Product: Riven
From: Red Orb, a division of Broderbund
Developed by: Cyan, makers of Myst
For: Win95 (Pentium required) or MacOS (PowerPC)
Price: US$49.95
Summary: Limited animation makes this a yawner for the action gamer, but complex puzzles in a beautifully detailed world on five CDs will provide plenty of exploration opportunities for puzzle fans or 3D graphics enthusiasts.
If you are familiar with the previous work of the developers of Riven, such as Myst, Cosmic Osmo or The Manhole, you'll find Riven similar -- maybe too similar.
In terms of graphics, Riven is a stellar example of just how far the world of computer adventures have come since Collossal Cave or the days of the original Zork. If you want to see some of the best still image work in any 3D game, Riven is a must-see. But, conversely, some may be disappointed at how little Riven's HyperCard-derived interface has changed since the days of The Manhole. Frankly, we were bored after the initial thrill of the admittedly gorgeous graphics wore off. And, if you don't have any luck finding the clues that unlock the many secrets of the Riven world, you may become frustrated. Fortunately, there are a number of "spoiler" websites that reveal exactly how to solve the puzzles, in case you get stuck. And, while it wouldn't be appropriate to give away the ending, let's just say it is probably not coincidental that it involves a manhole.
Annoyances: Riven is a game that cries out for a DVD version (and developer Broderbund is, in fact, preparing a DVD release of the game, which it previewed at the E3 conference in May 1998). In its current incarnation, Riven requires five CD-ROMs, and is seemingly always nagging you to insert this disc or that one.
Riven installed QuickTime 2.x, ruining our PC's QuickTime 3.0 installation. Worse, it doesn't work at all with QT3.0 -- it claims the newer version is "out of date." And, why couldn't they make the skies and rocks in the scenes blend smoothly from one to another? As it is, each image is like a separate photo. As you move (by clicking on various images the screen) from area to area, the 3D scenes slide left or right, betraying the fact that Riven, for all its visual beauty, is little more than a series of still photos (with limited animations here and there, including some particularly nice ones as you move from island to island), connected via a captivatingly complex plotline. Ah, but if you enjoy a good plotline....
The next game release from the developers of Riven will be RealMYST. It will, it seems, address the issues raised in the previous paragraph. RealMYST is due in late 2000.
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