on

To Infinity - And Beyond?

The age of Myst and Uru has passed. In its wake, online gaming
has really taken hold. And yet, the largely solitary exploration spectacle that Myst and
its various offspring provided will always leave an urgent tingle
in the mouse-clicking fingers of those who machete'd their way through its digital jungles,
solved mind-bending puzzles, translated every last D'ni character into English, only to go
hurtling - blissfully - down some star-filled fissure in the end.

So I leave this and related pages up here, if for nothing other than nostalgic reasons.
All together now: "Atrus, where are you?"

Uru / The Path of the Shell / Myst 4 - Revelation / Myst 5 - Resolution


A Bridge Too Far?

  
Blue Flux Radio
Uru was released towards the back end of 2003. Unlike previous games from the Myst stable, where ardent fans checked the web daily and licked there collective fingers in mouse-clicking anticipation, a certain amount of confusion reigned as to the exact target group for Uru (initially referred to as 'Mudpie' - thank Atrus they've changed the name!).
Uru was trumpeted as an Online Game, which to many Mysties broke with tradition and pitched the game at a different, dare I say 'class' of player - you know, the destructive kind that aren't content until every last foe is dismembered, every last enemy building blasted to smithereens. Apart from the social prejudice, the word 'Online' hinted strongly at fast internet connections, and the resulting hickups and frustrations.
Early 2004, Cyan, Myst-smiths and makers of Uru, announced that Uru Online would be scrapped for lack of subscriptions. Could us 'traditional gamers' have been right all along? Whatever the verdict, the offhand way in which Cyan had dropped the multi-player option seemed to point at a lot more substance in the core game than previously expected. Time, therefore, to check it out.

The Game

We were sceptical, let's be clear about that. A full, immersive 3D environment? How could the image quality possibly stand up to previous classics such as Riven and Myst Exile? Spirits were further dampened when we were faced with a black screen after an admittedly painless installation. The graphics requirements were said to be demanding, so we had almost expected this. As good a pretext as any to upgrade the ailing 32 MB GeForce2 card to a (very reasonably priced) Gainward FX5200 256 MB GeForce4.
Wow - Uru burst to life in all its splendour! The controls took some getting used to, as did the concept of an avatar - your virtual representation in the game. Gimmicky? Our thoughts, exactly, but the manual (a fairly brief but helpful affair) urged to give it a try, as a first-person view could always be selected later if required. So we did, dressed the guy in our favourite garbs, adjusted the (extensive) facial parameters until - yes, an uncanny resemblance!
Off we hurtled across the desert plains. With every step of our intrepid explorer it became clearer that Uru was worth playing ... was riveting ... was ... possibly ... definitely a masterpiece! And once we'd progressed to the first off-world colony - mouths were agape, man, and sleep simply didn't get a look-in. Even those not into the whole Roger Dean / Yes cover art / floating mushroom lark (though you should be, you know, the seventies are hipper now than first time around) would find the graphics and attention to detail simply breathtaking. The puzzles are pretty much in line with previous incarnations of Myst - buttons, levers, hidden doors, very mechanically minded ... no need to give away any spoilers here, suffice it to say that players prepared to persevere will not have too hard a struggle.
One major difference with Uru is the absence of a 'Save Game' command. Instead, solved riddles and game settings are stored automatically, whereas your avatar's position on Uru is memorised by the last 'Journey Cloth' he has touched. Eh? Well, you'll have to find out what they are for yourself. On the upside, you (or your representative) are furnished with your very own Comfort Inn on Uru - a place to rest, reflect, rearrange your looks ... no buffet bar, though - shame!
The game does crash - occasionally, and not in the usual way. Instead of a hanging screen, the avatar suddenly takes a plunge through hitherto solid floorboards, rocks, whatever, and you find yourself either at the place you've started from, or, surprisingly, in areas you shouldn't have reached yet. There is an upgrade patch available, but thus far the inconvenience hasn't been pressing enough to install it.

 To hear the music 
of Blue Flux,

Hardware

The Gainward FX5200 256 MB GeForce4 installed here has ample oomph to power Uru at 1024x760 resolution, and with 'High' settings on most parameters. In certain busy places the mouse pointer gets a tad sluggish, which can be a bummer if the game requires nimble moves. But on the whole - plenty of juice for a visually rewarding journey. All this to say, there's no need to opt for one of the exotic, six-times-the-price silicon monsters that lurk out there in hardware land, unless money is no object and you simply must have the best of everything.
For reference, we run Win98 SE on a 1.8Ghz Athlon machine with 512 MB memory.
 
 

Final Verdict

Well, we're exceedingly pleased to say - there isn't one. Yet. We've still got loads to explore, which is grrreat! But the intermediate verdict has got to be: buy it! If you've loved Myst or Riven. If you like escaping from the drudgery of day-to-day life once in a while. Or if you simply want to be dazzled by cutting-edge graphics on your new computer.
We've seen enough to state with certainty that Uru is more than a worthy successor to Myst Exile. Yes, a masterpiece. Cyan have hinted at update packs, and after ditching the online idea have indeed put their money where their mouth is and posted the first pack on their website (see Links), though at 176 MB, downloading will require patience, and then some.
 

Screenshots & Wallpapers

Below are some pics to give you a taster of what Uru has to offer. These are just a small selection, more to be found at Cyan and related sites (see Links). Though as of writing (April 2004), wallpapers without massive Uru logo banners are pretty scarce. Ours hasn't, and sized for 1280x960.
 
 

Screenshots

Wallpaper (1280 x 960)


Update 1 - Uru - To D'ni / The Path of the Shell

Almost three months have passed by since first setting mouse cursor on Uru pixels, and the writing of the initial field report above. Advancing at a fairly leisurely pace, it took around five weeks to finish the first game (or Uru Prime, as real insiders refer to it). None of the (lavish) praise above needs retracting - the excellent quality of the game prevailed throughout our journey, in fact was surpassed at certain stages. When it came, the ending, as usual, came too fast - IOHO, anyway.

However, this time (unlike with the Myst trilogy), the parting was sweet and brief, as the first expansion pack - 'To D'ni' - was already beckoning from our hard drive. Once installed (painless, though time-consuming as it seemed to re-install Uru Prime as well) it took a few minutes to realise what had actually changed. Not much, it appeared at first (other than some new snazzy rags to clothe your avatar in). But it soon transpired that previously locked doors now swung wide open, to grant access to a number of brand new worlds - just as exquisit and stunning as the others. Also the plot, with a many threads left wafting after the first game, now made every effort to resolve itself. It was a bit frustrating having to revisit most previously explored worlds to search for the new clues planted by the expansion pack, by given their beauty, who would object? And the thrill of suddenly being able to set foot on a vast area of Uru that you could previously only glimpse from a distant balcony - well, the heartbeat certainly quickened. 'To D'ni', incidentally, constitutes the online portion of Uru that, as mentioned earlier, had been unplugged by Cyan for lack of subscribers. This probably explains why this much fun was made available for free.

A word on the puzzles of Uru - many are pretty much par for the course, and solvable with a moderate pinch of lateral thinking. Some, however (I shan't spoil it by giving names), are obscurely tricky, and we were glad to sheepishly gleen a few hints from the eminently helpful Uru Obsession website. Most problems we seemed to have in common with other players (judging by comments on the boards), so my advice would be: give it your very best shot, but stop short of devouring your mouse. Get help before some nefarious logic gets the better of your enjoyment of the game. With said support it took about two weeks to complete the first expansion pack.

On July 9th 2004, the second expansion pack, 'The Path of the Shell' (PotS), hit the shelves. 'Three new worlds', the cover blurb promises, and right enough, there they were. This time Cyan wanted money for their effort, understandably so. Those who haven't downloaded 'To D'ni' will mercifully find it included on the CD.
So? Actually, there really are only two new worlds, plus a few fragments of a third one. But those first two are stunning, and, in fairness, one of those could actually qualify as three worlds, for reasons that shall remain secret. Did PotS grab us with the same fervour and raw intensity as previous Uru worlds? To be fair, no. That's largely to do with novelty finally wearing off. And in small part with the pretzel logic of some of the new puzzles, which are (IOHO) too fiendish and require players to walk / jump / run and swim (!) a million Uru miles only to solve a single puzzle fragment. Yeah, you get to see the sights in the process, but did it have to be over and over again? Anyway, the graphics are splendid as usual, and genuinely inspiring. And would we, with the benefit of hindsight, have elected to forgo the PotS experience? No way!
Our recommendation: enjoy the views, take a dip, kick a crab or three (you'll see), but hit those spoiler pages before the twisted logic of some relief programmer gets the better of you.


Update 2 - Myst V - Resolution

And still the story of Uru has not reached its final terminus. Following the non-Uru-related release of Myst IV - Revelation in the autumn of 2004 (which I have no room to feature here, but would rate 7 out of 10 overall), Uru fan sites have been humming with excitement these past few months with the announcement of Myst V - Resolution. At time of writing (July 05) I'm still not entirely sure what exact shape this game will take, but it is slated as the final installment in the Myst / Uru saga, and meant to be as fully immersive as Uru was (and indeed, use the same graphics engine). It seems as though Cyan and Ubi are pooling their resources to link both their Myst and Uru experiences to bring this epic to a resounding conclusion.
Judging by the screenshots available (below, I'm offering a pick of the best so far), we can detect plenty similarities with Uru, and hence hope for the best.
 
 

Myst V - Resolution screenshots. Click to enlarge.

So that's the low-down so far. Myst V is apparently scheduled for a September 05 release, though even here, details are patchy and quoted dates vary almost daily. Equally, the Cyan's statement of this being the 'final part' in the series must be treated with a wheelbarrow-full of salt. Time will tell.

2008 final update: we played Myst V, and yet, the fact that a review never made it to these pages and that now, 3 years later, I can barely remember what it was about, speaks volumes for this final installment's lack of staying power. "Not bad," I recall thinking, "but drawn out to the hilt." As if Cyan had really wanted for Myst V to reflect their own last gasp before shutting shop. Still playable, don't get me wrong. But all the while reminding us more of what's wrong with these type of games rather than revelling in their potential.
And still, as a closing line for the entire Myst series, warts and all, for its time, I'd have to say: magic!

Links

Uru pages at Cyan

Uru Obsession (spoilers, downloads etc.)

Ubisoft Uru pages (in German)

Blue Flux's Myst III Exile pages

Myst IV - Revelation
 

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All text © Enthalpy Publications 2008