| Name | Myst |
| Description | Puzzle/Graphic Adventure |
| Author/Group | Cyan / Sunsoft. Amiga port by ClickBOOM. |
| Price | £29.95 |
| System Requirements | 68020+, 8MB Fast RAM, AGA or Graphics Card, 2x CD ROM, 5MB Hard Disk Space. Recommended: Fast CPU and CD ROM, More Hard Disk Space. |
After months of waiting, the biggest Amiga game of 1997 finally arrives. And you just know it's something special.
As I picked up the case, I reflected how it was the first Amiga game I had bought on CD ROM. But even if I had bought games on CD before, Myst must surely be the first Amiga game to really take advantage of the space a CD offers. The fact that it is 640MBs full confirms this (and it's not all wasted by a 600MB intro...)
And Myst is a first in other areas too. It is the first Amiga game that takes advantage of PowerPC processors - hopefully the first of many. It also the first game to be ported from the PC by ClickBoom, and hopefully sales will encourage them to continue (as they are doing with Quake).
But what of the game? Well, it certainly is a game with a difference. Whenever I saw screenshots, I always wondered things like, 'If this is a graphic adventure, where's the little bloke you move around?' and wondered where the interface is. As it happens, there is no 'little bloke'; the screen shots represent what you see, as a first person perspective view. Sadly, today's hardware isn't quite up to the job of rendering such high quality graphics in real time, to you click the mouse on the screen to move, and 'jump' to different locations.
The images themselves are amazing; think of the quality of graphics you get in the Gallery section of Amiga Format or CU Amiga - that's the sort of quality you get for every picture, and occasionally you get animations in the screen too. Sound samples play to, along with music which really adds to the atmosphere.
And it isn't without gameplay - far from it. The idea is that you have been mysteriously transported to this world, and you have to solve puzzles - part of the challenge is finding out what you are meant to do. It isn't a game in the usual graphic adventure sense in that you don't have objects to carry around, instead, you get clues and information, which you can then use elsewhere. Having said that, there are some limited objects that you can carry with you, but this doesn't happen often.
At first, the style of the game seems off putting; you want to have an interface on the screen, you want to be able to carry objects around with you. Also, it seems strange when you have no idea what to do. It's tempting to say 'Is this it?', and wonder what all the fuss was about. Stay with it though, and you'll be drawn into the game as you learn all about the world you are in, and discover that there is more to the island than you had previously thought.
The gameplay is very much non linear, also; you don't have to do such and such in any particular order. From the first island, you can transport to other worlds, but you don't have to go to one world before you go to another.
Having said this - this isn't a game for everyone. If you're into games which require thinking and problem solving, then Myst will not disappoint you. On the other hand, Myst isn't the sort of game you can load up for a few minutes to have a quick game.
As to the system requirements, I would rate a fast CD ROM most important. I have a 4 speed, and it can get a bit irritating when it's always loading images. Suddenly that 16 speed looks less of a luxury, and more of a necessity... The CPU speed isn't too important, as you can still play the game even if the quicktime animations run slowly. On a 50MHz '030, I can get about 3-4 frames per second I guess. Every so often, there is a gap in the sound (possibly down to the CD speed, again), but you can still make it out. Having said that though, I'd love to see this running on a PowerPC machine...
Myst is an important game in the Amiga's future. If Myst flops, it doesn't matter how much ClickBOOM are dedicated to the Amiga; ports of more games would be unlikely. Thankfully, initial indications are that this is not so. Myst was the best selling game of 1996 on Mac and PC CD ROM. Apparantely, enough copies of Myst were sold from preorders when it was released in early December to make it the best selling game on the Amiga for 1997.
I presume that these people are not disappointed. Buy this game, have hours of enjoyment - and help the future of the Amiga at the same time!
Mark
| Myst | |
| Graphics | Breathtaking images and animations - 97% |
| Sound | Plenty of samples, excellent music - 96% |
| Playability | Excellent to play, and very original - 93% |
| Addictiveness | You'll keep coming back - 92% |
Overall -93% | |