Originally Posted By monkeybone (5 AUG 2003 7:54pm)
I question it's release as a full price game...  :-/

Originally Posted By adventuredog (8 AUG 2003 10:22pm)
I'd like to put in a few good words for RHEM.  I am really enjoying playing it!  

 I love the large "world" and the many complex yet integrated puzzles.  I am tired of many of the new offerings that are introductory games.  I don't think that this is a first choice game for newbies to play unless they are interested in a great challenge and willing to use a helpful walkthrough or two when stuck.  There is at least one very complex map available to assist in orientation if you don't have the time or inclination to make your own.  (I am using one without any guilt and with many thanks!)

I read a few reviews and tried the demo before buying it and found no surprises except that it is BETTER than I thought it would be.  Sorry you don't like it Fairygdmther  :'(  

I have the single CD version and it runs excellently on XP.  If you are not sure whether you will like the game or not try the demo.  I highly recommend the game to those who like mechanical puzzles and empty world exploration.  

Originally Posted By Fairygdmther (5 AUG 2003 4:00pm)
    Yesterday I eagerly began playing Rhem, expecting a Myst-like game.  Well it is Myst-like, in that you are alone in the world, searching for the parts of a letter, but the comparison stops there.  I began by looking around in the environment, from building to building and walking where I could without pressing any buttons, turning any wheels, or in any other way altering the environment, just to look around.  There is one good thing here, many of the buildings have windows, so you can look out into the environment.  Without this, I would be hopelessly lost in one of the buildings.  
    The worst part for me though, is that the entire game is based on rerouting water from one place to another.  Since you don't know where you will need to go, nor how you will need to get there, since there are no direct routes to anything, altering the water flow seems haphazard to me.  And since you don't know which water is being raised or lowered, and you can't see the effects of opening or closing the flow, the only result you obtain is the sound of water flowing somewhere.
    There is also the maze aspect.  No, there isn't a maze, per se, but trying to get to a building that you can look out a window and see is nearly impossible.  It brings to mind an old Maine expression, "You can't get there from here."
    The graphics are pretty good, once the FMV at the beginning stops, that was kinda pixilated, and choppy.
But the scenery is dismal.  There are spiky stone walls that you can't see over, most of the time, with curving passages between them that take you everywhere but where you want to go.  There were none of the beautiful scenes that you found in Myst and its sequels.
    The worst part for me, though, was all the plumbing - big pipes, little pipes, long pipes, short pipes, and when you get past those, there are more pipes!  Yikes!  I'm not a plumber!  I played for nearly 5 hours, and all the puzzles I came across were water flow ones.  Some were buttons you had to get the right code to, to access the area where you could turn more water flow on, ugh!
    If this sounds like a game you are itching to try, email me.  I payed $30 US for the game, but I will take best offer for this only slightly used game, w/WT's and map.

Originally Posted By Fairygdmther (10 AUG 2003 6:04pm)
Well I won't "gift" it to you, but if you would pay me something for it, we could probably make us a deal.  And BTW what country are you in?