The Myst series has been one of the most long-running and successful franchises on the PC since its debut way back in 1993.  The adventure series has long wowed gamers by providing a deep and engaging story coupled with an exciting world filled with intriguing puzzles.  Now the fourth entry in the series, Myst IV: Revelation, is hitting store shelves offering the classic gameplay and mind-bending puzzles that the acclaimed series has been known for.  This latest entry to the series also provides one of the most beautiful and realistic presentations of the Myst universe yet.  For many fans of the Myst franchise, this one will stand as the finest game in the series.

Myst IV places the player once again in the company of the D’ni scientist Atrus and his family as they reside at an Age (a term used for a world visited by the D’ni people through the method of traveling through a book, a process known as “the Art”) known as Tomahna. You arrive at Atrus’s home and discover that his wife, Catherine, has convinced him that their two sons, Sirrus and Achenar, who were villains in previous Myst installations, have been rehabilitated and are now ready to be set free into the world after a period of imprisonment.  As you help Atrus get ready to go about freeing his sons from their Prison Ages, his crystal viewer shorts out and blows out the power in his home.  Atrus leaves to assess the situation and gather some tools for repairs, leaving you to try to restore power while he’s gone.  And so begins your foray into Myst IV and your first puzzle.

The gameplay in Myst IV is structured very traditionally, much like the previous entries in the series.  Whereas the offshoot URU allowed players to see their onscreen character in a fully 3D realm, Myst IV sticks with its predecessors by presenting the world through a first person view with pre-rendered backgrounds.  The interface is very easy to grasp, simply move your cursor around the screen to find any areas that can be interacted with. You guide your character through the different regions of Myst, having the ability to look around fully at each scene that you progress through.  You also have a camera that allows you to take photos of any area you wish to use later on, and an amulet that allows you to revisit the history of a certain place to pick up clues for the game’s challenging puzzles.

The puzzles in Myst IV are extremely difficult and complex.  While they mostly operate on logical principles, they are each very layered and will require a lot more than just casual guessing to complete.  However, each of them feels natural and unforced, never out of place in their given locations.

Myst IV is a graphical treat.  The pre-rendered environments look amazing, each of them a beautiful representation of Myst’s atmosphere.  The scenes have little sections of activity, like running water down a waterfall and objects that become blurry when not being focused on when you look away from them.  Interspersed within the game are full motion videos of the people that you meet and interact with.  These videos look remarkably well and are very high quality, no doubt a benefit of the game shipping on two DVD-ROMs.  There’s a lot to look at in Myst VI, as it truly is a beautiful game.

The music and sound effects are also very good.  The score provides a great ambience and keeps within the mood of the game.  The voice acting (or actually the acting acting) is done very well and doesn’t seem contrived, plus the sound is very crisp and clear.  All in all, a very solid and polished presentation.

With fantastic graphics, an excellent story and challenging, complex puzzles, Myst IV stands as a gem in the adventure game realm.  Both fans of the genre and fans of the Myst series owe it to themselves to check it out.

Gameplay: 9.0
Myst IV is a very traditional game, keeping in line with the rest of the series in terms of gameplay.  The point-click-and-look interface is very easy to get into, although the game itself is anything but easy.  The puzzles are very tough, yet within the boundaries of logic.

Graphics: 9.3 
Myst VI is a real dose of eye candy.  The pre-rendered backgrounds are incredible, rife with details and motion like running water and moving birds.  The full motion videos look great, as well, with good lip-synching and very high quality.

Sound: 9.3
The sound effects are crisp and clear, and the rich soundtrack is deep and atmospheric.  The acting is also well done.

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 9.0 
Myst IV remains true to the series in terms of gameplay, and continues the engaging Myst storyline very well, combining challenging puzzles with a deep and complex universe.

Overall: 9.0
Being a very traditional adventure game, Myst IV stays true to the rest of the series, but doesn’t really add a lot of changes to the formula.  However, even though Myst IV doesn’t break any new ground for the series, it still remains an extremely compelling adventure game with a fantastic presentation and ranks as the best of the series and one of the best of the genre.