Myst III - Exile

                   Played by Peter Clark

As the title would indicate, this is the third episode in the Myst
series. It is based on the same principal as the previous two in
that your quest is to travel to various ages and complete a set of
puzzles before finding a Linking Book that will enable you to
travel to the next age. The Myst series is the story of the D'ni
people who found a way to create other worlds through their
writings.  The books they create are the pathways into fictitious
but seemingly real worlds. Myst III begins ten years after Riven,
which was the second in the series. Atrus decides to get back in
touch with the D'ni people who want to rebuild their civilisation.
However, an evil being whose life was turned upside down by Atrus'
son is preparing his revenge. The adventure begins in Tomahna, a
house that Atrus built in the middle of the desert where
Catherine, Atrus' wife, meets you. After talking with her and
Atrus, you are transported to the Age of J'Nanin. As the game
progresses, you will find yourself returning here on several
occasions. The central point is a laboratory belonging to
Saavedro. You will need to complete several puzzles before you can
even get inside the laboratory. This is the point to which you
must return after completing each age. The island is very barren
and you will find yourself wandering up and down ladders and rocks
a great deal. There are also several buildings shaped like tusks.
The Linking Book for the Age of Amateria will be found in the
laboratory after completing some of the puzzles.

The Age of Amateria is rather like a giant roller coaster with
huge marbles running around the tracks. Most of the puzzles here
involve the setting of the tracks so that balls can be directed to
the correct places without falling into the sea. Finally you take
a ride on the roller coaster ending up inside the central pagoda
where you are given the symbol for Amateria. There is a Linking
Book here back to J'Nanin where you must place the symbol in a
bowl in the laboratory. You must now go back outside and find the
reflector posts that are scattered over the island. Aligning these
in the correct manner will give you access to the Linking Book to
Voltiac Age.

This part of the game on mostly inside a cliff and will involve
you in completing many puzzles in order to get a hot-air ship to
take off with you in it.  As you take off, a previously hidden
island rises from the sea and you land upon it. Inside you will be
given the symbol for Voltiac and nearby discovering a Linking Book
back to J'Nanin. After placing the symbol in the bowl in the
laboratory, you will have to wander around the island again and
find a way into another of the tusk-like buildings. This time you
will have to enlist the help of some inflatable plants to make a
way for you. When you get inside the next tusk you will be able to
get the next Linking Book. This will take you to the Age of
Edanna.

This is mainly a jungle-like place and the game takes place
amongst plants logs and trees. I found this Age the most difficult
as everything looked the same and I spent a considerable time
wandering back and forth over the same ground and getting
hopelessly lost. Anyway after tangling with illuminated plants,
electric fish and squeaky animals you will eventually be picked up
in a seed pod by a strange bird and taken to its nest. Escaping
from here you will find the symbol for Edanna and the Linking Book
back to J'Nanin. Placing the symbol in the dish will open up a
bridge straight to the Linking Book to the final age, Narayan.

This age is comparatively small and its small size is made up for
by the complexity of its puzzles. They are mainly concerned with
deciphering many symbols on a series of tapestries and then
recreating the patterns on two pedestals. I used up much paper in
copying them down. Completing these puzzles will switch off a
force field. It is this force field that has prevented Saavedro
from leaving with the book that you have come to find. The end
game will get you running around in circles trying to get Saavedro
to go, but without the book. Assuming that you come up with the
right answer, you will be able to return to Tomahna and meet up
with Catherine and Atrus to finish the game.

I have deliberately not mentioned any of the dozens of puzzles
that you will need to complete before finishing this game as it
would be impossible to list them all and therefore difficult to
know which to mention and which to leave out. If you have played
either or both of the previous games in the series you will be
aware of the sort of puzzles that you are likely to expect. In
some ways, I feel that the puzzles were much more difficult that
before and the game, although very pretty, lacked the continuity
of the others.  I had to resort to clues from the Internet on many
more occasions than with the other games.  If you like puzzles
with no real clues as to how to get the answer then you will love
Myst III. If, however, there is a limit to how much paper you can
waste scribbling down figures and symbols and just how much hair
you are prepared to tear out in one session at the computer, then
maybe this is not a game for you. Technically the game is
faultless. I found no bugs, no crashes and no bother in installing
or uninstalling the game. I played the game with a Pentium 3 - 700
Mhz chip and Windows Me.

All in all a good game but not different enough from the previous
two in the series to make it spectacular.

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