Uru

I finally finished Uru: Ages Beyond Myst last night, with much help from a hint file. I'm actually sure there's more to explore, but it's bugged me for so long that I might not bother for a very long time.

Overall, I have to say that Uru turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I did like some of the exploring, and the environments were interesting, but the puzzles were just plain bad. They weren't designed with the same principles in mind as the other games in the series. I remember in-game hints strewn about the original Myst with such frequency that you could hardly fail, in truth. Uru's hints were a bit more sparse. The depth that one needs to immerse oneself and the amount of in-game text was too much to demand from me. I can do it. That I chose not to is, to me, an indictment on the amount of fun that can actually be had with the game.

I also had some gripes with the control system that felt syrupy when running and maddeningly slow when walking. Stepping sideways was infuriating to say the least. This is all very old news to anyone who has played the game. I suspect, since this was originally supposed to be an online game, the single-player content is a little under-developed. Now that it is never going online, the shortcomings of these offline ages makes up a far greater portion of the game.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I won't be buying any of the upcoming expansion packs.
PPS - I've got other things to do.