Myst |
| Price:£29.99 UK Pounds | Developer/Publisher: ClickBOOM/ PXL Computers | Requirements:Aga or GFX Board, CD-Rom, 8MB Ram, 5MB HD |
 When Amiga Flame first opened, one of the first News articles I did was on the News that Myst could be coming for the Amiga. It was a long saga which started with a team of Polish developers releasing an illegal demo of Myst in Aminet but through the overwhelming pressure that the Amiga Community brought to bear, Cyan seen an opportunity through ClickBOOM to bring a game which in 1996 was the biggest selling game for the pc and mac. Since it's release in December it has been the best selling game for the Amiga over the last few months and that is likely to continue.
I only received Myst a month ago but it really delighted me to see that ClickBOOM put a great deal of work into it's presentation. It was the first CD game for the Amiga, that came in a box, on opening I found the CD box along with a full colour manual and even the CD was colourful. It's a pity it didn't get into the shops it would have made a good impression. |
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Myst if you don't already know is an adventure, where you have just stumbled across a book titled Myst. Reading through it's pages you get a intriguing picture of an island world which sounds very real. Coming to the end of the book you touch a page, suddenly your world dissolves into blackness and is replaced with the island world. You seem to be stuck in this new world with your only option being that to explore. Many adventures concrete on storyline and graphics, and it's the graphics that you first see and they truely make the island like a realistic world with tiniest pieces of detail given to everything about you. The landscape has been wonderfully created along with the buildings both inside and out. The sound efects change for every place you go, the sound of waves when your beside the sea and of the fierce blowing winds when your on high ground - it not only looks like a real world but it's every bit like one, I'm sure the creaters will be pleased that I agree - it a world of it's own. I found it very easy to actually believe the environment was real. |
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I travelled up from the Sea to the high ground and on my travels there where many switches over the island. On the high ground I entered into a building and it was the first time I heard the music. It's an airy music and brought a sense of mystery to the building I had just entered, in fact it made me shiver. In the first building which consisted of only one room I found what looked like a dentist chair in the centre of the room. I tried out some switches and nothng really happened but then I found one and on hitting it the lights went out - well I was leaving so I better save some money on the electricity bill. A clue to this game seems to be Power.  But this is what Myst is all about, it's an island world you've got to explore, learn and discover everything about it for yourself. In another building I found that one of the pictures opened up a secret stairway that led to a lift, when it started moving the lights went out and gave me a fright. The best time to play Myst is at night and play it in your room with the lights off - you won't be able to get to sleep, it's kind of spooky.
If you find any messages you can put them into a Book kept in one of the buildings high up which will play them as video footage although they have deliberately distorted some of the messages. In the same room as the book is a map of the island and it tells you something about the rotation of the Tower. The manual doesn't give too much away and I won't either but it does suggest that you have to put the pieces of information together and eventually you'll be able to progress. Some of things I found are really weird but after progressing it becomes more clearer and then you come to understand. But for the first few times of playing, you won't have a clue. |
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Each location whether it be in a building or in underground passages has it own piece of music which builds up the sense of tension in exploring the unknown. The controls are easy to use it's a matter of point and click, sometimes you go down ladders and you should remember that at times you can look up.  A good feature of Myst is that you can't die, and this means it should be more easier for you to discover and explore knowing that nothing is going to jump out and kill you. But you can get stuck if you don't keep a close eye out for clues which are all over the island. Sometimes it can become a little annoying but for a game like Myst you've got to have patience and make sure you check out every bit of the island. It's easy to walk by a clue.
Myst is easy to get into and it really gets you thinking with it providing puzzles and clues which will help you to understand yur objectives. But mainly it's all about exploring the unknown. |
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