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Worlds Away
By Jacob Ward
Originally published in Wired
6.03, March 1998
The slow pace and still-by-still graphics of Riven: The
Sequel to Myst may try the patience of those who like
their games punctuated by gunfire. So think of Riven
as cinema. Think of it as a book. Because although it's not
for everyone, Cyan's offering blows away hyperviolent, visually
repetitive games.
Riven is gamemaking at its most audacious. Visual
and audio effects aside, the effort put into making the experience
intellectually immersive is staggering. Because both the concept
of Riven and its technical execution are so inspired,
developers at Cyan seem to assume that you will play until
you go blind. And if you hope to finish, you just might have
to. The programmers have created a civilization, and then
dropped you, the unwitting player, into it. You can never
be sure whether a building is a temple, a control room, or
a simple shelter, because everything has larger cultural significance.
In one room, bronze beetles on the wall snap open to reveal
Byzantine-style religious scenes: a book falling from the
sky; a messiah figure casting his followers into an abyss.
Acclimating to Riven is like learning to read - you must learn
to synthesize the scattered symbolism of the game into a useful
visual alphabet.
And even if you were to grow tired of the ponderous anthropology
of the game, temptation is enough to win the war against your
impatience. An enormous gold-domed observatory lies on the
other side of a locked bronze gate, overhead walkways are
just a few feet out of reach, and as you stand on one cliff
top, unexplored buildings across the valley beckon through
the haze. With its even pace, tireless perfectionism, and
graceful flourishes, Riven heralds the aesthetic
convergence of multimedia, cinema, and literature. It's a
blockbuster and a page-turner rolled into one, but because
there's no running time or page numbers, I'm still not sure
how far I am from finishing.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst: US$50. Red Orb Entertainment:
+1 (415) 382 4770, on the Web at www.riven.com/ .
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