It's Back.....
A Review of Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Rich Cunningham
"The Godfather, Part II".
"Return to Peyton Place".
"King's Quest ___ "(insert number here).
"Men of Boys' Town".
By now, you are probably wondering what are all of these above unrelated titles, and what are they doing on a web page on the Internet. The answer is really quite simple. They are all sequels to a popular film or computer game. "Men of Boys' Town" was the 1939 sequel to "Boys' Town", in which Spencer Tracy won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Actor ( a feat unequaled until Tom Hanks recently did it). "Return to Peyton Place" was based on the best selling novel, also a sequel to the soap opera "Peyton Place". "The Godfather, Part II", was the Academy Award winning sequel to "The Godfather", and considered by many to be superior to the original. As for the "King's Quest" series, they have achieved a place in computer gaming history that will never be matched or even equaled.
So why is the subject of sequels under discussion here and now. Very simple. The most eagerly awaited and most anticipated computer game of the past few years (and quite possibly of all time) made it's world wide debut on Halloween Day, 1997 (also known as October 31). The name of the program is Riven, and it is the follow up to the software classic Myst. The game Myst had a very simple premise: as a player, you are dropped onto an island with no idea how you got there, why you are there, and what you are supposed to do now that you are here. First released in 1994, it has for the past 3 years consistently ranked at the top of the gaming charts, and, until recently, avoided the price-marked-down bins at local software stores. What set Myst aside from other games of its genre were the graphics, the sounds, and the puzzle elements that comprised the plot.
Riven takes up, literally, where Myst leaves off. When we last saw Atrus, he was very busy writing in his journal. That is where the action picks up. And guess what? Once again you, the player, are deposited on an island with very little idea of where and what you need to do. Ahead you see what appears to be a telescope. Or is it. You are on the top of a mountain overlooking a sea and landscape that look eerily like the final setting of Myst. But all is not as it appears... or is it? From here on, you are on your own, because like any other journey, have the fun is getting there. The secret to Riven is there are no secrets. Do what the instruction manual says to do, which is to "become lost in the beauty of its worlds and think as if you were actually there". Look at everything, explore and touch as your heart desires, and try not to overlook anything. From here on, you're on your own.
Game play for Riven is accomplished via mouse control, with limited keyboard interface. You move the mouse pointer the direction you want to move, and click. To go forward, put the cursor near the center of the screen; to go left, put it to the left side of the screen, and so on. If is also possible to look up and down, and to also move up and down. Manipulations of objects are accomplished using the mouse as well, and drag-and-dropping does moving the same object (but only if it wants to move, you understand). Keyboard commands are limited to mostly saving and restoring games, which can also be accomplished using the task bar menu.
The high points of the game, to me, are the graphics and the sound. The scenery is very beautifully rendered in 3D, almost to a photographic quality. There is ample resolution to see even the tiniest details, both in the landscape and the machinery. The cinematic sequences are seamlessly integrated into the program in such a way as to be almost unnoticeable. The sound is so realistic that it gives a very you-are-there feeling, just like Myst did. You can hear the wind blowing, the waves rolling in, and I swear there was even a seagull or two. The puzzles that are, in my opinion, more complicated than the ones in the predecessor, but can be solved without too much difficulty.
The 5-CD ROM program was easily installed. In the PC version, there are two installation programs, one for systems with CPU's less than 166mhz, and one for CPU's greater than 166mhz. DirectX is also required, but is included as part of the installation process. The Macintosh version requires QuickTime 2.5 and is also included as well. It ran with no problems, and no system lockups. There are some abbreviated troubleshooting tips in the enclosed manual, along with support addresses and phone numbers.
What are the down sides to the game? It all depends on perspective and expectations. Previous users of Myst will know what to expect, since the games play almost identically. But new users may be a little disappointed. There are no high tech, flashy, gore-filled graphics. No hand-eye coordination required. No weapons, no space aliens, not much of anything for the mainstream game player. But then Riven and Myst are not mainstream games. Myst defined, and Riven has redefined, what adventure games can be. They are a genre unto themselves, and attempting to fit them into a single category is not easy to do. There are no down sides to this program. It is a worthy successor to Myst, and continues the tradition of gameplay that we have come to expect from the Millers.
So if you are coming to this game with the intent of spending a few hours whipping up on the bad guys, and solving a few easy puzzles, you are in for a surprise. But if you are looking for a mentally stimulating, cerebrally challenging game that can leisurely be solved, then this is the game of the year for you. It is one that can truly be said of, "it was worth the wait".
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: | Riven: The Sequel to Myst |
| Company: | Red Orb Entertainment |
| Cost: | $49.99 |
System Requirements:
Windows CD-ROM System Requirements:
Windows 95 required; Pentium 100 or faster;
16mb ram; minimum 75mb hard drive space;
4X CD-ROM or faster; 640x480x65000 (16bit) color display;
DirectX-compatible video and sound card.
Macintosh CD-ROM System Requirements:
Mac OS required; System 7.5 or higher;
90mhz PowerPC or faster; 9mb ram free;
minimum 65mb hard drive space; 4X CD-ROM;
640x480, thousands of colors.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 5
Graphics 4
Sound 4
Interface 4
Replayability 4
Overall Score:
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