>> MYST << PC/Mac. Broderbund/Cyan œ9.99 (cheapest so far) Reviewed by Andrew Wielochowski "The Surrealistic Adventure That Will Become Your World" MYST> News and information. Myst was mind-boggling, but Riven promises to be even better. Riven is the sequel to Myst. It is due out around Autumn. The producers believe that due to the availability of new products the graphics and detail are now more textured. And with a new cunning plot it should prove just as challenging as Myst! Riven takes you to Myst's fifth age. I have sent in a scene from Riven just so you can see what I am mumbling on about. @~It's in the screenshots section ... Sue MYST From the moment you find yourself on the docks with the sound of the water then you are drawn into the game... into a another world ... your own world. The soft music in the back ground fits in perfectly with the scene. And from that moment you realise that you are not on Earth. You are on Myst and it is an island which you will find very hard to leave. The history of Myst is woven into its four mysterious ages. Each age is different to the other. Some are harder than others and some are portrayed in an entirely different way. Myst Island is a small strange island on which you start your long adventure. The island is filled with strange devices and sights. Giant cogs and towers of tremendous height. Probably the most informative location on Myst island is the library which was once filled with many books, but sadly now most of them have been burnt. The few which have survived tell you of wondrous lands that can be accessed from this very island. There are in the library two books on separate shelves. A red book and a blue book. Opening the blue book brings up a picture of man shouting through the noise of a static storm he is Achenar and he begs you to free him from his wrongful imprisonment. Now on opening the blue book you see another man very much like the first and he too is begging for freedom. All ready the plot is weaving into the fabric of the adventure and you suddenly feel the urge to find out more! You then solve many puzzles on Myst which will end up with the unveiling of four books. Not ordinary books, but books which can take you from the island of Myst to one of the ages of the Myst. The ages: Selenitic, Stoneship, Mechanical and Channelwood. Once in each age you have to solve the puzzles to get out of the world with the page of your choice. Once out of that age you put the page into the book and more of your "friends" story slowly unveils, but you are stumped! Which one is telling the truth! As you progress you see behind the two different lives. Sirrus spending a life of good food and ornate rooms and furnishing and Achenar with devices of torture, deathmasks, Voodoo and swords. The moments coming up to the ending start wrapping you in a web of suspense and the greatest twist you could set your eyes on. Myst has a lot in the way of sounds, graphics and Quicktime movies. The creators clearly knew how to use Multimedia to its full extent. Every sound has been careful made and each movie radiates with time and care. Myst has sounds from the grinding of gears to the tiniest drop of water. Each sound you hear in Myst has been made resourcefully and with the strangest props. In one scene you are below deck under water. You can hear the gently sound of bubbles. To get the right sound they armed themselves with a long straw and a fully functional toilet and started to blow bubbles. As well as the game you also receive "The Making of Myst" which is a short movie telling you about how they went about creating Myst. You see the directors, the producers and the many other people needed in the making of Myst. I found this little film just as enjoyable as the game itself. In the Channelwood age I have just found out that if you play one of the Quicktime movies back you hear the phrase: "Rush Limbaugh Understands". Does anyone know what that is meant to mean? You can only hold one page at a time, so if you want to take both pages from an age you have to do that age twice. This is annoying but it has its reasons. One very annoying fact about Myst is that if you save a game in an age it will save everything you have done but it won't save you in different places. It will only save you in a certain place, normally the start of that age. I found that very painful while solving the mazerunner in the Selenitic age. Moving around Myst requires the mouse. When moving you can find the visual sequence between scenes very slow so there is thankfully a Zip Mode which will let you skip the visual scenes. The cursor is used for everything... the pulling of levers, the turning of safe handles and the pushing of buttons. MYST> The Parody! There IS a parody of Myst as probably many people have seen or heard of and that parody is Pyst. Typical isn't it? Pyst has no real point to it. Let me explain to you the story. "Many years have gone past on Myst and tourists have come to visit the legendary island in there millions and now Myst is a dump. You have to explore Myst and get back home!" Well. Gosh! What a plot!!! Pyst has scenes. The scenes show a polluted sea next to the dock. Many a blob of graffiti. A rather PYST deflated clocktower. Pyst by Parroty Interactive is NOT a game I have got or am thinking of getting. But I sure for some it will be amazing... but not for me! @~It 'stars' John Goodman but even that doesn't save it ... Sue MYST> My view! Myst has now taken the place of the best adventure game I have played. I have to admit I don't have Myst, but on a visit to my cousins I found they had Myst and decided to try it out. I spent 6 nights of hard work to complete that game. It was not 6 days wasted because I completed and knew my destiny was to BUY it. I am now looking for Myst. I have seen it for œ9.99 and I am now waiting for it to arrive at the shop. I think Myst is a definite classic and I will be sure of buying Riven when it comes out in Autumn. I strongly recommend Myst to anyone who likes adventure games. INFORMATION- About Myst and Riven can be found at:- http://www.Cyan.com MYST> The system requirements:- 386 33Mhz Processor or Higher 4MB Ram DOS 5 or higher VGA graphics card (Super) MPC Sound Card Mouse CD-ROM 4MB Free on the hard disk - o -