"A Satisfying Chapter"

Before you pick this game up or play it, there's something very important you should note about it. Those big letters across the front, they say “Myst.” This is a Myst game and follows the Myst style very closely. If you don't have a lot of patience, don't particularly like to think really (I mean really) hard, don't like the idea of reading in video games, or don't really care about seeing grand vistas in fantastic worlds, then Myst IV: Revelation isn't for you.

If however, you do have a good deal of patience, enjoy complex puzzles, and like just sitting back and watching the scenery while reading someone else's thoughts in their journal, you may be interested to check this game out. The only thing I'd recommend for new players is to seriously consider playing and beating the previous installments before starting Revelation. The reason being, the story is very deep in certain areas, and it helps having that prior knowledge. I'll explain the basic story, but you can get a greater appreciation for the world and plot by going back for yourself. Also, there are three Myst novels that actually do a lot to expand on the story, which I'd definitely recommend. (The Book of Atrus, The Book of Tiana, and The Book of D'ni)

For Myst enthusiasts who have been with the series since its beginnings in 1993 (or have at least played the other three Myst games), Revelation is a welcome pick-me-up after generally poor feelings about Uru (And perhaps even after Exile). While Cyan wasn't directly involved with the game's development much more beyond overseeing the story, Team Revelation of Ubisoft has done a worthy job of continuing the Myst saga.

Story (9/10)
It's been twenty years since the events of the original Myst, ten since Exile. After destroying their father Atrus' library of linking books and journals, being trapped in prison books, and having those books destroyed by Atrus, Sirrus and Achenar seemed to have disappeared. We saw the ramifications of their actions with the appearance of Saveedro in Exile, whose world had been destroyed by the cruel actions of the two brothers. But beyond that, players had no idea what had happened to the dastardly pair. Most had speculated that the two had been killed when Atrus had destroyed the books that imprisoned them, but in the beginning of Revelation, we discover that this is not the case, that after twenty years, the brothers are still alive. But things go sour as chaos erupts in the family's home in Tomahna and Atrus' ten-year-old daughter Yeesha suddenly goes missing. Of course, the brothers are suspect. With that, players are launched into the brothers' prison worlds themselves with the task of finding Yeesha. You'll appreciate the story as it develops throughout the game, and it is a big factor in enjoying the game.

Gameplay (7/10)
Like I said already, this is a Myst game. Gameplay is all about exploration and problem-solving. From the wildlife puzzles of Haven to the crystal/electricity puzzles of Spire and beyond, the task is always to figure out how things work. Thankfully, Revelation has gone back to the Riven-style of puzzles, in which the puzzles are more like complex machines that the player needs to figure out. These puzzles, in my opinion, also add to the story, giving you glimpses of how the banished brothers managed to harness the latent strengths and powers of the worlds in machines that actually seem to have purpose, rather than having no purpose and being randomly strewn about and localized in the world.

Many puzzles are interlinked, and smaller-scale puzzles will allow you to accomplish tasks on the larger puzzles, and there are a good handful of quirky red-herrings to draw your attention away to aspects of the worlds that don't actually have anything to do with the main puzzle. Machines will affect other things in the world around you, and just like real life, the puzzles don't reset themselves when you leave it, so just playing around with the machines is a huge mistake. Players will need to gather information, figure out what the machines do and how to make them work before actually tinkering with them. There's definite logic behind these machines, and you'll do much better if you work them out in your head or on paper before you actually work with it.

Exploration takes place within a vast number of bubbles. You have the ability to look all around you within that bubble, in which you are the center. No angle is closed. Within the bubbles, you will interact, zoom in to hotspots, pull levers, press buttons, and the like. You can debate the tradeoff between this system and having fully 3D worlds, but with this system, much more attention to detail and realism has been accomplished.

Just like previous Myst games, your inventory is incredibly limited. You start off with a camera and picture viewer and you're expected to use them. You'll find picture-clues strewn all over the different worlds and you'll want to take pictures often, as well as writing comments for each of the pictures. I loved this new inclusion, and this kind of thing has always been handy. It's always been a good idea to keep a journal while playing these games so you could keep track of all the clues and hints, and having this digital in-game journal was definitely a good idea. Still, you may be inclined to keep a separate journal anyway. The camera definitely helps, but the worlds are appropriately massive, on the scale of being like a bunch of slightly smaller Rivens, so drawing and keeping maps may be a very good idea.

The other items you'll end up receiving are various journals, for which you'll end up going missing-page hunting for clues, and an amulet that allows you to see visions of characters interacting with the worlds at critical moments. You'll see characters interacting with objects or talking with effigies, perhaps in the grips of insanity, destroying them occasionally, characters lamenting over decisions of the past, triumphing over their hostile surroundings, and more. These flashbacks add tremendously to the story as well. Also, if you activate the amulet while a journal is open, you'll hear the character reading the journal, so if you are more adept when you have aural clues or just want to hear the journals read rather than reading them for yourself, the amulet and journal combine in welcome fashion.

The reason that I rated gameplay low is the simple fact that this is really nothing new. It follows the vein of past Myst games very well. The game itself is very good and there aren't any real problems, unless you count the incredibly complex puzzles as one, but aside from that, there are few qualms about gameplay. The puzzles are definitely much harder than the ones in Exile, and more around the difficulty and complexity of Riven, if not harder.

Graphics (10/10)
This game is absolutely gorgeous. Revelation has achieved a sense of photorealism that is matched by very few, if any games today. Even further, Revelation gives a sense of life to the pictures. Branches and leaves will sway with the breeze and debris will be pushed around by it. Indigenous insects will buzz around you and other creatures will move around you. Sometimes, you'll interact or observe these creatures, and their actions will be appropriately random and lifelike. Water ripples when you touch it and if you so choose, your vision will focus and blur depending on the distance of the object you're focusing on.

Most games nowadays seem to have gone in the direction of forgoing actual actors in favor of using computer-generated characters to interact with each other. Team Revelation stayed with the Myst-style again and hired actual actors to interact with you and the environment. Some of the little encounters are just okay, but the acting of the main characters is superb. Rand Miller has always been great as Atrus, and the actors playing Sirrus and Achenar are appropriately over-the-top and a little insane. Juliette Gosselin fulfills the role of brainy ten-year-old Yeesha incredibly well.

The movies are seamless with the rest of the worlds, which are beautiful and lifelike. No Myst game would be a Myst game without appropriately beautiful graphics, and Revelation is no exception.

Sound and Music (10/10)
Jack Wall won many awards for his work in Exile, painting a beautiful musical tapestry, so I was very glad to hear that he was once again hired for Revelation. Once again, Jack Wall has worked wonders. The music is incredible and feels so right in each of the worlds. I wish I could say more because the music is just perfect.

Like I said before, the amulet allows you to hear the journals read, and each of the characters' voice-overs have appropriate emotion and are generally well done.

Machines make appropriate sounds when you execute commands, and one of the cooler (if gimmicky) things is the fact that you can tap on objects close by. Wood sounds like wood and metal sounds like metal. It adds a great sense of realism that is totally unnecessary, but incredibly valuable at the same time. You even hear your own footsteps as you turn and look around in each of the bubbles. Not only does this world look realistic, but the sounds are very realistic as well.

Controls (8/10)
“If it ain't broke, don't fix it.” Like I said in gameplay, there's nothing really new. Presto Studios hit a style pretty well for Exile, Team Revelation just stepped everything else up by leaps and bounds. The mechanics of gameplay are still pretty basic. You look around using the mouse, left-click to zoom in or hit buttons, right-click to zoom out, click and drag to pull levers or open doors. The real complexity comes in the puzzles and worlds and that leaves you enough to struggle with without having to fight with the controls, so the controls are appropriately simple and don't provide any real challenges. The bottom line is that the controls work and they work well. You won't need much more than your mouse.

Cons
Most of the problems people will have with this game will be the basic problems they have with the genre itself. The puzzles are complex and there isn't the action of a FPS. You'll need a lot of patience, so if you don't have much, this game is just going to be one big pain-fest.

There are really two or three real issues I've found. This game is on a pair of DVD's, so if you don't have a DVD drive, think twice before buying this game because you'll need to invest in one if you buy Revelation. The game also demands an incredible amount of drive-space: 3.5 gigs on minimum install and a whopping 8 gigs on full install. Just as a precaution, I'd recommend updating all of your graphics drivers before jumping into this game as well.

Another issue comes in occasional random crashes. I'd really recommend saving and saving often. Also, because the puzzles don't reset, I'd save before actually attempting the major puzzles.

Clue hunting may be an issue sometimes and you'll probably miss a lot of hotspots. Also, I can't stress enough the fact that the puzzles are incredibly complex. The game offers a tiered help-system that gives you subtle clues, more direct clues, and full-blown step-by-step solutions. In reality, though, the help system's advice is often so ambiguous that it doesn't really offer much, or just totally overblown in solutions without giving you the logic behind it.

Overall (9/10)
This is a very good game if you're into adventure games, especially this particular style. I have trouble deciding whether this is the best game of the series or if that title still goes to Riven, but just having that problem is a blessing in and of itself. Revelation does have its own problems, and it is very hard at times, which I count as a good thing. As far as Myst games go, this is one of the best, and its strengths manage to outweigh the cons. This game is incredibly deep, challenging, and immersive. If you are a Myst enthusiast or enjoy this style of adventure game, this is a must-have and worthy of your time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04