this behavior seen as perfectly normal. Also, on Atlantis it is expected that adults should be married by the age of thirty, and it is a normal occurrence for people who have no feelings of love for one another to marry and start a family, simply because they see it as their duty to pair off and breed. Oddly, no mention is made of such marriages of convenience having a higher rate of failure, while those marriages that occur due to children being born out of wedlock are noted to frequently being strained in later years. The number of oddities of the planet's cultures add up to make it something very different than that found in most sci-fi games.

The final chapter of the book is the gamemaster's portion, with ideas for running a campaign on Atlantis, stats for people and animals found on the planet, new equipment and vehicles, and rules for underwater combat. I was especially impressed by the water combat rules, as they both make sense and add a level of realism to the game without slowing down play.

The book does have a few problems which are sprinkled throughout the book While nowhere as bad as the Utopia colony book in terms of grammar errors, Atlantis is missing commas in a large number of places, leading to confusing sentences on several occasions. Also, there are a few editing errors, such as humans being on the planet and working on it 1171 years before it was first discovered by humanity, a labeling on a map that's never explained, a page of fiction that seems to be missing several paragraphs, and a paragraph on Atlantian society whose first and last sentences contradict one another, making the motives behind certain Atlantian behavior unclear. All in all, though, these errors are easy enough for a GM to overcome and be able to use the book in his campaign.

In the end I recommend Life on Atlantis. It's a well-written book that can provide an interesting change of pace with the undersea gaming it lets a GM introduce into his campaign.

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