"Not a Traditional Game"

This game is old, really, and there are several versions of it out. There's the original, the ''Masterpiece'' version, and realMyst, a 3d version. This review deals with the first two, since they're very similar.

Graphics: Certainly when this game was new, the graphics were pretty nice. The island is bump mapped, nothing to look at nowadays, but it's not awful, certainly. In general, graphics are prerendered, but certain sequences occur using quicktime format movies. In the original, the graphics are in 256 color, in masterpiece, they are 24-bit. Both are at 640*480

Sound: This game is all about ambience. The sound is intended to set the atmosphere, and some puzzles are sound based. If you let yourself go, the sound really adds to the effect. It may not be Dolby Pro Logic II, but it does what it was intended to do. In masterpiece, the sounds are the same, but they are sampled at a higher bitrate.

Controls: Not much to write about here, the interface is very simple. Click in front of you to go forward, click to the left or the right to turn in that direction. Sometimes you can perform other actions too, like flip switches, or turn cranks, etc.

Gameplay: This is an interesting part. Now, in the traditional sense, one might not say there is a lot of gameplay. After all, you're mainly just walking around. You cannot die or get stuck. Well, you CAN. but it will be clear you made a mistake. The game itself is open for exploring, and full of puzzles to solve. The main point of the game it to figure out why you ended up where you ended up. Explore and solve puzzles, that's basically the gameplay. Oh, and do yourself a favor and take notes, eh? By the way, the masterpiece edition has a hint menu that will reveal things if you want.

Replay Value: Well, it depends. Certainly the game is rich in secrets, and I'll bet you won't get everything the first time around. It's possible to ''beat'' the game without really exploring that much. But I think if you do that, you'll really miss out on Cyan's intentions.

Overall: A warning, this is not a traditional game of any sort. If you're looking for action, this is not the right kind of game. If you're looking for strategy, this is not the right game. If you're looking for a good game to just sit and absorb, this is the right game. It has been called a ''coffee table game'', the kind of game you just pick up and do. A good game if you just want to take a break from the typical.

Buy/Rent: You might as well buy it. It can't cost more than $5-$10 nowadays. I don't even know if you CAN rent it. A warning, as with most older games, you may experience problems running it on newer computers.

My score: 8/10. This game succeeds at its intent. That deserves some credit. There are far too many games that fail in that respect. However, I cannot justify raising the score too much, because, from a technical aspect, the game is dated. This drop is of course tempered by the technical achievement of the game in its time. So, 9/10 when it was new, 7/10 now, for an average 8/10. Maybe 8.5 just because the game was and is so innovative an idea.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/03, Updated 07/11/03