Myst V On The Way

I’ve never understood the attraction of "shoot-em-up" games such as Doom or Halo. I much prefer the more cerebral attractions of puzzle-solving games. And the one that really caught my attention when it first came on the scene in 1993 was Myst.

Its success (over 12 million copies sold) has spawned a number of sequels, and I’m delighted that later this year Myst V: End of Ages is expected to be released.

The sequels have been a bit of a mixed bunch, both technically and conceptually. The biggest deviation came with Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. It introduced the first use of a 3D gaming engine – Plasma – (in place of the pre-rendered still shots of the earlier games), as well as a physics engine – Havok – for interacting with "physical" objects in the game. For me, this led to a high degree of frustration, because physical dexterity with a mouse is not my forte. I mean, trying to nudge baskets in a waterfall pool using the mouse or the keyboard is just no fun at all – damn those bloody fireflies – why couldn’t I just feel my way through the caves???

But secondly, the biggest downside of Uru for me was the introduction of a new character, Yeesha, the daughter of Atrus.

Yeesha specialised in spouting pretentious new age crap: full of sickly sentiment and third-rate moralising. Yes, the game itself is very pretty (a couple of moments – like the thunderstorm in the Garden Age, and the sunrise in the Desert Age are worth the price of admission), and the puzzles (apart from the dreadful interface) are relatively straightforward – but I found it tough going to have to listen to Yeesha’s interminable drivel while retrieving the four pillars, let me tell you… Aaaarghh!!!!

So, the bad news about Myst V is: sheee’s baaack!!! Yep, Yeesha’s going to be in it, along with a new character, Esher, an elderly male archivist. The good news is that the game designer, Rand Miller, has alluded to the possibility of having to choose between them at the end – and the player’s decision affects the outcome of the game. Oh, jolly good, because my choice is going to be for the elderly male archivist – there is no way I would want to spend any more time in the tiresome company of that damned Yeesha. In fact, I might almost wish for a big gun to blast her away with…