theuerkorn's Full Review: URU: Ages Beyond Myst for Windows
It has been more than 3 years that Myst III was released and seemingly concluded the Triology. Computer technology evolved since then and the 360 degree panoramic picture viewer -- which Myst basically was -- would not cut it anymore these days. Syberia has been the most recent attempt to make pre-rendered environments attractive and mostly succeeded ... from the perspective of 2 years ago. (Even the recent Syberia II is not much different.) Still, the market is flooded with shooters these days but mind challenging games currently sort of hibernate.
Cyan set out to change that and created a new member of the Myst series, that takes advantage of advancements in technology to allow a more up-to-date gaming experience.
If you need to know the background and story line behind the Uru and how it ties to the rest of the Myst series feel free to check out their website, as I am not going to bore you with it here and now ... (http://uru.ubi.com/us/story.php)
KEY FEATURES
'New' freedom of movement, at least for the Myst franchise: Uru is completely rendered in 3D and allows to explore each corner in real-time, without pointing and clicking.
Create your own character. by choosing from a wide variety of facial and clothing features. Adjustment is good enough to create a somewhat close version of yourself or any person you would like. (Avatar visible in cut scenes and 3rd person mode only)
Mysterious and graphically intense world of Uru: Work-of-art style graphics will immerse and captivate you like never before -- but true to the Myst style and very familiar to fans of the previous games.
Epic storyline: At the request of Yeesha, the eccentric daughter of Atrus, you'll journey through a variety of different ages, and discover the lost civilization of the D'ni people. As the story unfolds, you'll be drawn deeper into the D'ni civilization, and if you choose (to pay) to continue online, the journey expands even further.
The adventure continues online: Uru Live, the online service of Uru, is currently not available but supposedly will allow you to explore new ages and areas, participate in the ongoing story in a world that continually changes and expands. However, that will require a monthly fee and might as well be considered an expansion to be 'purchased' later.
HOW DOES IT PLAY?
Graphics: Fantastic! At least by Myst standards, the 3D environments are not only pretty but fully explorable. Good lighting effects and excellent textures support the fantastic architecture and scenery very well. However, most LCD monitors may require to bump the (integrated) gamma correction to maximum in order to see anything in some of the darker sections. (I.e. the prison is still very dark!)
Controls: Terrible! At least in 3rd person mode, it is a cumbersome ever-changing relation ship between controls and camera. Mostly annoying since the character doesn't proceed as smoothly. In first person mode -- and big thanks for having that option -- it is much (!) easier and the game unfolds smoother. The overall implementation, however, still feels a little bit sub-standard.
Sound: Very Good! While this is a rather slow paced game and effects are in line with that, the character and mystery of Uru is very well supported by its sound effects and subtle score. Everything is in very good quality.
Animation: Good! While kept to a minimum, animation mostly happens with the character(s), during puzzles and subtle movement of the environment (i.e. wind). The characters look a little stiff but overall good enough to enjoy. The remainder is of good quality.
Cut scenes: Good! All cut scenes are rendered in real-time and look decent - very good from a DX8.1 perspective. I am not sure which part really required DX9 but nevertheless -- given a good graphics board and high resolution -- all cut scenes may be a little lenghty but worth watching.
Weapons: Ha, gotcha! No such thing here and that's a good thing! The only violence in this game is to your brain cells when facing the tough puzzles. Well, there is actually one cannon-type gun that is used to solve one of the (easier) puzzles, but who is going to actually count that?
Progress: Huh? This game surprises unsuspecting gamers with the absence of any(!) save feature. That's right Uru does not allow to save at your pace. However, it provides checkpoints (in form of travel cloths) and the Realto age which holds the linking books and allows to travel between ages. Progress is saved automatically and without intervention. The only way to 'undo' action is to discard a linking book and with it loose all (!) progress in the related age. However, that should not be necessary.
Navigation: Standard Myst! As with the previous installments of the Myst series, there is no actual feedback of the location in an age or even the relationship between them. Every new jump is somewhat of a mystery. This is not too bad for the insider, but certainly confuses gamers that are not familiar with the concept. Ages, however are streamlined and essentially offer only one path.
Difficulty: Good! Puzzles are very similar to previous versions of Myst and most of them challenging -- even to the degree that newbies may require heavy consultation with an online forum. (Some users post their experience online in form of detailed solutions, a.k.a. walkthru.) Difficulty is set and cannot be varied by experience level. Some puzzles can be figured out by simply trying a few options, others require to understand them completely.
Locations: Great! Basically 4 ages must be explored and completed in order to retrieve the artifacts needed. In addition to these core locations, there are other, smaller ones that add to the game fun. Some of them hold valuable pages that unlock features in other ages. Variety of environment and puzzles is well balanced.
Online Play: Not yet! Announced as Uru Live, this feature is not impemented yet and will be available to the paying public only. In other words, for a mothly fee one will be able to extend Uru beyond its Singleplayer worlds and mysteries. However, since it's fee based, I may not be interested to do so anyway. Scroll down for updates.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
Uru is different from the previous versions and that also reflects in the required hardware. Due to the very detailed 3D worlds a capable graphics board is not only helpful but also mandatory. Cyan (UbiSoft) lists a 32 MB NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon or better as compatible devices. Keep in mind that this mostly indicates the use of T&L hardware found in these cards and a few others like the Matrox Parphelia or 3DLab's Wildcat. (These 2 are not officially listed but should work with the latest drivers.)
Though in a fundamentally different genre, the video hardware requirements put Uru in good company, since Enter The Matrix, Tron2.0, Midnight Club 2, Halo, Call of Duty, and Need for Speed: Underground all share the same restrictions. One might say that the backward compatibility to Voodoo-class graphics boards finally has been discarded and the industry-wide minimum requirments moved on to boards with T&L hardware (GForce or Radeon). The good news? Well, here is your reason to get a new graphics board if you didn't do so already. It's $50 - $450 well spent! (Unless you're still trapped in the notion that a Commodore C64 is all that's needed to make a good game. ;-)
The need for DirectX 9.0b pretty much dictates the compatible Windows versions to XP, ME, 2000 and 98SE. (DX9 is included on the disc.) The minimum processor speed is listed as a 800 MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon. Minimum memory requirement is 256 MB or RAM and 2GB of hard drive space.
A CD-ROM (4x or faster) is required for installation of the 1 disc (!!!) and for actually playing the game, since the disc also functions as a dongle. Cyan does not recommend the use with CD-RW drives but my Samsung SM348B seems to work just fine.
The only supported peripherals are mouse and keyboard, though the 3rd person mode probably wasn't as bad if one could use a game pad with it. (Console style)
My system (2.4G P4, 1G DDR333 RAM, Radeon 9700 Pro) runs Uru with good speed in 1280x1040 (32bits). The game allows to adjust anti-aliasing and even setting it to maximum keeps the game quite playable. Major annoyance is the long (!) load time between ages, which is not that often ... unless one makes heavy use of the linking books.
IS URU ESSENTIAL 'PUZZLE WARE'?
To be honest, Uru is the best Myst ever! While I mostly contribute that to the 'freely' explorable 3D worlds and still great looks of the game, it also made it much more enjoyable to play this game.
If Myst III got you hooked (3 years ago), Uru will do the same and probably even more so. Puzzles are as challenging and the story (while not essential to solve the puzzle) makes this game a worthy successor.
Controls have improved over the point and click but still lack a little bit and are now the one fly in the ointment. On the other hand, Uru can be played with the mouse only, awkward at times, but possible.
I think the MSRP of 49.- is a little high for this game, but one can get it at gamestop.com for 29.-. This is much easier to part with and well worth it to consider Uru an essential part of the Myst franchise.
Avoid Uru if you didn't like (any) Myst and the slow pace plus a wealth of brain gymnastics don't appeal to you. After all, this is what Myst always has been about, besides stunning graphics.
OFFICIAL GAME WEBSITE
http://uru.ubi.com/us/
Update (14-Feb-2004):
UbiSoft's official announcement from 05-Feb-2004: "... Uru Live is being put to bed. Even with all of the time, money, resources, code, people, sweat, and heart that were poured into Uru Live, we needed a certain number of subscribers to pay the bills. We didn't get there. Uru Live is innovative and unique, its online universe is one of the most beautiful and complex ever built, anywhere. The idea of ongoing content was dramatic and forward looking, but it required a substantial continuing effort to sustain. We were just not able to signup the number of subscribers (even for free) necessary to pay for that effort.
Cyan Worlds and Ubisoft sincerely apologize to players who were waiting for the launch of Uru Live, and we remain committed to Uru and to making the extensive ages, puzzles, and the unfolding stories available through expansion packs. The first expansion will be available for free. We also have renewed plans for a Mac version. ..."
I am not sure how UbiSoft knows that it would not have gotten enough subscribers if it was for free since it was always advertised as a pay service, unless the game doesn't sell well at all. In light of the fee based online experience, I would not have subscribed to it. However, I might have tried it for free.
(Thanks to withfreemeals for making me aware of it.)
Update (20-May-2004):
Ubisoft just released news about "Myst IV - Revelations" - to be released at the end of 2004. It seems that the freedom gained in URU will lost again to return to a pre-rendered concept that's closer to Myst III. For everybody who missed the point and click, this may be great news. Well, to each its own, but for me no reason to look forward to Myst IV and URU might as well end my patronage ...
Update (10-June-2004):
The second expansion pack for URU will be released end of June 2004. Unlike "To D'ni" (the first pack), "The Path of the Shell" is not free and costs $19.95 (MSRP). It offers several additions to the URU theme ...
More than 10 new puzzles to master.
Numerous new clothing options to choose from.
Extended storyline that continues the Uru adventure.
Additional Ages and areas to explore.
New gameplay elements:
- interaction with creatures,
- swimming,
- and an editable player journal.
Sounds like something I will look into sometime soon. ;-)
Update (10-August-2004):
UbiSoft released the first video of MystIV and it sure is a step back to pre-rendered Myst series. Beautiful but with limited movement and less interaction.
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