n the name of journalistic integrity, I have to come clean about one thing: I love Myst. I love all of the games, I’ve read the novels, I even have a vague recollection of when D’ni holidays occur on our calendar. I am truly a Myst dork. On the other hand, I’m also a video game reviewer, and I’ve taken off the fanboy (fangirl?) glasses to be fair.
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is, without a doubt in my mind, the most beautiful PC game on the market. As expected with a Cyan game, the environments are detailed, unique, beautiful, and logical. In addition, the sound offers ambience and puzzle clues.
Although I’m loathe to do it, here comes one whopper of a cliché: If you like Myst games, you’ll love Uru. But, if you hate the mere thought of exploration being a main goal of any video game title, this will make you squirm like a little girl at a stockholder’s meeting.
Really, the greatest thing about Uru is that Cyan has successfully updated the adventure genre with onscreen characters, customizable avatars, and (most of all) online play. Come game launch, players can go through the single-player mission out of the box and then sign up for an MMO experience featuring biweekly updates and a continuing plot through the online missions. Adventure fans will pee a little with delight and others might find themselves pleasantly surprised. It’s awesome. Honestly.