The Bottom Line: A fine addition to the Myst line of games, with superior graphics and sound, and an in-depth plot, but some interface problems to deal with.
cr56's Full Review: Myst 3: Exile for Windows, Mac
I remember playing the first Myst game and being awestruck. When Riven arrived I was further amazed and intrigued. And now, Myst III: Exile has come to grip me once again.
Remember Atrus? Who Doesn't
The story begins on Atrus' home world of Tomahna. There, you are greeted by Catherine along with their new baby. You have been invited by Atrus to witness the unveiling of his newest world, Releeshan.
However, it is not to be. As Atrus is about to unlock the glass stand containing the newest age, a man materializes out of nowhere, breaks the glass and steals the book. Using a book of his own he links back out and the book falls to the floor. Of course, you must follow him, and so the journey begins.
The Gameplay & Graphics
The newest game in the Myst series follows the same basic premises as the previous two. A point and click interface is used to move around the various worlds and to interact with objects and characters within them.
The most obvious change is a new 360º rotational view, which allows you to look around your surroundings and also up and down. One can fully appreciate the work and effort that went into creating the vistas and scenery, as everything is textured and modeled with the finest detail. In some cases, the detail is almost too great, but more on that later.
Moving from one world to the next, each with it's own personality and challenges to overcome, is as before. The "linking books" lead you where you need to go. What's nice about Myst III is all three major linking books are available for you to access. If you travel to one world and get stuck, you can always leave and try another to relieve your frustration.
There is an inventory, although the objects you collect and use are few and far between. A very lengthy, detailed journal, given to you by Atrus, is accessible at all times and gives you certain clues. Along with that you collect various lost papers scattered (purposefully?) all over the ages to put together the journal of the villain of the plot.
On a quick note as well, because for those who have played the other two Myst titles this is a given, the sound and music were perfect. Ambient noise and stirring music lent themselves perfectly to the overall feel of the game.
The Pitfalls
Where I felt Myst III fell down the most was in it's use of the point and click interface along with the 360º viewing scheme. In some ways, one could see this as simply making the game more challenging, but I see it as adding extra empty space. When there are only 3 or 4 things to click on in an entire 360º view, occasionally one is frustrated with trying to locate their next move. Or, as it happened to me a couple times, completely missing other passageways that were not clearly marked.
As I mentioned before, as well, the scenery was almost too detailed at times. In the two previous Myst games, what was clear 99 percent of the time was what you could manipulate and where you could go. Not so with this title. Oftentimes things would look clickable, but were not, or vice versa. Again this led to a frustrating guessing game about what you could and could not do, which took away from the overall experience.
Perhaps if the cursor would lighten or darken as you moved closer or further away from interactive objects and locations, this problem could be alleviated.
Overall
The storyline is clear and focused, and the graphics are excellent as usual. The interface leaves something to be desired, but is manageable enough through the gameplay. Overall, I think Myst III:Exile is a commendable addition to the Myst series.
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