It’s hard for me to know where to begin. Back in my early
days of gaming, Dreamcatcher’s The Crystal Key had just hit
shelves. After speeding my way through a few of the classics, I traveled
to my local CompUSA to browse the then full adventure rack. One box
especially leapt out at me, completely black with a stark blue circle
on the front. It begged me, pleaded with me to come forward and open
the preview flap to check out the gorgeous screen shots inside. These
were equally intriguing, displaying windows to faraway places and
promising an exciting, science fiction epic. I was eager to learn
more and so I immediately pulled out $19.99 (plus Virginia sales
tax) of my hard earned cash and bought it right out. I hurried home
and loaded it onto my computer, waiting with bated breath to start
my journey into the unknown, ready to explore strange new worlds
with the aid of my Crystal Key.

But what I got in no way compared to the hype I had received. The
game was clunky, buggy, thin on plot, and disappointing in graphics.
After finishing it in one afternoon, I promptly gave my copy away
and proclaimed it as one of the greatest turkeys I had ever been
tricked into buying.

So of course, years later when I was asked to review its successor,
erroneously subtitled The Far Realm, I had to go plunk down another
$9.99 to replay the original in order to get my wits about me for
the sequel.

Shame on me.

You can’t
teach an old dog new tricks (or can you?)

I was really hoping that The Adventure Company would prove me wrong
with its sophomore release in The Crystal Key franchise. The
Far Realm promised higher graphical fireworks, better plot, and more
character involvement. One of my huge issues with the original was
the loneliness I felt traveling through the worlds of this far away
galaxy. I had no name, no home, and no idea why I was the only person
that could save my planet.

The Far Realm picks up
many of its daddy’s plot points and
rolls with them. You have a name this time around, Call Lifeson,
and you are the son of Colonel Lifeson, the main, previously unnamed
protagonist of The Crystal Key. Much of the “plot fog” of
the first game is cleared up here within the first few minutes, but
why did I have to play the sequel in order to better understand the
first? But again, the game shocks you into the story with little
explanation, a large journal to plow through, and story holes big
enough to drive my boyfriend’s Chevy Trailblazer through. The
cast of characters ranges from a lost freighter captain who you seem
to use up and throw away, to a tree dwelling elf reminiscent of those
silly Keebler guys, to a lone female naturalist who seems to always
be standing in the same spot no matter how busy she claims to be.
Oh and there’s a male pilot with an affinity for women’s
clothing.

The bulk of the gameplay
remains on one world and you will travel to many different locations
on this one planet. This place is surprisingly
complex and rich with culture and folktales that you will have to
master in order to solve many of The Far Realm’s puzzles.

So where to first? Sound, graphics, or puzzles?

I’ll talk about sound first, which is not all that bad. The
music is sparse in places, but enjoyable. One tune of note is the
theme played in the spaceport bar near the game’s beginning,
once the place has opened for business. This very much reminded me
of the bar on Tatooine when Luke and Ben Kenobi had just walked in.
Either that, or Miami Vice. Break out the pink shirts and white suits!

The sound effects are great, providing lush detail to some of these
environments. The beach was especially nice . . . I could have left
my computer on that all night and listened to the waves as I dreamt.
So yes, sound is good.

Ah, but good sound does not a good game make.

(Did I mention my name is also Yoda?)

Look at all the pretty sand (count the uses of sand!)

There’s sand in
The Far Realm, lots and lots of sand.

The planet Meribah is
home to many sandy locales, which include canyons, beaches, deserts,
and even an oasis that becomes your responsibility
to restore. So don’t be fooled player, those screenshots you’ve
been seeing of dunes and mountains . . . be prepared to get used
to them. Now, with that said, it’s not that I minded the graphical
quality. I have to give The Adventure Company and Earthlight a big
thumbs up for quality of the graphics this time around. While The
Crystal Key boasted only one desert, it also had slow moving, pixilated
environments that made me want to climb the walls. (Anyone remember
the jungle planet?) But with the The Far Realm I was pleased with
the eye candy provided. The home of the tree-dwelling Nehli was especially
enjoyable. I highly recommend climbing up and down the inside of
their tree a few times. One of the better FMV sequences I’ve
seen in a while.

Speaking of FMV, let me
tell you a little bit about your modes of transportation within
The Far Realm. While walking and portalling
seemed to have worked for you in the past, this time around, you
will be making use of a motorboat and a jetpack. That’s right
kids, I said jetpack. And while the Indiana Jones style maps are
cool with the connect-the-dots effect, the FMVs of Call blasting
off into the sky made me giggle. We all want to be like James Bond
and be able to blast off at a moment’s notice, but Call ended
up looking like my poor Ken doll strapped to my cousin’s rocket
launcher.

The characters, while
being somewhat cool looking such as in the case of the Nehli and
the Merari, come off just as stiff and unbelievable.
With the advances in character animation that we’ve seen lately
(Syberia 2) these people came off looking like wax figures (The
Messenger).
It was just so disappointing to see this step backwards.

The large desert lizard is pretty hilarious. So is the macho-sounding
pilot wearing the skirt.

The last piece of . . .

The puzzles! While not
completely imaginative (lots of get inventory items in order to
complete a machine or unlock a door) there were
a few that gave that “finished the crossword puzzle” satisfaction
that we all know and love. One puzzle involving luminescent bugs,
a spray bottle of juice, and a cave was especially enjoyable, though
a little too familiar to another glow bug puzzle from a recent release.
There were a few that took leaps of logic, one involving security
codes scattered all over a planet (how secure is that?) and another
that makes you scour Meribah for a special nut (not a crazy person,
but a nut) in order to summon a flying squirrel. If the bug and juice
didn’t scare you, I’m sure the flying squirrel just did.

However, all is not lost.
Even though some needed more set up or explanation, the puzzles
present in The Far Realm are completely
organic and intertwined into the story line of the game. There are
no “puzzles for puzzle’s” sake dilemmas. This carried
over extremely well from The Crystal Key. In our world of point and
click entertainment, organic gaming is difficult to find. Kudos to
Earthlight’s developers for adding that element of richness
and believability.

So what’s my final word on The
Far Realm? It’s
a toss-up. While I had huge expectations for this game, I knew
that I was still
looking at something from The Crystal Key franchise. I walked away
with a lacking plot, some silly graphics, and a less than satisfying
gaming experience. While this game is not a turkey and definitely
worth a look, The Far Realm proves that it is not all that far away
from its original.

Final Grade: C

System Requirements:

• Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
• 600 MHz Pentium III
  or equivalent (800MHz Pentium III or Equivalent Recommended)
• 64 Mb RAM
• 16x CD-ROM drive (24x
  CD_ROM Drive Recommended)
• 32MB DirectX Compatible
  3D Video Card
• Directsound compatible
  sound card