Rating: 
Summary: Wow. The reviews are harsh.
Review: What is the deal with these 'playa-haters'? This game is very nice. Yes, it distinguishes itself from the other Myst games. As each newer one distinguished itself from the one that preceded it. The gameplay is more varied than in previous games. The addition of 'complete' immersive play is done wonderfully, in my opinion. The character is easy to control, except for the 'jumping' feature. That's the one thing that i grew impatient with at first. After growing accustomed to that glitch in game-play, it was easily forgotten. I ran this on a 'duron 1.6 ghz' system with a geforce 4 4800 video card, and 512 meg ddr ram. Along with an Audigy 2 Soundblaster sound card. It ran outstanding, with all features pushed 'up'. Also, the 80's retro music that peppers the background of the game is very cool. I found that very enjoyable. Do not trash this game. Even the first Myst was not good enough for its' own developers. They had to 're-create' it to be happy with it. This, in my opinion, is a welcome change. And, a true step into the future for Myst. Look for a less 'puzzle-driven' expierience this time around. More 3D exploration. As far as plot goes, there are no spoliers here. But, suffice it to say, there is a comprehensible plotline. You learn that after about an hour or so of playing. So, the folks who are complaining here about no 'plot' must not be capable of solving a few simple puzzles to find out just what that plot is. It truly is interesting. Note : I have not played, nor do i have any interest in, the online portion of this program. So, i cannot comment on that. I have only played single player.
Rating: 
Summary: DISGRACEFUL - Make that really 0 Stars!!!
Review: Yes, it does give specific requirements to play this game, but who would have believed it really would be that specific! We feel we were not made suitably aware that this product was not compatible with our computer, even though we purchased a brand new one.
Yes, we have a "little Dell", but we are not into the details of why a computer is compatible or not - only that we asked for the best and were assured we would get the best!
After reading reviews for this game published on Amazon.com, as well as on others, it is obvious that this product should not even be out on the market. It is designed to draw consumers into purchasing a monthly plan in order to continue (and perhaps someday conclude) playing this game, as well as purchasing additional expensive hardware endorsed by benefiting companies.
It would be too kind to say we feel cheated by this whole experience. We spent a great deal of wasted time trying to make it work, only to be constantly disappointed the entire time we had this game. (At least we have the intro fully memorized - that is about as far as we got.)
We just love the true Myst games and want to play it for the mystery, not the hyper graphics! So be warned, you must indeed have exactly what it requires on your computer, especially the video cards.
Rating:
Summary: I Knew I was going to love it ! ! !
Review: It nice to see that not all games require violence to be a best seller. My computer is a little slower than they would like but it works fine!!! If you loved Myst and are looking for a game like it, look no further.
Rating: 
Summary: Agree with Gamer from Oroville
Review: All of his/her points are valid. My big gripes and why I'll probably never get any further in this game, are (1) that the "camera" angles are so off--at some points if I play in the 1st person, I can't see what I need to see; if I switch to 3d person, the character becomes too clumsy. (2) Time: I do not have hours and hours all at the same time to just play a game; I work, I have a chores, I have a life. When you have to wait so long and go through so many dance steps just to reload so you can attempt a jump one more time (and fail) over and over again, the game is worthless and becomes un-fun and gets stuck in the attic for when I retire or win the Lottery or something. (3) Saving: I can't continually replay the same sequences that I successfully did before just to get back to where I ran out of time last time around. If a game creator is adamant about controlling when the game will save automatically, then those segments must be reasonably spaced for real people who have to hold down jobs and have school and other life-like things to do.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Disappointment
Review: This was everything I dislike in a computer game. It has almost no resemblence to the real Myst games. If they keep going the next Myst product they produce will be a full shoot-em up game. This isn't too far from it.
Rating:
Summary: A sick joke???
Review: I was and am a huge Myst fan. So after I played Exile, not created by Cyan, and then saw that the Miller bors. (I think that's their name!) were coming out with this Uru thing and it had an internet part and so on and so forth, I was so excited. Never in my life have I seen such a horrible game. First off, let me say I have a 2.2 gig processor and an internet connection that Uru said it was downloading at over 300Kbs. Anyways, one moment in that volacno level I am walking across a bridge, then the camera change-- AS DOES MY CHARACTER'S DIRECTION-- and I walk right off a cliff. Second, the controls-- WTF!!??!?!! Worst FPS controls I've ever seen anywhere. Music: sucks. Graphics, great of course, but not as interesting as I'd expect from Cyan after all this time. Story-- oh I'm sorry, was there a story associated with Uru? I know there was with Myst, Riven and Exile. But I really don't think there is one here. On my way to trying to find a story however, my computer had so much trouble processing the game that it kept jolting the motion. Not like that hindered my fun or anything. So I thought "Well this can't possibly suck any more than this, so I'll try the online stuff." After ten minutes loading, I came back to the same place I started at the non-online part. I thought online meant something different, and maybe with other people on their computers. Silly me, why would they do that? I just assumed you know, after seeing the dedication put into Myst and Riven, that the same care would be taken once again. Maybe that was stupid of me. Or-- maybe, just maybe, the Miller's are sitting at home laugher their asses off because they pulled one of the cruelest, sickest, and in their mind funniest, jokes of all time. I'm going to reload Myst on my computer and play that. It was fun. Not like some other Cyan games, cough cough. Christ, Uru is just plain annoying. I wish I hadn't spent money on it. Acutally it was a gift, but I still feel ripped off. Come on guys, you could have done better than this!!!!!!! Ah well, 2 outta 3 games ain't so bad.
Rating: 
Summary: James Spencer
Review: I haven't actually beat this game yet, but I was checking some reviews on it and thought maybe I'd clear some things up if they haven't been already. I haven't read all 164 reviews lol.First off... people... this isn't the old Myst game consisting of a bunch of still shots. This is a fully 3D environment. Guess what... that takes ALOT more graphics processing power. ALOT MORE! People with little Dell or HP (etc) mid-range computers: shut up. Your computer was NEVER intended for playing games. Now you know why people are buying those more expensive computers, and despite what gateway says, THEY may have more brains than money. Anyways, yes, you'll NEED a new video card and WANT a good sound card. This is the curse of the game player; welcome to our world. Secondly, the controls. I think the problem with the controls is that the creators realized that alot of people buying this thing haven't really played FPS games. So, they dumbed down the controls. This was to allow the uncoordinated easier entrance to gameplay keeping them from being *scoff* overwhelmed by the amount of keys it requires to move, but it crippled those of us that have played 3D games before. In reality there was no way they were going to please the previous of the two groups and all they did was annoy the gamers. Still, it's not hard; it's just confining if you're used to FPS games. Now for the guy "spinning around and around"... seriously... it's REALLY not that hard. My main problem with it has been the lack of responsiveness. When I press the jump key, I expect to jump right then. Loading times: yes, they suck. No way to pretty that up; it is extremely annoying when you fall off a cliff to have to wait for your link back to Relto to load, go to the book shelf, pick your book up, then wait for the previous age to load again. If you can throw money around, I'd recommend getting the fastest hard drive you can find. The loading times are my one major beef with this game. All things considered though, I'm really enjoying this game. I'd consider it very immersive. It IS very pretty. The sound helps alot with that. If you don't mind TRYING SOMETHING NEW, this game is great. And that goes for both Myst players and FPS gamers. This game is simply different. It's alot more relaxing and easy going than an FPS game, but it still takes more coordination to play than the old Myst games. Live a little everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: The end of a legend ?
Review: I give it three stars because the game, in itself, is decent: but as a Myst-game it's (maybe) one star! What a disappointment, after the all-time masterpiece Myst and the excellent, if frustratingly difficult, Riven (i don't count Exile, which was not created by Cyan - but yes, Exile, too, was better than Uru). The graphics are first-rate, it's true, but "first-rate" as they can be in a real time 3d game, not comparable to the photorealistic quality of Riven. But I'm not complaining about that: actually, I like the freedom of movement given by the 3d engine. The problem is, in a very few words: this game utterly lacks the style, the "flair", the charm of Myst and Riven. Gone are the soft, magic, "misty" atmospheres of Myst; gone is the bright light, the "sea- and-rocks-and-sun" , the wonderful surrealistic quality of Riven: in Uru there is a strange dim light, a sort of yellowish twilight world which I found cold and unsatysfying, gloomy, almost depressing. Yes, the ages, the strange contraptions and devices, the locales, are tastefully designed, as ever, but all you do is wandering around not knowing precisely what to do: and why to do it, after all, is not that interesting, because, simply, the game has no plot. Never for a moment you can think you're immersed in a narrative. Once you have caught (maybe luckily, given the deeply unengaging quality of the game) the "style" of the puzzles (which, I must admit, are well conceived), Uru reveals itself as a very short game: I finished it in six days, and, believe me, the replaying factor is near to zero. And of course many have noticed the awkard controls: the designer of Uru were strangely unable to adopt the usual control scheme of recent FPS or third person action/adventure (mouse for rotating, keys on the left side for moving and strafing): yes, the controls are mappable, and you can use the mouse for moving and rotating, but only pressing continuosly the left button. This becomes rapidly tiring, and very likely you'll end using only the keyboard, with a resulting utter lack of precision in the movements. Adding that the controls are very sluggish and your avatar seems a ten-ton truck, you'll find yourself "pushing hard" on the damned keys trying to drag on that lazy fatball: and, believe me, the simple action of aligning the avatar to an object to manipulate it becomes a hell of a chore. I repeat: excellent graphics, the worlds are well designed (and, oh, the music is very good - it gives the only, few, haunting moments of the whole game). But, in the end, a cold, empty, boring experience, a huge letdown in term of "Myst-quality"! I passed weeks and weeks on Myst; I "fighted" with Riven: but what magic experiences! And now, the sad end of a legend! Of course, maybe, the online experience will be totally different: i can't judge about that.
Rating:
Summary: Works on an Apple Macintosh
Review: My best friend is a devoted Myst fan and was disappointed that there is not a Mac version out yet. But he loaded the Windows version into his new G-5. He has the one Apple claims this to be the fasted PC in the world. It is equipped with Virtual PC, a software emulation of Windows XP Professional that lets Apples run Windows programs. Guess what? It worked. After a little tweaking of the Virtual PC settings he was able to run URU faster - MUCH FASTER - than I could on my new Dell Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz, 512MB. Download time was seconds instead of an eternity. The entire experience is so much better than on my Dell - it makes playing URU a great experience instead of a wrestling match with sluggish technology. In case you've got the clams to shell out for a system like his, the system is a G-5 equipped with dual 2.0Ghz processors, and 2GB RAM and an upgraded 9800 Radeon graphics card. He has a drop-dead gorgeous 23" cinema screen and way-cool looking and sounding JBL creature speakers to complete the awesome effect. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time at his house now.
Rating:
Summary: Boring. Expected more from Cyan
Review: What a letdown. In my view the avatar or 3rd person perspect severely detract. The imagery in this game is imaginative as ever, but you see polygons and the tell tale signs of low quality 3D that ruin it time and again. It's just not enough to pointlessly explore ages. There's no drama and the drop in visual quality--in spite of some new envonmental improvements like lapping water--just make it an empty depressing experience. It feels like I've visited a favorite place but without everything that made it truly special. I can't believe I'm saying this--but the original Myst and Myst 3 are better than this (and of course Riven is WAY WAY better than this. If you need a Myst fix, skip URU and replay Riven. It's sad. So sad.
|
