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INTRODUCTION
Uru was marketed as an adventure game that took place within the Myst universe. You buy the game, play it through on your own and then sign up for the on-line experience. There you would be able to meet other players, form a party and play additional levels as a group. An intriguing idea, but it never happened. For the first couple of months that the game was out, people could sign up for free and walk around the “common” areas. You could meet other players and explore the amazing underground cavern which is D'ni. Unfortunately, the technology wasn't quite up to the task. Only 35 players were allowed on the server at any one time and even then the lag was so bad that the game was unplayable. After a couple of months, UbiSoft threw in the towel and canceled Uru Online. The official reason given was that not enough people had shown interest to make it worthwhile. Maybe so, but the fact is that it had never been shown to work with more than ten players at a time.
The first X-Pack would be free and would include all of the Common areas which were available to people during that two month Preview. It finally included:
X-Pack 1 is freely downloadable from Gigex and 3D Gamer. It installs on top of your original Uru game and you will need the original CD to both install and play the game. RANT – Please excuse me as I now rant on the stupid copy protection inflicted upon this game. Why do I say it is stupid? Doesn't UbiSoft have a right to protect its investment? Yes, they do. But that is not what they did. First, the pirates posted a cracked version of Uru onto the Internet a full two weeks before the game was even on the store shelves. Second, X-Pack 1 comes with a list of about a dozen CD players that are known to have trouble with the copy protection scheme. So it did nothing to stop piracy, but at least is preventing legitimate owners from playing the game they paid for. I call that STUPID! - END OF RANT.
There is much good about X-Pack 1. The graphics are jaw-dropping, drool-puddling awesome. The ancient underground city of D'ni has been abandoned twice – once centuries ago by the D'ni themselves and just recently by the archeologists who were trying to restore it. The sense of ancient loneliness is very moving. As you can see from these screen shots, it is a dark place and you will want to play with the lights turned out. View these shots in full-screen if you want to be able to see them better (We have brightened the screenshots to make them easier to view).
The following map, found in the center of the island, shows how grand the vision was for D'ni. This is just part of the Capitol Island, not the entire cavern.
Some of the buildings can be entered. The original concept was to gradually open up more and more of the city as the archeologists uncovered and released more of their work. It remains to be seen if any more development time will actually be spent on D'ni. Anyone who played any of the Myst games knows that books are frequently left lying around to open up the story. X-Pack 1 provides another 47 journals revealing much of the history of D'ni and possibly explaining what happened to the archeologists. Myst fans will be pouring over and dissecting these for months to come. Expect timelines and full histories to appear on the web.
Unfortunately, we are still stuck with the horrible navigational interface even though there is now no reason for keeping it. You can read my review of Uru for the ugly details, but it all boils down to an interface so cumbersome that you have to concentrate on it rather than the game. X-Pack 1 forces you play Uru all over again a second time. Once installed, you find a couple of new books on your bookshelves. One of them is a link to the Neighborhood, Bevin. That eventually takes you to one section of Ae'gura, but the rest of the town is blocked off. You must go through the entire game to find the two clues which were added to the original ages. Without those clues, you cannot continue. I don't know about you, but the second time I play a game I experience little of the joy from seeing things from the first time, but I experience all the drudgery of working through it. Several new puzzles (Cyan Worlds claim five) were added to turn the X-Pack into a game. Two of these puzzles had little or no logical lead-in. I already mentioned that you had to play the whole game over to find clues. But there is no clue that the original ages had been modified and should be searched. Elsewhere, you run across the name “Bob O'Goobo.” An interesting - dare we say suspicious - spelling. But with very little clue as to what to do with it. Most players will need a walkthrough to get them past these. The storyline is just a little forced. This is to be expected as material is forced into a new paradigm. Some of it is jarring. Examine the following two screenshots:
One of these is an impenetrable barrier. There is nothing you can do to pass it. The other shot is of a barrier you can go through. What is the difference? Why am I incapable of moving a 25lb stand? Yes, it was made that way for the sake of the game, but it jars with our intuitive understanding of how the world should work. And finally, I am disappointed with the music. There are two places – Cleft and Kadish Museum – where there is wonderful background music. It is haunting and effectively sets the mood. But where is it for the rest of the game? Most of the game has no music at all. There are a couple of other places where there is music, but it is so subtle as to be stealth and of no effect.
Mixing it all together, I must give Uru To D'ni a solid ”B.” It does not set any new standards and it is at times significantly flawed. This prevents it from getting an A. But it is a solid value and anyone who enjoys Uru will enjoy X-Pack 1. I just hope that Cyan Worlds will continue to develop D'ni as they release the other ages as additional X-Packs. Final Grade: B System Requirements:
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