realMYST Review

The spectacular graphics from the original have been thoroughly preserved and revived. The game engine will produce a lot of great eye-candy, and continuous movement will make orientation easier, and you'll know just where you are at any time with no need to draw a map. Unfortunately, be it because of lack of optimization or generally over-demanding 3D engine, this "real-time" movement won't go that smooth. Low frame-rates and long loading hinder the atmosphere and they will surely make the authors think twice before deciding to make another game with this engine.

The sound is as good as the graphics. Together they give you the perfect ambience, and improve playing atmosphere.

My general impression is that the authors really took this project seriously. Great graphics, the way the old locations have been remade, the ages and the puzzles all go to prove that. But one question still remains: what did they achieve by doing this? I can understand arcade conversions to a certain extent - your computer will now let you beat your old high-scores, remember favorite levels and enemies, finish the game, or at least, reach a level you never reached before.

On the other hand, new players may be attracted to realMyst, but I doubt that any of the old players will bother with same old puzzles and solutions, completely identical to the original. realMyst will reward the most persistent player with a new, hidden world. This new world called Rime is neither sufficiently long nor inventive to change my overall opinion of realMyst or increase replay value. On the other hand, it is possible that a great number of young players decide to buy the new Myst. Gaming industry changed a lot since the original game got published, with several hundreds of games being published every year, which makes it far more difficult to finally reach the hall of fame. Adding a third dimension, dynamic lighting and network play to those lines in Pong will not make the game as popular as Homeworld. You need a really good idea and revolutionary technology to actually achieve something on the market, and puzzle-adventure games are surely not top-of-the-pops.