CNET Editors' review
At a desert formation in New Mexico, a laid-back RVer tells you to find the "journeys" that "she" has left for you. So you enter the world of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, a puzzle-based adventure that continues the legend of the D'ni civilization, which possessed the ability to travel to fantastic locations via linked books.The latest release in the Myst series leaps into the realm of 3D gaming. For the first time, you create a custom avatar to represent yourself, and you can move and look into all three dimensions. Although running and jumping are standard elements in the game, Uru is not an action title. Its core gameplay is still brain-teasing puzzles within an immersive story line.
You can view the Uru world from both first-person and third-person perspectives, although camera rotation is only possible in first person. A mouse-based system is necessary for interacting with the environment, but you can program keyboard controls for movement. The lush graphics that defined the earlier, static releases are here in full 3D glory, but you may need to reduce the settings for lower-end PCs. The demo offers the introductory level for the game, and the puzzles are accordingly quite simple. However, there's plenty of gameplay to get a good feel for the game.
Publisher's Description
From UbiSoft Entertainment:
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is the next chapter of the Myst franchise and the most immersive and ambitious Myst experience ever created. The single-player game is bigger, better, and more innovative than any of the previous Myst adventures. Players can move at their own pace, spending hours discovering visually stunning, real-time 3D worlds, solving a large variety of mind-challenging puzzles, and following an epic story line. They can continue to discover new areas of D'ni by connecting to Uru Live, the online service of Uru. There, players will be part of an ever-expanding world that provides more areas to explore and more mysteries to solve.
More Popular Adventure Games downloads
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Ultimate Vice City mod
31,978 downloads
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Skin Pack
8,758 downloads
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Multi Theft Auto mod
8,651 downloads
- Grand Theft Auto III RealGTA3 mod
5,305 downloads
- IGI 2: Covert Strike Single-player demo
4,898 downloads
-
All versions:
4.1 starsout of 26 votes
-
Current version:
4.1 starsout of 26 votes
-
My rating:
Write review
-
"Great Game, A classic has gotten even better"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Pros
Good Graphics, easy to learn
Cons
None at the moment.
-
"DONT DOWNLOAD"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Pros
you get to pick your look
Cons
BUT IT makes a lot of errors!
-
"Awesome"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Pros
One of my favorite games ever.
Long (with expansions) and very interesting.
Music is as with all Myst games great.
Cons
Some puzzles are difficult.
-
"110% Great Job Cyan Worlds!!"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
This was a great game. The people at Cyan Worlds never stop, making the best!!!!!!!!
-
"Uninstallable"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
After four days of email to tech support at UbiSoft, I was told you cannot install a Myst-UrU if you have a CDRW! My only hope was to buy a CDR (no "W") first. Thank God Best Buy took pity on me and gave me my money back. UbiSoft's copy protection is too often also a paying customer lockout.
-
"A graphical masterpiece"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
Users will need a high spec system to run URU properly. It is visually breathtaking. The creators of products such as this deserve as much recognition as tradional artists. The character controls could be irritating on occasions but overall I loved it!!
-
"Not a great chapter for the Myst series"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
I've been a big fan of the Myst series since it first came out 10 years ago. That being said, I dont think the move to real-time was a very good idea at this point. At least, not the way they did it.
The first 3 were about enjoying the eye and ear candy while working the solutions to the puzzles. They relaxed you and put you in the right frame of mind for puzzle solving.
Throw into this mix the frustration of your avatar falling off a cliff several times, or having to kick (a simple inventory would have been nice) items around the map and they dont always go where you want them, or having to constantly switch camera perspective, and it ruins the whole mood. Why even have an avatar at all? Keep the whole thing in first person and be done with it. It only adds complications where there really doesnt need to be any.
While the graphics in this are really great for realtime 3d, Myst was never about manual dexterity. It was about mental dexterity and I think the addition of awkward camera angles, and poorly thought-out item manipulation scheme (kicking them around? come on!) basically ruined a great thing.
Im going to sit out on buying this one and hope the next installment of the Myst series is a little better executed. -
"Terrible Controls"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
I had to constantly switch between 1st person and 3rd person mode in order to accomplish what I needed to. It was very annoying.
-
"intense"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
-
"no good"
Version: Uru: Ages Beyond Myst demo
Summary
everytime I try to play, game crashes before fully loading. :(
