Myst IV and its splendid conclusion are, indeed, revelatory.
User Rating: 8.2 | Myst IV Revelation PC
The death knoll for PC adventure games has been rung quite often over the last several years, but with games like The Longest Journey and Syberia, the genre has managed to stay afloat, even with an admittedly waning fan base. With the exception of last year’s underwhelming Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, Revelation is the first title in the series since 2001’s Exile, and unlike Uru, it continues the saga of Atrus and his treacherous sons Sirrus and Achenar. The resulting experience is visually and aurally gorgeous, easily the most beautiful adventure game of all time, and a logical progression in the series. Some new tweaks and an intriguing method of storytelling help keep the exploration fresh – but the impossibly difficult puzzles will keep even the most logical of players stumped. Myst IV is not for the impatient type, but if you are willing to struggle through the often laborious brain-teasers, you may find the final reward surprisingly fulfilling. In Revelation, the player once again finds himself in the role of inventor Atrus’ friend, and during a brief and effective introduction to the game mechanics, you meet the scientist’s sweet young daughter. He is still writing linking books: volumes in which he creates entire worlds, called ages, which can then be visited and explored at will. While attempting to repair his newest creation, Atrus tells you that his villainous sons Sirrus and Achenar are held captive in ages created to imprison them, much to the worries of his elegant wife Catherine. Soon, you find yourself exploring four beautiful, distinct ages as you piece together the fate of Sirrus and Achenar, and while the story is told mainly via flashback episodes and journal entries, the lonely exploration feels less isolated than in previous incarnations, if only because the human element is stronger here than in the earlier Myst titles. When the game finally draws to a climactic close, the impact is, as the title implies, enlightening indeed. Revelation is played from a first-person view, using a simple point-and-click interface familiar to players of the previous Myst games. You do not have traditional three-dimensional access to your environment, although you have full view of your surroundings at any given time. Instead, you click from one area to the next, and with the sound of a few footsteps, you arrive at the chosen location. The icon that you use to interact with the environment is simple but effective: you move a hand over the scenery, and when it shows a pointing finger, you can click to move to that node; if it opens, you can manipulate the item it is hovering over. Those that complain that the Myst series is nothing more than an interactive slideshow will probably not find Revelation’s presentation any less tedious, but adventure gamers will feel right at home, and players that tire of pixel-hunting will be glad to learn that the interface makes it fairly simple to discover important items that might be sitting around in need of attention. While Myst IV features arguably the best story in the series, it really is all about the puzzles, and it will come as no surprise to fans that the mind-benders here can be almost insurmountable obstacles. The initial puzzles are solved easily enough, but the difficulty ramps up significantly once you have access to the prison ages. Fortunately, the game provides a few caveats to ease the burden. Unlike in other adventure games, where you collect various inventory items that you then use in combination with each other, Revelation’s puzzles are solved by manipulating levers, pushing buttons, and using other objects in similar fashion. While the puzzle itself is solved on location, it may require you to interact with items in other areas, or to use clues from different ages entirely. To help keep track of these clues (or red herrings, in some cases), you have a camera, which you can use to snap a picture of pretty much anything you can see. You can then refer to the picture later, rather than needing to travel to the remote location to take another look at the clue, or worse, make copious notes or drawings of journal entries and environmental anomalies. Another helpful tool is the “zip” mode, which allows you to travel to places within the age that you have already visited without having to trek through every locale in-between. This terrific tool was actually implemented in Myst III, albeit in a different manner, but it is very welcome, as it eases the constant traveling across the same environments so common in the genre. Even better, Revelation features a hint book in its option menu that gives you three levels of hints, depending on how stuck you are. Rest assured, you will need help level three more than once, although even then, it is hardly a walk-through. Most of the puzzles are quite logical, although this doesn't mean that even the most intelligent of gamers are quick to find a solution, with or without hints. This isn’t to say that the story takes a back seat as it has in previous installments, and the remaining interface item is an amulet you pick up near the beginning of the game. The amulet is your connection to past events, and when it glows, you can click on it to trigger audio and visual flashbacks. Not only do these flashes give you important puzzle clues, but they also reveal much about the game’s characters and their motivations. It’s actually a clever storytelling mechanism, and keeps the solo exploration from becoming too stark. What real human contact you do have is presented with live actors that personify the revered characters perfectly, and make you care about their fates with little direct communication. The challenge for any adventure developer is to encourage the player to struggle through mind-bending puzzles for the reward waiting at the end, and thankfully, Revelation does a good job at offering the player just desserts for a job well done. The alluring scenery actually serves as an initial reward, but the cutscenes you trigger after solving a conundrum are often awe-inspiring. Still, the headache resulting from the tiresome contemplation of impossibly exacting quandaries gets wearisome, and Myst IV's slow pace can often dwindle to a stop. PC adventures have increasingly been gaming's best storytelling medium, and with Syberia and its sequel, difficult head-scratchers have been replaced with more mild puzzlers, in favor of narrative. For better or for worse, Revelation stays unabashedly true to its roots; fans will rejoice, but it will not bring those that dislike slow-paced exploration and puzzle-solving any further understanding of the series' unique pleasures. If any title's graphics are tantamount to how it plays, it would be Revelations, and it is impossible to convey the artistry involved in its unique, colorful, and absolutely resplendent environments. Whether it's Spire's gorgeous misty sights, Tomahna's lush vegetation, or Haven's Jurassic vistas, there is nothing in the game that fails to visually impress. When looking about, your view will focus on certain objects and others will blur, bringing a realism heretofore unseen in an adventure game. Here, impressive visuals aren't just a fringe benefit, they are part of the gaming experience, and could not have been improved in any significant manner. It also looks fantastic on lower-end systems – but let buyer beware: the game ships on two DVD's only, and after a lengthy installation, takes up significant disk space. Almost perfect, too, are the evocative sounds and music that accompany your travels, and again, it compliments the visuals of each age to brilliant effect. As you move your hand-cursor over various objects, even if you cannot interact with them, you can tap them, and the resulting noise differs depending on the male-up of the item you touch. As with its brethren, Myst IV is not just a game, it is a journey that does not require a destination to enjoy. Patient gamers need wait no more: Myst IV: Revelation is worth its price, not only because of its refreshing return to old-school puzzle-solving, but for its surprisingly cohesive story. While there is no true replay value, it will keep even the most intellectual of players scratching their heads for a few dozen hours. Those new to the series will be pleased to see that Myst III: Exile also ships with it, and still is a beautiful title, four years after release. Adventurers will find little truly new to the series, but most should find Myst IV to be a pleasant return to the genre's roots, and the experience and its splendid conclusion are, indeed, revelatory.
