Innovation!
With a series such as Myst, which has had, so far, 6 games, and 3 books, innovation is the key. The original was nothing more than a interactive slideshow put together with Hypercard and Quicktime, and some advanced (for the time) 3D rendering technology, however it came on a shiny new CD-ROM disk, which was just starting to find its usage in the computer world. The second game was, indeed, more of the same kinds of puzzles, however there was also a sense of exploring a new civilization, and included having to learn a new number system, as well as including real live people in the game. The third Myst game is the first major game to have a known actor and not suck, and two other games in the series, in full 3D, have also been released, in the form of RealMyst, a re-telling of the first game in full 3D, and Uru, the failed multi-player online game which let you explore the culture of the people behind the Myst universe, the D'ni. All of these games had, at their core, a human story to tell, and loads of innovation.
The forth game in the series is no exception. Having a full cast of characters, a soundtrack by Peter Gabriel, and more spoken dialog than full-length movies, the game is loaded with innovation. It also follows the original game in two very important factors. The first is that it has hardware requirements which may force you to upgrade your computer, as the game ships on 2 full DVD-ROMs, so if you want to play this game, you'll need the hardware, if you haven't gotten it already. The second, and arguably more important, is the plot.
Myst 4 answers some questions which the first game left unanswered. Personally I recently went back and played all of the Myst games again, after reading the various books which had been released about the Myst universe, and something struck me as off in the first game. Now, honestly, when writing the first game, I'm sure the creators didn't have a full understanding of the universe the game takes place in like they do now, so having Atrus' sons trapped in books seemed like a good idea at the time. However, after fleshing things out, it became clear that this was a subject they had to rectify, and, more so, it was also a human story, and one that many people would be interested in. The subject of the game is what happened to Atrus' sons after the first game. Those of you who played the first game may remember that at the end of the first game Atrus destroyed the two books which his sons were trapped in. This did not kill the boys, but rather trapped them in the ages they had journeyed to, with no hope of rescue. Now, 20 years later, Atrus, his wife Catherine, and their daughter Yeesha, decide that it's time they checked up on their sons and see if they have rehabilitated themselves.The plot goes on from there, with you discovering what Sirrus and Achenar have gotten up to in their private ages over the past 20 years, and why Yeesha has gone missing.
The plot is a major part of the game, however, just like every other Myst game, the puzzles and ages are the real stars of the show. As in the previous games, the world is experienced with a node-movement system, so you will click to go off to the next section of the age. This presents the same problems as the previous games, in that sometimes you don't know exactly which way you've gone, or come from, and sometimes you can't get over to explore a bit of an age you'd really like to, however it does allow for some more cinematic interactions in some locations than the 3D systems used in Uru and RealMyst. While it's not completely as interactive as I would have liked, it eventually shows itself as more of a boon and less of a drawback.
There's also the addition of a journal and camera, so you can actually take pictures of puzzles and jot down notes, so you don't have to worry about going back to the game in a week and not being able to find that sheet of paper, or envelope, or pizza receipt you wrote that important clue or diagram on. It also allows you to take pictures of the scenery and use that for a desktop background or some such thing, if that is what you like.
The ages themselves are huge in this game. Anyone expecting the small levels of the first game should be pleasantly surprised. After wandering around some of the ages for a few hours I was able to finally build a map of the levels in my head, only to unlock a new area which would further the plot of the game. And each level has not only puzzles, but also full-motion video of each of the brothers and their trials to escape their private prisons. The only real nits I have to pick with the FMV sequences is that it doesn't seem that they picked the same actors for the sons, but it could just be that those 20 years weren't too kind to them. Also, that their clothing all seemed to hold up very well during their long confinement. But, other than that, the FMV sequences add a lot of plot to the story, and a lot of feeling. In addition to FMV sequences, they have also made all journals and papers narrated. This means that you can sit back and listen to Atrus, or his sons, read their journals off to you, which, while I do so enjoy the various books and journals in the game, is very nice.
As for the puzzles in the game, if you like puzzles, and trying to figure out how things are supposed to interact with each other, you will enjoy this game. If you liked the first, but thought it was a little difficult, this game will seriously kick your ass in the puzzle department. The puzzles will often involve going to several places in the ages, sometimes more than once. Although the puzzles don't have the same kind of D'ni heritage learning behind them, or having to learn how to count in D'ni, or having to figure out some obscure puzzle by reading passages out of a holy text, the puzzles here are mostly engineering or timing based. The engineering puzzles are not a problem for me, but the timing puzzles really kicked my ass, but that's just me personally.
In conclusion, I have to say that, while this may not be the penultimate Myst game, it is a highlight of the series, and I enjoyed it more than the previous games in the series. If you enjoy puzzle type games, and have a computer able to play this, and a DVD-ROM capible of reading the disks, I highly suggest getting it. If you're not a big fan of the Myst series, you may not get that much out of this game, but if you weren't, then you wouldn't be reading this review, now would you? Go out and buy this game, or go out and upgrade your computer and then buy this game.
Rating: 4.5 totem poles out of 5