Myst V: End of Ages

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $8.15

Features:

• Easy Point-and-Click Interface Easily explore vast 3-D worlds with just a click of the mouse
• A dynamic new slate interface lets you communicate with mysterious creatures and manipulate the world around you
• Richer game environments
• Innovative facial mapping technology, face over, brings characters alive with unprecedented emotions and expressiveness
• Explore the Noloben, Taghira, and Laki'ahn Ages, among others, in search of the tablet that will bring the final answers

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

The Best Ever! [Posted on 2008-02-13]
Myst V: End of Ages is the greatest installment of the Myst saga so far, and the best finale I feel ever was written! The plot twisted and turned as well as the classic old-style mystery movies way back when, and the video graphics were top-notch. The writing of the storyline could trick even the sharpest sleuth, and it was a difficult game at times, but not so much so that one is tempted to give up. I truly enjoyed stretching my brain working on this game!

Bad,bad,bad,bad. [Posted on 2008-03-31]
This game was terrable. It's not worth any amount of money. Maybe if it cost one cent with free shipping and you are extremly bored, it will help you pass the hour, but if you played and liked the first 4 Mysts, you will hate this game. Characters were badly anemated, to much talking, to confusing, half the time there were no clues to tell you where you should go and what you should do next and the other half it was like they thought you were to stupid to be alive because they told you step by step by step what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Very, very bad game. on a scale of 0 to 10 this game is a 1 only because the most entertaining part is telling all my family and friends how bad it is and seeing the look of shock that the makers of Myst put out a bad game.

Great Ending to the Myst Saga [Posted on 2008-04-08]
The Myst games have been loved by many for over fifteen years now. As I've read the reviews of this game, many people say it's different from the other games - too different. I agree; it is very different - yet very similar at the same time.

The game starts out with Atrus telling you about his worries of D'ni (the underground civilization of the Myst games) and his daughter Yeesha. Then the game starts, and you are in the chamber that was once Atrus's prison at the end of the first Myst game. On Atrus's old desk, the Myst book is locked up. As you progress downward through the old mansion called K'veer in D'ni, you find an odd-looking bubble. When you enter it, you touch a shimmering slab of rock on a pedestal, and an odd noise sounds through the whole chamber. You leave the bubble, and Yeesha links in front of you telling you about "The Quest." The main objective is to free the Tablet which has responded to you and, if you wish, has the power to restore D'ni. Then she links you to the desert, where you meet Esher.

Esher tells you Yeesha wants the Tablet, but he says not to give it to her. Then you go downward into a network of tunnels leading to D'ni. As the game progresses, you discover more and more about Yeesha and Esher. But you must decide who to trust in the end.

There are four main ages in the game. I don't want to spoil them for you, but I'll say that in each one you find a differently-shaped slate. Your objective is to carry it to the Keep, at an unknown place in the age. If you've played any other Myst games before, you'll know that doing this won't be easy. You'll have to solve a series of complex puzzles. But one of the coolest things is that you can actually draw symbols on the slates to communicate with a race of odd-looking creatures - the Bahro. You can actually have them change the environment and the like. You can see how this can open a door to some pretty unique puzzles. Unfortunately, the slate is heavy, and certain switches cant be pulled when you're holding the slate. Also, you can't climb with the slate either. This opens up more unique puzzle solving.

The interface of Myst V: End of Ages will seem very similar yet very different at the same time, much like the rest of the game. You can play three different ways: The first is Classic Mouse-Click mode, which is like Myst and Riven, in which you click the sides of the screen to turn, and the center of the screen to walk forward. The second is Classic Plus mode, which is like Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: Revelation, in which you move the mouse to look around, and click to walk forward in the direction you're facing. The third is Free-Move mode, which is like Uru, in which you move around freely using the arrow keys of WASD. However, Myst V: End of Ages is the first Myst game besides Uru to use Realtime, so the environments are actually constructed, instead of just being made of individual "slides" like the others. In this way, you actually move forward, instead of the screen just changing to the next slide. Also, the characters are computer-generated using face-mapping, and not live actors like the others.

So all in all, Myst V: End of Ages is a great way to end the Myst series. If you've played the other Myst games, you must finish the story up in this game. Even if you're new to the series, this is a great game. I recommend you play the other games before this one, or at least read up about the story, because a lot of things may not make sense to you in this one if you don't. But nonetheless, Myst V: End of Ages is a grand adventure for anybody.

Not what I wanted to see [Posted on 2008-04-14]
I have loved the Myst series since the beginning. I bought this one, hoping for another good installment. I didn't get it. In fact, I have yet to go back and finish this game.

Not for the puzzles, though the ones with the timers were VERY annoying since it always takes me a while to do those. Not even for the graphics, which were not up to previous standards. I mean, I spent hours just wandering around in Myst IV because I was so taken with the graphics, but I don't need fancy graphics to enjoy a game.

The main turn-off for me was the lack of connection to the characters. One of the main reasons I enjoyed the previous Myst games was because you get involved with the Atrus and his family. You've become his friend (well, in a way) and I personally liked the characters enough to want something good to happen to them. I even got a little choaked up at the ending of Myst IV. EoA abruptly ended that. You're left with a single depressing letter from Atrus and occasional contact with a grown-up Yeesha. All you're left with is the puzzles. Now, if all you're looking for is challenging puzzles, then I'd suggest picking it up. But part of the enjoyment of a game, book, or movie for me is caring about the characters in it, and EoA just lost that for me.

Letdown [Posted on 2008-06-09]
I have played all of the Myst games. And loved them all. I spent countless hours exploring and studying and solving. I loved the beauty of the worlds and realistic characters. Then Myst V came along and sent the series out on a whimper. The graphics quality has decreased a lot. The polygons are more visible than ever, textures are flat in some places, and it doesn't have the "feel" of past Myst games (and I am playing with a great video card, so that is not the issue). I would have loved if they kept the environments at the same level as revelaiton or Exile: let you look around in 3D but keep the environment graphics high-quality. I don't care if I can move around freely if the world looks like crap.

And the characters were just as bad. These new animated characters look horrible. I played some games back int he 90's that had characters that looked just as good as these. It also completely changed the feel of the games from the previous 4. Seriously, if you are making one final Myst game, just keep it consistent with the prevous games. Don't change it on your way out.

So while you are walking through these lame landscapes and talking to fake-looking cartoon people, you solve repetative puzzles in this tiny Myst world. I finished this game in less than 12 hours 9and only because I explore everything). This game was too small, too easy, too repetative, and looked horrible. What a letdown to the end of a great series.

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