Adventure at its best
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PC | 9.60 |
| Overall | 9.60 |
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Even though Myst is ten or so years old as I write this review, it's a daunting task to contemplate. It's daunting because this title takes the prize for being one of the best selling computer games ever (prior to the existence of The Sims), and it also holds the esteemed honour of being the single game that introduced a whole wave of new players to the delights of adventure games. Surprisingly, at such an advanced age, the game still manages to capture something inside you that most games cannot. Such is the masterful way this game has been created. Myst is a game of transient lands and of lonely exploration, discovery, and puzzle solving. Although the graphics are no longer state-of-the-art they still possess a certain magic and create a poignant 'other worldly' atmosphere where everything is mystical and mysterious. The music and sound heightens this atmosphere, as does the feeling of isolation. Though there are no fancy transitions, only still landscapes to explore, the fascination that this game brings still hasn't faded. You start out on this first person journey as you discover a mysterious book. Open it and you'll be drawn into the pages and transported to an equally mysterious universe where greed and power have reaped their just rewards ... or have they? Of course you won't know what is happening until you look around and begin to work things out for yourself ... and I'm not going to spoil it here. Before you is a stark, beautiful world to explore where you have to rely entirely on your own resources. There are no game characters to offer help, only a small library, a few scattered notes, and an assortment of tantalising mechanical devices. Your aim is to operate these devices after which you'll be transported to yet more worlds equally as fascinating as the first. Myst is a mouse-driven game with a small, pointing hand cursor for navigation that is context sensitive to whatever it is floating over. There is no inventory, as you don't need to collect more than one item at a time. Fortunately you cannot die in Myst because the game simply doesn't allow it. This is a satisfying relief if you are sick and tired of first person shooters where you have to replay the same level fifty times because of some difficult hurdle. The in-context puzzles are mostly of the mechanical variety where you must carefully survey your environment and experiment to make things happen. Contrary to some popular misconceptions, Myst is not based on a collection of abstract/logic puzzles such as sliding tiles and the like. Even the cog turning puzzle is a 'fraud' in this respect once you figure it out. That being said, all of the puzzles are intrinsically tied to the story of Myst and so there is always a satisfying outcome to your effort. It's a journey where you will be faced with a variety of knobs and dials and buttons, and determining how and when to operate them is the tricky part. There are many clues strewn throughout the gameworld and many of the problems are aural-based so in some cases you have to put all of your senses on standby. For example there is one puzzle where the musical notes of a particular melody you hear previously must be reproduced on a keyboard to unlock a new part of the game. This is my second bite at the Myst apple (no pun intended) and I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first time around, even more so now that I have read the Myst novel and understand the story of the main characters. It's a game for players who appreciate solemn, solitary exploration and interpreting everything seen and heard in the gameworld, rather than running around and collecting items and chatting to game characters as in traditional inventory-based games. Even though you may feel the utmost frustration at some of the puzzles in this game, it makes the victory all the more sweeter when you finally solve it. So admittedly Myst is a game that pushes every ounce of your observational abilities to 100% and challenges you to think outside the box but this is why it is such a satisfying game to play. |
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Posted by selbie Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:06:06
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
I've been meaning to get Myst for the DS. Someday soon I will. Welcome to the VGPress, Selbie.