Uru: Ages Beyond Myst

Make no mistake, says Allison Reynolds. Uru: Ages Beyond Myst ain't easy.

Ever gone for a remedial massage? Ambient music, tranquil murals, all inviting you to lie back and relax while some jandal-wearing sadist pounds you into another shape. Playing Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is much the same experience. You may come out of it feeling pretty good, but while you are playing this adventure game, your brains are leaking out of your ears.

Launching your personally designed avatar into the New Mexican desert, players are introduced (with help from a friendly trailer trash dude) to a couple of fairly tame tasks to get warmed up for what’s to come. Success here allows you to travel to the remains of the dead civilisation of the D’ni and utilise their unique method of reading books to move through space and time to different ages. And what ages! Looking like a series of drug-induced hallucinations, giant mushrooms, bubbling lava and creepy caverns are beautifully done, plus they’re chock full of mind ripping puzzles that will restore life to the D’ni cities.

Myst and Riven fans will recognise various references peppered throughout Uru, and old schoolers will need to adjust to first/third person controls that have superseded the old ‘click and go’ (check the options if you really can’t live with the newfangled views). Navigating between ages is easy and intuitive, which is a good thing as transporting can keep you from going insane when a task in your current age seems impossible.

To prolong the agony further, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst will be playable online where interaction with other players and new ages will be available, for a monthly fee.
This game will appeal to the hardcore adventure fanatic and those that want a game that involves more than wading through gibs with a big gun. To finish it will be a real achievement. It will also do your head in; ensure your health insurance covers mental hospital treatment.