Rating: 
Summary: Try to sum up things
Review: I had posted a review and I actual updated it now that I have finished the game but after reading all the other reviews I felt I needed to add a little something more.
First of all when you see the reviews that state you must have a powerfull video card and ALL stated system requirements....ALL... they are true. I had an older video card that played the game faily well but after upgrading, everything changed, I mean everything. The worlds were brightter, I could see much better making the puzzles easier to solve. And the walking/running got a whole lot easier. The slower the video card the harder it was to walk in 3rd person. Everything is much easier now. Even kickiing things into position, although I have to admit I don't understand why you could not just pick it up!
I have a 1.2G CPU that I ramped (overclock) up to almost burn out since I am planning to upgrade that next anyway. That tremedously improved the load time. I think most of the load time is processing the world. There is a lot going on in these worlds that you don't notice if you don't take the time to smell the roses.
I do have to admit that the CD is just an intro into the on-line version which I can't get into yet probably because they are having sever...problems. (they expect me to upgrade but they haven't the money to do thier own?) Hopefully when the online version gets up and running they have enough worlds so I don't have to keep running into crowds of ppl.
My system that ran the game with no problems, smooth and clean to me wasn't that powerfull.
1) Dragon Lite Mother board with voltage and front side bus boosted to increase power
2) AMD 1.2G Athlon MMX CPU
3) 512MB PC2700 over clocking memory
4) ATI All in Wonder 9000 series video 64M
5) EIDE ATA 133 hard drive
6) SBLive sound card
Hopefully this will give you an idea of the system you need. Don't cheat on the video if you want good game play.
-jim
Rating: 
Summary: A great adventure in an wonderfully immersive game!
Review: Cyan has done a fantastic job! They've taken all the great aspects of their MYST games and put it in a new 3D universe! The graphics, story, music, and sounds are awesome! Uru is an extremely immersive game; it's a great adventure and has many worlds to explore woven with a complex storyline. The controls can be bit tricky at first, but after exploring a little it's now second nature. The online community and forums are a great resource for hints and stories. Uru is a wonderful place to explore.
Rating: 
Summary: what WERE they thinking
Review: I loved the previous Mysts. This one is absolutely aversive.
COMPATABILITY: even though I did get the game to run on my hardware, I won't let them off the backward compatability hook. Much of the manual reads as a disclaimer translating to: "it's not our fault if it doesn't run, you're on your own, go update your drivers you luddite." My one-year old system far exceeds the minimum specs on the box. But because it's a laptop, the driver for the video card was customized by the manufacturer and not supported by the video card manufacturer (true for all laptops). After a long and tedious search I found a 3rd party driver update. NOT FUN, NOT NECESSARY. Also, I have never seen such a large gap between the minimum system and the recommended system. Of course, you have to open the box to find the latter.
GAMEPLAY: If you enjoyed being taken away to a strange new world that felt real and challenged your mind and senses, this game is not for you. The most challenging puzzle you will find is how to get your avatar to do the nintendo-like moves given the obstructive interface. Puzzle solved long ago, I sit watching my avatar turn in place, unable to see in the direction it is facing. Quick, distracting camera angle changes that affect the function of the cursor -- I'm walking forward, camera angle changes -- OOPS!, now I'm turning in place. Switch to first person mode. No control over where I'm looking. For some reason I get stuck looking at the floor or ceiling. I can only change this by walking -- and letting the game decide what I can see. It is obvious that this "puzzle" requires repeated sprints from a starting point to push buttons, returning to the starting point within a limited time. Too bad the main obstacle is the goofy interface. Oh, and what's with all the "puzzles" that require you to herd objects into strange places with your feet? The avatar (and I) have hands, why not let us use them? Because then the "puzzle" would have absolutely no challenge that's why.
STORYLINE: none discernable, other than find these objects and struggle to reach them. Whatta waste.
OTHER: for the life of me, I can't understand why it takes so long to start up and why every change between "ages" takes, eh, ages. Really, when you hear the scene change audio signal, get up, fix yourself a sandwich (or roast a small turkey), come back and wait, wait, wait. BTW, 1.7GH P4.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Sequel
Review: I eagerly awaited this fourth installment of the Myst series, after having LOVED the last one (Myst3, Exile). I went so far as to buy a new computer since my old one was too slow, had to get a new video card for it, I even had to upgrade the power supply to make sure the new video card worked! I finally was able to play the latest Myst installment!
Unfortunately, the gameplay was not all it was cracked up to be, and the story was a bit disjointed...with such high system requirements, I expected a LOT more from the game. Each age took FOREVER to load, ruining any sort of seamlessness when linking; there should have been some sort of option to have more of the game on the hard drive. The 3-D, in my opinion, was also a bit of a waste. Some things were unable to be seen unless you were standing juuuuuust right...I felt Myst 3 was better rendered, and the graphics were better...it was a shame to sacrifice that just for the 1st/3rd person 3-D interface...the "no save" option was frustrating when attempting some complicated jumping that could send you plummeting to your death...many of the 'hints' in the game were SO buried they were missed out of boredom of leafing through senseless journals and notes...Hopefully, the newer ages written for on-line play will have improved over the initial game...
On the up-side, some of the puzzles were pretty tricky, making for some good mental aerobics, and some of the backgrounds looked amazing...it was neat being able to be yourself, too...Overall, I think they should drop the 3-D interface, try to go back to the Myst3 format, forget about the 'live action' aspect 9the Tomb Raider style jumping)...nice try, guys, but it just didn't hit the mark...
Rating:
Summary: this game is uncool
Review: why is this game uncool? cuz once you can actually play it, it sux!
I had to play it on my neighbors super new computer with fully new graphics cards cuz i couldn't play it on my somewhat outdated dell.
Warcraft 3, starcraft, and max payne work on my computer just fine but uru doesn't work at all! I remember the days of doom, when games were easy to install and worked without many problems. Plus, old school computer games like doom were actually fun! (you didn't fall off a cliff without being able to save) I'm mad at all elite gamers who are telling me to get over the system requirements. They should
get over themselves. games were for the average person and now they're for people who have a ton of money. Warcraft 2 and 3 had fun single player levels so you didn't have to spend extra money
after buying the game on internet connections. Uru required a (or two) new, expensive graphics cards! Uru was not worth the money because for all the trouble the game should've been godlike but instead it was frustrating (wicked tedious) and was made for the elite gamer. stupid elite people!
Rating: 
Summary: ATI users can update drivers for free
Review: This game requires, among other things, an ATI Radeon 7000-9800 video card. My new computer with a 9700 video card wouldn't run this game. However, I went to ATI.com and updated my drivers for free. Runs great now! This might be a possible solution for those of you having trouble running the game. I haven't completed the game, but here are my initial impressions: terrific graphics, great sound. The usual Myst type puzzles, and if you've played the previous games, you probably know what you're in for. I know this game is supposed to go online at some point (supposedly), but the weakest part of the game for me is the 3rd person point of view. Typically, I avoid games with a 3rd person point of view because of exactly the problems this game has: the camera viewpoint can be very annoying. Half of the time you're walking toward something on a path you can't even see. I don't want to see my avatar; for me that adds nothing to the game. I would rather be able to see where I'm moving to. I'm enjoying the game, but would probably be loving it if it weren't for that one factor. Also annoying: I've encountered bugs where you're walking along, clearly on the path, but the game reads you as having fallen off the ledge, and you get sent back to the level start. By the way, you don't have any save game option, which is also annoying. Your game saves when you quit, and you restart each game from a central point (often inconvenient) and then have to continue on from there. I'm having fun with this game, but have definitely encountered a few flaws.
Rating:
Summary: Adjust. Adapt. Overcome. Then play.
Review: Wow...as I read these reviews, I'm amazed at the level of technical declination among the reviewers, and at the intolerance of modern gaming platforms among Myst players. Get over yourselves, and read the box, people! System requirements are NOT established to be misleading, or to be a guideline - they are REQUIREMENTS. They're not different from doctor's recommendations, really...if you DON'T follow the instructions, you WILL suffer adverse effects. Like not being able to play the game because your hardware will not support it. Or like crashing because your system is struggling to run the software properly. You may even suffer problems you -won't- see unless you know how to look for them...like if you don't follow the doctor's orders. Several reviewers have stated that your brand-new computer won't play it because your computer manufacturer cut corners on the graphics card. They're RIGHT. When you look at custom building a computer, you can choose to throw another $50-100 at it for a quality 3rd party (NVIDIA or ATI) graphics card, or you can skimp and run with the motherboard graphics chipset. While it's not bad for home office use, it will never run a video game or photo/video editing software worth a crap. Uru's requirements call for a relatively high-powered processor and significant RAM; if your computer is 3 years or younger, it can handle it, roughly. That has NO bearing on what kind of video card you can use - most modern games draw their processing power, and memory, from the video card, not your CPU. Oh, and NVIDIA and ATI are manufacturers, with a RANGE of video cards available - and as I read the requirements, I saw that many CARDS are supported, though only two MANUFACTURERS are supported. So, you either go with a card from one of those two manufacturers, or you take your chances with your money and your time. The same story applies to your processor and RAM - the requirements are much looser than what you need for the video card, but if you're running a PIII 600MHz with 512 MB RAM, or a P4 3.28GHz with 192 MB RAM,...you don't meet the system requirements, so you won't get good (or any) performance. Bottom line: Read the directions. Then follow them. I haven't even bought the game yet and I'll give Uru credit cause I agree with the positive reviewers, and am looking forward to it. Lastly, for Macintrash users, and those with other OS'es...if software is not available on your platform, be patient. It will be. In the meantime, try it on one of your friends' machines. Until then, DON'T REVIEW IT.
Rating:
Summary: Something fishy in D'ni
Review: Firstly, I'm a computer animator and illustrator by trade. I had no technical problems with the game whatsoever; it ran like a champ, even on an out-of-the-box year-old Dell. However, that didn't mean that I liked the game overmuch. In a nutshell, its biggest weakness is that you explore 4 ages so that you can get online. That was the glaring point and purpose. There is no other reason. No story, no plot, no tension-building, no great sense of mystery and discovery - all the things that made the first three tremendously appealing. However, I understand the technical trade-offs Cyan needed to make to achieve this - but that was absolutely no excuse to sacrifice storyline. I am sadly disappointed with Uru. Where is my story! Weak, weak work, Cyan.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty but tedious
Review: The game installed just fine and my PC (1.7 gHz Athlon w/GeForce 4 video) runs it without issue. The graphics are lovely and imaginative, though often so dark that I had to play the game at night with the lights off. (Yes, I went through the video calibration and I have the gamma correction at max.) But that's where the fun ends. I agree with others that puzzles are tedious and made very difficult by the interface. The previous Myst games required lots of thinking, putting clues together to solve the puzzles. This latest addition requires less thinking and more "Mario Brothers" type moves. I think I'm about half-way through the game and I'm tempted to stop there. I won't even consider the online version of the game (which is what I think UBISOFT and CYAN really designed this game for). If you liked the previous versions of Myst, don't bother with this one. If you don't mind half the game being "how do I time this jump just right", give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Lacking
Review: First i,d like to say the graphics are awesome.. kudos to cyan.. but they seemed to focus solely on that.. there is not much content for the price...no replay value..seems to be more of a demo for the live version which by what i see is NO where close to being released..full of bugs and not much content as well.. as for the system requirements,,,if you dont have a super system dont waste the money upgrading..[$$$] is way more than this game is worth..what a disappointment
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