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 By Dale Farris,
Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
February
2004
The Myst computer game has become something of a legend since its original
release in 1993, followed by the nearly as successful sequels, Riven and
Myst III: Exile.
The original Myst game created a frenzy with fans across the world, and
introduced a never-before heard of universe that is as significant to computer
interactive entertainment, as the Star Wars saga is to film and Tolkien's
Middle Earth novels are to literature. What other computer game do you
know can claim as much meaning and impact?
Ten years ago, graphical adventure games were turned on their ear by Myst.
Designers Robyn and Rand Miller produced a distinctive game in which you
explored a colorful, fascinating world from a first-person perspective.
For many, many people, Myst's intuitive, transparent interface and the
highly realistic-looking yet fantastical environments were instantly
captivating.
Millions of sold copies and countless knockoff games later, Myst remains
one of the most popular computer games of all time. Aside from being the
first to popularize a first-person perspective in adventure games, Myst
was also one of the first games to drive players to get CD-ROM drives. The
original game is responsible for the now common term, a "Myst wannabe."
What strikes players most in these unique computer games is the sense of intrigue as
they discover more and more about
the story that is played out in an eerie calmness. The wonder of the
imagined environment, the awe-inspiring
design, the free and open-ended approach to exploration and discovery, and the mood-setting, new-age styled musical score all are
magically continued in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, the fourth chapter in this phenomenally
successful computer game that is primarily responsible for the beginning
of the adventure computer game concept.
I think the Myst game will always be included in computer
histories, not only for its genre birthing of adventure gaming,
but also for its significant influence on the rise of computers. I am not the only adventure gamer
that included in my reasons for buying my first computer the ability
to finally play the Myst game. Way back in the "old" days of
Windows 3.1, when Myst was first released, you could immerse yourself in a
computer game that demonstrated the untapped potential of the computer in
a most enjoyable way.
From a garage in the Northwest, to the best-selling computer game of all
time, the Myst game has been described by The New York Times as "a
landmark in the game industry." With Myst, gamers found something
totally new and different from anything they had ever seen before.
Myst's eerie, moody atmosphere, the serene settings, and the immersion in a completely new world that allowed players
to relax and enjoy the game, combined with an emphasis on leisure
exploration of the worlds, all quickly resulted
in a sales phenomenon that most all other game developers dream of
replicating.
The phenomenon did not stop with the first Myst title. This was soon
followed by the sequel, Riven, a classic in its own right, realMYST in
2000, the three-dimensional recreation of the original game, Myst III:
Exile, and the Myst novels.
Now, adventure gamers finally have what they have long been awaiting, another
new Myst game, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.
Once again, Ubisoft gets the honor of releasing this newest Myst game,
a game that is certain to sell well. Not only do Myst and adventure
game fans get yet another chapter in this moody adventure game, but now
you can also play Uru online and interact with other gamers while you
further explore even more ages (worlds) that are not included in the
single-player game that comes on the CD ROM. This online capability is the best of the many new
aspects in this newest Myst chapter, as in Uru Live you can play online
literally forever.
In addition, another neat new feature is that you can now play the game in the third-person perspective.
For the first time in any Myst game, you can now create a
character that you control in this perspective. The handy F1 key is used to
switch back and forth from third-person to first-person view, and Myst
fans will no doubt find the
first-person view very familiar. In all past Myst games, you were forced to always
play the game
completely in the first-person view, but now in Uru you can control your character
and watch as your character moves around and interacts with the game's
environments.
In the beginning of the game, you can model your
character's features, as well as outfit your avatar with the game's
built-in closet of clothing. If you successfully complete the game, when
you come back to the closet, you can outfit your character with a newly
added t-shirt that has a picture of one of those journey signs you have to
find and activate throughout the game. Then you can save the game,
providing proof positive to your friends that you did indeed finish the
game.
Uru's BackStory
Uru's story focuses on the mysterious D'ni (pronounced dinee, with the
accent on the first syllable) civilization, an
ancient race that traveled to Earth 10,000 years ago and created a vast
underground empire. The D'ni possessed the ability to create mystical
linking books that would let them travel freely between different worlds.
At some point in time, the underground citizens of D'ni came in contact
with a single human, forever creating a link between the D'ni world and
the one we know. Sometime soon after the meeting of the two worlds, the
underground civilization of the D'ni mysteriously collapsed, leaving vast
subterranean cities completely uninhabited.
As you go through the game, you'll learn more about the mysterious
civilization as you meet up with the DRC (D'ni Reconstruction Council), a
group that is attempting to rebuild the underground cities. As you explore
these areas and the different ages, you'll also find some recorded
messages from Yeesha, the daughter of Atrus, one of the principal
characters of the earlier Myst games.
PC Gamer Game of the Year
As expected, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst was selected by PC Gamer magazine as the
Adventure Game of the Year (2003). Just about all Myst game series fans could
have easily bet that this would happen.
Gamespot Sound Effects of the Year
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst was also selected by Gamespot with the award for
Best Sound Effects in a Game."
About the Online Game
The full-fledged online version is now available, but note that this extra
value to Uru will cost you extra. The original $49.99 purchase price
provides you a nice single-player adventure game that carries on the great
tradition of the prior Myst games, as well as the opportunity to sign up
to further play the game online. Of course, this means an extra
month-by-month subscription fee, and while this monthly fee is similar to the
many other online game fees, I chose not to subscribe, so I could not
experience online game play. However, from what I have read Uru Live
involves not only the opportunity to interact with many, many other
players who are playing online at the same time as you, but the chance to
further many, many more worlds that present puzzles and challenges similar
to what is offered in the single-player game. At the time of this writing,
Uru Live had just recently gone live, and it is supposed to continue to
grow over time to include a vast expansion of new ages to explore
available only to those who have subscribed to the online game.
Fortunately, the single-player version of Uru is a very good game in its
own right, despite being shorter than the prior Myst games. Maybe the
online gameplay was always in mind when the game was being developed, in
order to provide further game time online after first whetting the
appetite of customers as they played the single-player version? I noticed
that the entire game did seem to me to involve far less time to completely
explore all the CD ROM game's features, but I also think players still
receive a marvelous gaming experience even if they choose to solely limit
their game play to the single-player experience.
Bob Colayco, with Gamespot, says about the Uru online experience, "The
details about Uru's online component have, until recently, seemed unclear.
It may seem odd that Cyan would even bring multiplayer play to the Myst
series. Yet Cyan noted that user research indicated that the Myst games do
lend themselves to multiplayer play. Specifically, many Myst players often
played the games with a friend or two watching over their shoulder, or
they discussed the game's puzzles with other players while not playing the
game. By including multiplayer, friends can share the game experience in a
more-direct way."
"Uru is not, however, a massively multiplayer game in the traditional
sense. While it will be possible to get online and meet up with strangers
to take on certain adventures, the online spaces will be broken up into
neighborhoods, which are small sub-domains of a larger online space. From
time to time, you will run into game moderators and listen to
announcements about the reconstruction of D'ni from game officials. So, in
this way, Uru will resemble other massively multiplayer games. However,
you will be able to create your own neighborhoods and even protect them
with passwords so that the meeting areas are restricted to friends. From
there, you can take your friends back to your own island in the clouds and
jump into different ages together. In that sense, Uru will be a
more-private multiplayer experience."
"The purpose of the game's subscription model is actually to allow Cyan to
continue producing new downloadable content in the form of new ages,
puzzles, and adventures for players to solve together. Other content in
the form of features may also be introduced. For example, we were shown a
special item for the online component called the ki. Completing an early
puzzle will give you access to the ki, which is a tool carried by your
avatar that lets you keep buddy lists and contact friends who may be
online but in a separate neighborhood or age (normally your dialogue can
be heard only in the immediate vicinity). The ki will also allow you to
take screenshots, which can be shown to other players in-game by loading
them into special projector units scattered around the neighborhoods."
GamePlay
Uru is another fully 3D Myst game that lets you play as an explorer drawn
to an excavation site at which the ruins of the lost D'ni (pronounced "dinee,"
with the accent on the first syllable) civilization
have been discovered. Using various linking books that you find in your
travels, you move through four
different worlds, or "ages," in order to collect seven different parts of
a magical symbol (journey signs). All seven journey signs must be compiled
by clicking on them in order to
complete your adventure in each age. To this end, Uru takes an unusual
approach with its control scheme and presentation.
The ages you visit are Teledahn, Gahreesen, Kadish Tolesa, and Eder Kemo
and Eder Gira ages. First, however, you must figure out how to start out
on the journey, and of course find out what is going on. Myst fans will
recognize the same high degree of cryptic, confusing state you are in when
you first begin the game. With the first surprising twist of being able to
now control and watch your character move around, Uru also provides other
new surprises along the way, including the ability to interact
with other characters in the game. While there are indeed few of these
characters, in this latest Myst chapter having even any other characters
with whom to interact with is a first.
The first character you run across is a guy called Jeff Zandi. Zandi is
seated under a shade awning in front of a trailer in what appears to be a
vast desert. When you first begin the game, you are standing in this
desert, with no clue what is going on or what you are supposed to do.
The Zandi character is probably designed to look like someone in either
the game design or even maybe one of the Miller brothers, but I did not
recognize him. Zandi gives you very cryptic clues to what you are supposed
to do, and as in all prior Myst games in Uru you find yourself quickly
wandering around looking for something that may present interactivity.
So, from the beginning you have to find the 7
journey signs, which look like a spiral with vertical lines on the top.
You also have to always remember to look all around you. For example, in the very
beginning you should first turn completely around and then move toward
a sign hanging on the fence surrounding the desert, in order to find on the back
side of the fence one of the requisite journey signs. Once you click on these
journey signs, you hear the ominous, pounding sound that signifies that
you have found and activated the sign.
There are 7 journey signs in each age you must find, in order to further
progress the game. In the very beginning of the game, you have to find
these 7 signs, in order to even get to the first "age," or world, which is
called Relto. Relto is not actually a real Age, like the other 4 ages you
must travel through. Relto is kind of like a subway or bus stop, or home
base. From Relto, you can travel to the other ages by using the linking
books to the age. You carry around with you at all times the linking book
to Relto. This means you go back to Relto at any time you wish. During the
travels, you also find other pages to the Relto world. By finding and
clicking on these Relto pages, the Relto world slightly changes
appearance. Over time, as you find these Relto pages, and when you link
back to Relto, you might find bits of color in the shrubbery that were not there when you
first arrived, or tree limbs, or even a newly flowing pond.
Uru is the first game in the Myst series that
lets you actually see your character from a third-person view, a character
you generate at the start of the game by choosing your appearance and
gender. This doesn't have much relevance in the single-player game, though
having a unique-looking character may prove more significant in the
multiplayer portion.
Uru also has absolutely no inventory system. Your
character does not carry any items and therefore you will not run into any
inventory-based puzzles. However, later in the game, you will have to find
a swarm of glittering fireflies that you will have to carefully walk
through in order to "stick" these fireflies to your character's body. This
is because at another point in the game, you will need these fireflies in
order to provide light in a later, totally dark area of the game that
contains a light mechanism that you cannot find to turn on unless you have
the fireflies "stuck" on you. Of course, the game throws a puzzle into
figuring out how to get these fireflies to stay "stuck" on you as you
carefully maneuver through water areas that force you to figure out how to
use existing "buoys" to traverse water and not have jump your character
until the last, one-jump-allowed place in the game that does not cause the
fireflies to fly away, thus enabling you to find the light mechanism. More
importantly, this also lets you light up the room that contains one of the
journey signs.
This means in Uru you can now not only interact with other
characters, but you can also maneuver objects you find on the ground as
you move through the worlds. This neat new aspect of a Myst game is
interesting, at first, although you never have to actually pick up and
then use any object at any other location. You just use the move key, W
for walk, toward these active objects, and the objects will be shuffled
along as you walk toward and beyond the items. This neat aspect then
becomes essential in order to move the "buoys" into correct position in
order for you to later be able to just walk across the water using these
moved "buoys" and not jump across, because if you do jump, the fireflies
will fly away when you encounter the short area that forces you to jump.
However, if you figure out this puzzle, jumping only once, then you can
successfully carry the fireflies to light up the dark cave that contains
one of the requisite journey signs.
The game also has hardly any interface
elements. You carry the mystical Relto tome to return to your own personal
hub area between the different ages, and you can pull up some game menu
options. These appear at the bottom of the screen as small icons and
disappear by default so that your view of your surroundings is completely
uncluttered.
Saving The Game
The requisite 7 journey signs that you have to find in each age not only must all be found in order to
progress the game, these also serve as save points in the game.
Whenever you find a journey sign and click on it, the game will highlight
the sign with glowing animation and slowly fill in the entire sign with
glowing color as you find other of the signs in the age. Once you find and
activate all of the required 7 signs, then you can find and activate the
last journey sign that will take you out of one age and provide an
opportunity to enter another age.
Since these journey signs work as the save points in the game, this means that you
cannot save your game anywhere in the game, as you could in past Myst
games. This requisite save point system means
that if you activate a journey sign and then further progress in the
game, but unfortunately if at some later point in your travels the game crashes,
then when
you restart the game you find yourself at the last journey sign you
activated. Personally, I prefer to be able to save adventure games at any
point in the game, and found this requisite journey sign save point
mechanism a bit frustrating.
The game is rich in background detail and sound detail, so I suggest you
seriously consider playing the game on higher end machines, in order to
prevent game crashing. Since you cannot save the game anywhere in your
progress, this means you might find playing the game on lower end machines
(like I did) a bit more
frustrating if the game over-taxes your system and forces you to
frequently
restart the game back at the journey sign you last clicked on instead of your
latest
progress.
About The Puzzles
As mentioned, your basic goal in each area is to
find the seven parts of a hand-shaped symbol ( the journey signs) to complete your adventure in
each area. These symbols are often hidden behind corners or obscured by
environmental objects that must be moved (or moved to) by solving puzzles.
Uru's puzzles are definitely challenging, and in Uru we now have a Myst
game that supports the "jump" function. Pressing the Space Bar causes your
character to jump into the air. In addition, you can have your character
run, by pressing the L Shift key along with the W walk key, a feature you
will likely find yourself doing many times, especially if you have to
again travel an area already covered.
Uru does have some jumping
puzzles, though you cannot "die." If you fall into a pit, for instance,
you will simply get whisked back to Relto, your hub area. When back in
Relto, you again open the book of the age your were in, and you click on
the journey sign in the book to take you to the last clicked on journey
sign in that age. If you want, you can also click on an image in the age's
book, and this will take you back to the start of that age.
Compared with
other first-person shooters (FPS), jumping in Uru is far less precise than
in most all FPS games. However, it is enjoyable to be able in a Myst type game to
control a character that you can also cause to jump. Some jumps require
running first, one jump requires just a step-plus-jump command, while
another jump is actually more of a falling off from a higher ledge onto a
lower platform or pipe.
To the game's credit, the
puzzles at least start off simple, then become increasingly difficult.
However,
toward the end, several of the game's logic-based puzzles require careful
analysis and lots of trial and error, and you may find yourself clamoring
for a walkthrough as these more difficult puzzles can be quite tiresome
and frustrating.
In addition, in my opinion, the puzzles in Uru are not as
difficult as what I found in both prior Schizm games. While both Schizm games do a good job of emulating the awesome beauty and dazzling display
first established in the Myst series, I think the Schizm puzzles are way more
complex than the puzzles found in Uru. This is not to say the Uru puzzles
are simple, as indeed Uru's puzzles will most definitely challenge most
all gamers.
This is especially true of the D'ni math-based or physics-based
puzzles that Uru has to offer. Since you do not have an inventory in which
to carry things, you are sometimes required to nudge nearby items (such as
rocks, bones, and chairs) into certain positions. The game uses a control
scheme reminiscent of a first-person shooter (you move by walking forward,
walking backward, turning, and sidestepping), but I found the game's
control not quite precise enough to support better nudging of the objects effectively. While solving these puzzles, you
may
spend an undue amount of time coaxing objects into place while along
wishing your character could just reach
down, pick up that rock or buoy, and put it on a pressure plate or into the small
water passage yourself.
While the puzzles in Uru may seem especially
challenging to new players, those familiar with the
mostly silent world of Myst games will likely cherish the opportunity to
once again use alien logic and alien numbering systems to decipher these
puzzles. Since you're exploring the ruins of an
ancient culture, you are also completely alone for most of your adventures. That
means there are no helpful characters to provide tips, and the game has no
in-game hint system either.
So, this means you typically walk into a room filled with
strange symbols and you are expected to figure out what to do next. You
will also
find out about the game's story only through scattered journals and other
writings that you recover in different areas, though much of it deals with
long-forgotten characters of the D'ni race. As in the past Myst games,
these many, many books are many times very lengthy, providing much
background information about the D'ni and what is going on.
Also, these characters have intricate and
storied lives, but may be meaningless if you are
not already familiar with the series. The basic routine is to try and
enter an age, figure out the surroundings, find the requisite 7 journey
signs, and then find your way out. Uru makes all these fundamental steps
more challenging as the signs are not easily found. The puzzles involve
finding ways to get into other parts of the age, in order to then find the
hidden journey sign, and then how to get out.
Display and Sounds
I suspect all Myst game fans, as well as those new to this series will
definitely be impressed with Uru's exceptionally high production values.
Uru provides jaw-dropping scenes of stunningly realized 3d worlds that
you can now immerse yourself even more in because you can actually move
through these environments. In past Myst games, while the scenes were also
stunning, the game design revolved around the point-and-click, slideshow
approach. You can now actively move your character through these
environments, carrying into this Uru game some of the more common
first-person shooter (FPS) game features.
You can move the character with the keyboard keys, or with the mouse. You
point the mouse and then click and hold down the mouse button to move your
character to where you have pointed. You use the right mouse button to
look all around you, up and down, left and right, front and back. While
you hold down the W walk key, you can also hold down the right mouse
button to look all around you as you walk through the worlds.
The F1 key is used to move from third-person to first-person view, and
with the dramatic, awesome design of these worlds, you will definitely
want to use the first-person view to look more closely at the worlds.
Also, in the more tedious puzzle solving, or the careful jumping, you
will want to use the first-person view to get a better idea where your
character is and where you want to next move.
The game allows settings at very high resolutions with 32-bit color, but
you will want to be sure you set the settings that best suit your hardware. If
you have a newer, state-of-the-art, high end gamer machine, then you will
more likely be able to smoothly play through the game at its most lavish
settings. Uru is the game that will provide for you what these high
settings offer.
The game also contains hundreds of built-in sound effects that further enrich this already richly detailed game. This of course assumes
you have a high-end sound card. If you do, then you will be amazed at the
marvelous attention directed at finding these amazing sound effects. From
heavy machinery, to rippling water, to thunderstorms, to gently flowing
winds, Uru has some of the most intriguing sound effects in any game. This
attention to sounds means gamers with better sound cards, as well as
splitting speakers, will most definitely realize these fully developed
detail sounds.
Though the game's ages are devoid of human life, and most of them are not
set to music, they are accompanied by completely appropriate, highly
believable 3D sound. Winds blow across the flat desert at the beginning of
the game, then take on a realistic howl as you descend into a rock
formation. In a later area, the muted sounds of ambient wildlife perfectly
complement the drifting leaves and soft light in a gigantic forest.
Solving puzzles causes huge, rusted machines to grind convincingly into
action, and waterfalls roar as you pass them, only to fade to a murmur as
you leave them behind. Of course you will hear these sound effects only if
your system includes surround sound, split type speakers that are
connected to the requisite sound card that can output these awesome sound
effects to your array of speakers.
Uru's beautiful environments aren't just showpieces, and several
practically seem like living, breathing places that you explore firsthand. Uru is also accompanied by a music track from pop musician Peter Gabriel,
which plays during the very beginning, as well as the ending credits, though this does
not add much
to the game. Then again, Uru sounds superb without any additional help.
Gabriel's music cut is "Burn You Up, Burn You Down," a previously
unreleased track from his album HIT.
Uru is all about colorful and imaginative
environments, which are uncluttered by any interface elements and adorned
with incredibly clean textures and extremely well-done lighting effects
that help bring these fantastic areas to life. Most of the game areas
are huge, though some are deceptively big. You will encounter sprawling
mountain valleys and huge lakes filled with mechanized equipment, but you
won't be able to actually explore some of these, since you are instead be
restricted to a few narrow paths. Still, while Uru's general gameplay
structure requires you to complete puzzles to progress, you probably won't
be in that much of a hurry, especially when you first come up over a hill
or down through a yawning cavern mouth to see yet another of the game's
magnificent vistas.
So, in Uru, as in all past Myst games, you can sit back, relax, and prepare to thoroughly
enjoy an adventure game that continues
the unique Myst style of gaming that never beats
you over the head, while always challenging your analytical skills.
Note that in order to maximize these stunning visual and aural effects,
the game requires the latest DirectX 9 drivers for both the video card
and the sound card. If you have not yet upgraded your sound and/or video
drivers to the DirectX 9, the game will do this for you. If you do not
have DirectX 9 drivers, the game will not play on your system.
About The Official Strategy Guide
With Uru, although I certainly do not hesitate recommending this
important adventure game for all gamers, especially those more inclined to
adventure games than first-person shooter (FPS), real-time strategy (RTS), or
role-playing game (RPG) games, I also certainly do not
hesitate in strongly urging you to ALSO get a
strategy guide.
Note that at this writing, apparently neither Bradygames, not Primagames
is releasing an "official" walkthrough strategy guide. So, you will need
to look online for strategy guides posted by other Uru gamers.
I
found a couple at the following Web sites:
www.the-spoiler.com
www.gamefaqs.com
At each site, click through their index links to take you to the actual
guides that may help you actually finish Uru.
At least the level of complexity and deviousness in the Uru puzzles seems
to have been toned down a bit in this latest Myst game. However, these
puzzles are not for those new to adventure games, nor those new to these
Myst types of puzzles. The puzzle complexity means you can easily get lost in the storyline and the
rich, complex plot, as you set yourself to solving the puzzles. It is very easy
to forget what all the puzzle solving is all about, as these complex
designs begin to dominate your mental concentration.
For many folks that do not work with the strategy guide to this game, I think
Uru might end up back on a bookshelf, unsolved, the result of too much
frustration and not enough time to patiently await the "a-hah"
moments of discovery that, drearily, may not happen until after hours and hours of gameplay have passed.
To me, playing with a walkthrough guide means I can concentrate on
moving the game plot along, and most importantly, open up all the
wonderful scenes and action that the coders have worked so hard to include
in the game. Without a walkthrough, I just feel I am not getting my
money's worth out of the game. Also, I always appreciate having the help
to get through the game so I can savor all the impressive screens and
animated cut-scenes, as was the intent of the game creators.
With all the
other things I have to do, I just do not have the luxury of working
endlessly for hours and hours on end to try and figure out what's not
working in order to advance to another key plot point. So, my perspective
about walkthrough guides is that these help make computer games more fun,
because in the more difficult situations, the only way to get through
these is to just try the controls over and over until you get it right.
However, the overall impact of the obviously heavy attention to the display
and design of Uru is so wondrous, that even though the puzzle solving is almost
impossible (without the strategy guide), I still urge gamers, especially
adventure gamers, to invest in this marvelous game. Then, with the
strategy guide, you are assured you can complete this latest
new title in this very important adventure game series.
Game Features
Latest Myst game that now offers online gameplay
Beautiful graphics in another unique adventure game
Totally recreated settings in authentic detail
Storyline continues the rich, deep tale begun with the 1993 Myst game
Beautifully drawn backgrounds, objects, and characters
Full 360 degree panning all around filled with attention to detail in all
scenes
Unique musical score adds to the mystery and adventure
Original background sound effects add impact to the original graphics
Totally unique puzzle solving is complex and challenging
Background environments are lavishly developed
Imagined worlds are stunning in design and creation
Supports 3d hardware
Mouse and keyboard supported
Stunning, jaw-dropping scenes are richly detailed and a joy to view
Emphasis on exploration and discovery, instead of "twitch"
action
Targeted Customers
Clearly, Uru is primarily a product for the millions and
millions of already existing fans of the Myst universe, but it will likely also appeal to any
adventure gamer, folks that like solving compelling mysteries, and families looking for a game everyone can play. The drama involved in the
storyline revolves around issues of isolation and separation from home,
which adds appeal to the story.
At this point in the computer gaming industry, we have come a long way
very fast since the hugely successful Myst game first hit the market in
1993. We have witnessed a phenomenal increase in motherboard speed, RAM speed
and availability, and especially in video and sound board technology.
These important leaps in computer game technology since the original Myst
game have also stimulated an onslaught of many very exciting computer games that
continue to amaze us with their never ending technological advances. In this very dynamic history of
computer games, I think the original Myst game will likely stand the test of time
since it represents one of the most important steps in computer gaming.
The tremendous number of units of Myst that continue to be sold are enough
witness to this fact.
While there are now certainly plenty of adventure and action games for
consumers to choose from, there is only one Myst game, and it has established a legacy that is hard to match in computer gaming.
What other computer game do you know can boast sales of over 10 million copies across the
world?
With this solid success, the Myst lineup of adventure games has established
such a successful reputation with gamers that this means a new sequel will
likely sell itself with little marketing efforts. There is such a large consumer
base already established with the prior releases, that I think the main issue
involved in considering the development of another game in this series was
not whether the game would sell, but how many copies and how fast. Once released,
I suspect Uru was
guaranteed sales of at least a few million quite quickly.
Adventure gamers should know in advance that Uru is NOT an easy game to solve.
While you do not need nanosecond-capable hand-eye coordination of keyboard
controls to complete the game, in Uru, you will need to think hard and
be capable of putting many pieces of information together in order to
figure out the many challenging problems that when solved will advance the
game and open up still more of the story.
While the feedback is immediate in Uru, in my opinion the challenges are
still very steep for most gamers. Therefore, I strongly advise gamers to also invest in the strategy
guide in order to get through the puzzles. The game does do a better job of trying to present you with
WHY puzzles have to be solved, but like in the prior two games, HOW you go
about this is up to you.
I suspect a majority of fans of the earlier two titles will likely rush to
get their copy of Uru, and begin anew this mysterious adventure game
that will absorb them for hours.
Windows System Requirements
P-III 800MHz or AMD Athlon processor (1.4GHz P-IV recommended)
Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP
256MB RAM (512MB RAM recommended)
2GB free hard disk space
4x CD ROM drive or faster
32MB nVidia GeForce 1,2,3,4, FX, or ATI Radeon 7000-9800 video card
nVidia GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon 8500 or higher video card recommended
DirectX 9.0 compatible audio card (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 recommended)
800 X 600, 16-bit display (1024 X 768, 32-bit recommended)
DirectX 9.0 Drivers for both video and sound card required
Mouse and keyboard
At the time of this writing, a 19.5MB patch was available at this link:
http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ubisoft.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=8803
The patch is designed primarily to address performance issues with the ATI
Radeon Graphics cards, along with other bugs fixed.
Also note that the system requirements on the game box indicates "not
recommended for use with CD RWs." This has to do with some older CD RW
drives, and the Ubisoft support folks also post some good suggestions and
responses to gamers who are experiencing these difficulties with their
particular CD RW drive. I loaded the game on my now very old HP CD Writer
Plus 9200 series, and I had no technical problems with this older CD RW
drive.
The above system configuration requirements indicate the minimum and
recommended system configuration requirements, and as any experienced gamer
knows, you just don't ever want to load and run any computer game on
minimally configured systems. Computer games are notorious for taking over
machines, and this is why users will need to be also sure and close out all their
other open files, before playing this and any computer game.
I wish I could one day later experience Uru on one of today's high end
gamer rigs. Uru is a beautiful game and the higher your video card and
sound card, and the more RAM and the faster your CPU, the more rewarding
will be the experience of playing Uru. If you have such a high end game,
you will be amazed at what Uru displays and sounds like.
Install and Setup
The game will need nearly 2GB of free hard disk space, so be sure you have enough space for these
files, as well as the always necessary additional left-over space. You
never want to maximize a hard drive with files. The game comes on one CD
ROM disc, and after you install the game, the game's opening startup
screen gives you the option to play the single-player game, or to go
online to play Uru Live.
Also, note that the DirectX 9 drivers for both the video and the sound
card are required, in order to play the game.
I loaded the game (all files) on a Win XP Pro, SP1 machine (P III-850, 256MB SDRAM) that had
a Creative Labs Annihilator 2 video card (an nVidia GeForce 2 GTS, 32MB
RAM board), 30GB IBM 7200 hard drive, internal Zip 250 drive, standard
floppy drive, a Creative Labs Live X Gamer! sound board, older CD RW drive, standard MS Intellimouse and keyboard, Logitech
joystick, one 8-port USB hub, and Cambridge Soundworks DTS 2000 speaker
system, and the game worked
fine with these boards and the latest drivers for each.
I suspect the game
played fine even on this now legacy machine mostly due to having already
installed the latest DirectX 9 drivers for both my older video card and
older sound
card.
Price
$49.99
Be sure to check around, as the price of Uru does vary from one vendor to
another. Also, check www.gamespot.com
for links to different prices for the game.
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment is a global developer, publisher and international
distributor of interactive entertainment products. Their lineup of games
has grown considerably over the years, and they have moved into developing
original properties. The company has recently acquired several
high-profile game companies and has offices in 18 countries and sells
their products in 52 countries.
http://www.ubisoft.com
Contact
Michael Beadle
Public Relations Manager
UbiSoft
625 Third Street
San Francisco, California 94107
415-547-4006
FAX 415-543-7045
http://www.ubisoft.com
http://urulive.ubi.com/Landing_US.htm
You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.
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URU: Ages Beyond Myst