Manufacturer: Ubisoft Find all Ubisoft reviews ESRB Rating: Everyone Platform(s): Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP Release Date: November 11, 2003 Average Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars	Retail Price: $29.99 Online Price: $14.62 A discount of $15.37! * Price is subject to change.
Features: Experience a new freedom of movement, a first for the Myst franchise: Explore each unique age in real-time 3D, moving your character effortlessly through the world without pointing and clicking. Create a realistic character: Choosing from a wide variety of facial and clothing features, you will be able to create a male or female avatar that you will use to explore the world. The range of character options allows you to appear the way you look, or the way you want to look. Explore the mysterious and graphically intense world of Uru. Uru's work-of-art style graphics will immerse and captivate you like never before. Follow an epic storyline: At the request of Yeesha, the eccentric daughter of Atrus, you'll journey through a variety of different ages, and discover the lost civilization of the D'ni people. As the story unfolds, you'll be drawn deeper into the D'ni civilization.

User Submitted Uru: Ages Beyond Myst Reviews (cont...)

1) Get Rid Of The Avatar! Myst games are a first person visual medium. It's almost like reading a book and books are the basis of Myst.

2) In earlier games your actions had obvious good or bad results. Uru has a tendency to nit-pick over your actions.
As if some of the puzzles aren't hard enough, we don't need inconsistent results with game actions. Another reviewer mentions a 'fish trap' problem. If we need to move something by 'kicking' it why make it hard? The trick was in figuring out you needed to kick it.

3) Why can't you just save the game where you stopped? It's bad enough that throughout the game you have to retrace your own steps (numerous times) but to do so because the game restarts only in certain places is just irritating! And running is a poor Zip Mode!

4) The first 'action' video scene I came across I nearly fell out of my chair! I don't expect this from a Myst game, it's against very idea of an immersive adventure game. Go play 'Unreal' if you want action!

5) Why is the Uru storyline tying into 'our' reality? This story is great fantasy and should be left in its' own context. Could this be a ploy to attract new buyers? Just like the 3D Avatar? See #1.

6)With all the latest technology in games why can't Uru have a place to store info? For taking notes, drag and drop for sketches and/or photos of important sites?

The mythology behind these games are what made them so popular.

All in all, my journeys have been tarnished by these problems to what could be the perfect immersive adventure game. I'm giving it 3 stars because it's Myst. Let's hope the next game doesn't continue in this direction. Myst IV later this summer.

Date: 2004-05-12
Myst creators lose at their own game
Let me begin by saying I am an avid fan of both Riven and Myst. However, Uru falls flat on it's face. What made Riven and Myst fun were the amazing graphics, the logic puzzles, and the world they immersed you in.
1. Uru does have good graphics and sound but Uru is not as compatible with graphic and sound cards as both Riven and Myst were.
2. You spend lots of time looking at the same stuff because of the idiocy of puzzles that require you to move something around, which is near impossible.

3. If you die, you go back to a spot very far away on your game and have to do all the same stuff to return you to were you left off.
4. I am not avid gamer but I don't think I'm alone in saying that I wasted way to much time trying to control my character. None of the point and click stuff that made Riven and Myst beautiful and easy to control.
5. Most of the worlds are designed so dark they are really difficult to see in.
6. To much excess! You can waste lots of time on stuff that has very little to do with actually winning the game. I'm all for touring but this took it to the extreme.

Again, I was crazy about the first two, but this one is simply not worth it. I hope they come out with another because this was truly a horrible way to end a great series.

Date: 2004-04-12
Knottyboy
I was a beta tester for URU and URU live. I too was dismayed by the pulling of the live content but suffice to say I don't think we can truly know what was going on behind the scenes at UBI soft. I will say that Cyan cried many tears and made the ultimate sacrifice for URU.

That being said... URU is a new vision of the "ages beyond Myst". They are incredibly intricate and immersive. YES there is a trick to it! But if all you are doing is "TRYING TO BEAT THE GAME" you've lost the whole point of this series of games. Myst and URU are telling of the history of a people, the D'ni, come to earth and the technology they possessed. It is your job to see beyond the tasks of playing to see who they were, what they accomplished and why they disappeared.

Game play takes getting used to, but before long you will be hopping the lava filled chasms and skipping across the rocks to your prize. The music is dreamy and powerful. The sites are astounding and the worlds consuming. If you loved the past of Myst, see the future of URU.

Just released was "To D'ni" expansion pack for all those that have purchased URU. It was in response to the canceling of URU Live. The second expansion pack for URU "Path of the Shell" is already scheduled for release in June of this year. Rand Miller creator of the Myst games told us that URU will live on because of the scale of content that had already been created!

So plunk down your shekels, buy URU and hold on to your hats with each new dose of URU to come.

Shorah