14-Aug-2002 It's the world's biggest adventure game, and now it's coming to PS2. It's the world's biggest adventure game, and now it's coming to PS2.
Insomnia? It's a danger for us games addicts. A few bouts of Medal of Honor: Frontline before bed and our nerves are singing like Sunday service. Even worse, cracking that final stretch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and, look, it's four in the effing morning. But now there's a cure: Myst III: Exile. This point-and-click adventure game plays like Ico on freeze-frame.
On PC, the Myst series went down a storm. Gorgeously drawn landscapes that millions of people floated through. You stop at a junction, look around and click - you're off, floating to the next location. Of course, there's the usual adventure game solving puzzles and talking to people, but Myst III has two fundamental differences from, say, Resident Evil (above and beyond the lack of zombies and guns).
Myst III looks photorealistic: real actors spout dramatic lines - and all painted on top of scenes from Wish You Were Here: The Acid Years. But there's no tension. There's dramatic conflict between characters, there's complex puzzles, but all at a coma-inducing slow pace. It's mellow, man.
The PlayStation 2 version looks as though it's going to be sticking to these two unique features. The graphics have transferred well, and there's been no attempt to speed the game up. The only downside? Clicking from location to location now appears to be a wipe-fade-replace job. No floating here.
Quite apart from that fault, it remains to be seen how many console gamers will 'get' Myst - but it might come in handy if you're in need of a bit of a kip. Because if counting sheep isn't working, Myst III could well do the trick. Zzz...
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
